I against Cheap Grace Teaching: Whatever Happen to the Law of God and Repentance?

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT)

First, what is grace? It’s not that simple to explain but not complex either. Let me try. Grace is like the gift of life. We cannot take credit for it any more than my cousin’s baby can brag about being born! Grace is getting something from God that doesn’t belong to us. Grace is God’s special favor freely given to undeserving people. “Grace,” A.W. Tozer writes, “is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits on the undeserving.” I don’t expect you to understand what grace is – no one does – grace is not meant to be understood intellectually (alone) but (also) to be understood experientially thru believing-faith in Christ.

Second, what grace is not? This one is quite simple to explain. Grace is not ‘do-whatever-you-want- to-do.’ It is not ‘God-love-everyone-no-matter-what.’ Grace is not against or ignoring the Law of God. But, some of you might ask, “Richard, isn’t Paul taught in Romans 6:14 that we ‘no longer live under the requirements of the Law’ instead ‘under the freedom of God’s grace’?” Yes, you are right. But have you not read chapter 5, 6, 7 and 8 to set the meaning of Romans 6 in context?

In the nutshell: living by the grace of God mean living in the life-giving Spirit. The Law doesn’t save us, God saved us. But the Law is not evil; it is in itself is holy, right and good. Without the Law, grace will not have it full meaning. The Law, even the preaching of the Law of God is not against the gospel of Christ, it is the best compliment for the teaching of the grace of God. Why? Because the more we realize how sinful and undeserving we are by God’s standard, His holy Law, the more we are thankful and forever in debt with God when He shows us His grace to us.

When someone tries to argue with me, ‘Richard, God saved us through faith by grace alone so we don’t need to know about the Law.’ I would ask, ‘True. But tell me, we are saved from what?’ Normally, I will get the standard answer: ‘Our sins.’(The more reformed Christians would add, ‘The wrath of God’) ‘True. But,’ I then respond, ‘how you can know that you’ve sinned or that you’re a sinner?’ ‘Well, because the Spirit convinced me of my sins.’ ‘True. But how the Spirit does that?’ ‘Well, thru His Word of course’ ‘Okay. Particularly, which parts of the Word that are clearly convince us that we’re sinners?’ I would enquire. Normally I get a silent treatment. The answer is: the Law of God.

Regarding this matter, I want to say what St. Anthanasius
said at the Council of Nicea in defense of himself
against false teaching of his day:
“If all the world falls from the truth, I will stand!”

Cheap grace preachers always emphasis on the love of God and neglect or silent about the righteous side of God. These two must be preached together. Preaching about grace alone is not enough. It doesn’t produce the most essential element of being a born again Christian: repentance. How can I repent if I only know the love of God? I repent because I know that I’m a sinner in the presence of the most holy and righteous God. I repent because by God’s standard (God’s Law), I’m the most filthy and undeserving sinner. When I repented of my sins through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, God welcome me into His family. I’m sinless in His eyes because of Jesus’ blood covers over me. I’m God’s delight and His wrath is no more upon me. I’m saved. When I understand all these, I understand what grace really is. “Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits on the undeserving.” Only after (not before) I’m converted and became Christian that I know that God loves me.

In conclusion, I plea with you my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us reject the teaching of cheap grace that tend to neglect the Law of God. They are not faithful to the whole counsel of God’s Word. We ought to teach the Old and the New Testament alike. The Law without Grace is too expensive and impossible; Grace without the Law is too cheap – and the Cross is not cheap at all! The Law proves to us that we’re undeserving sinners; but by His Grace we’re forgiven anyway and have eternal life.

We shouldn’t teach to the unbelievers that God loves us all unconditionally or that because of His grace we’re not to repent of our sins anymore – the Bible doesn’t teach that! The Bible teaches that God loves the righteous ones and those who continue to believe in Him day after day (not once saved always saved). Malaysia – even Sarawak – is full of cheap grace teaching. Let us be aware and watch out for these “wolves in a sheep’s clothing”. Regarding this matter, I want to say what St. Anthanasius said at the Council of Nicea in defense of himself against false teaching of his day: “If all the world falls from the truth, I will stand!” I hope you will join me in this war. Stand for the truth!

We are saved by God’s grace alone through faith in Christ alone
We are not to live under the Law anymore but under His Spirit’s guidance.

And yet we are not to neglect the important of the Law in our teachings.
The Law produces genuine repentance;
repentance opens the door for real forgiveness.

But only God can forgive our sins and saved us from His holy wrath

He is righteous and loving God!

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.