Bulletin Articles
Grace and Repentance
We are saved by the grace of God (Eph 2:5). Salvation is not of ourselves, but is the gift of God (Eph 2:8-10). That teaching should be front and center for us. Grace also has a context that should never be ignored. We don’t have the authority to define it however we wish. It comes from God, from His character and wisdom, from His mercy, compassion, and love. We are to understand God’s grace in truth (Col 1:6). Grace teaches us to renounce ungodliness and strive to live self-controlled, upright lives as we are looking for Jesus to return and committed to good works (Titus 2:11-14). Grace is never to be seen as a license to sin (Rom 6:1-2; Jude 4). Grace should be seen from our perspectives as something to which we respond, not that which allows us to be lazy. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10). We are not entitled to grace, for if we were, it would no longer be grace. This in no way means that we have achieved perfection or never do wrong (i.e., let’s not be liars, 1 John 1:8). It does mean we can have confidence in God’s faithfulness and promises as we seek His will: “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls” (Heb 10:39).
We also need to see that grace encompasses another teaching that ought to be front and center: repentance. This may well be one of those words we hear, but do we talk about it enough? More importantly, do we practice it enough?
Repentance is difficult. It is difficult to talk about and to enact. It makes us uncomfortable because we must confront the sins in our lives (1 John 1:9). We don’t like that. It requires self-denial, hard choices, and an honest heart that opens up to God and others. Yet repentance is just as much a part of embracing God’s grace as faith. If we ignore repentance, we cannot expect the gift of grace because grace teaches us to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11). How can we hope for grace when we ignore what grace teaches?
Our problem sometimes is that we want grace without the difficult confrontations with our sins. We want forgiveness without repentance. If we define grace to fit into our own little box that never hurts our feelings and allows us to live without substantive change, then we have turned grace into that which God has explicitly denied. This is basically what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” As he put it, “Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before” (The Cost of Discipleship, 43). This makes a farce out of the death of our Lord, for He died “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5:15).
“Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be!” (Rom 6:1-2). Paul asked this in a context showing that grace is indeed greater than sin. God’s grace is sufficient to cover any sins for which we are guilty (and let us confess that there are many), but God never intended for grace to take the place of obedience and holiness. We can become holy by His grace, which entails our response. The apostle Peter taught, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet 1:14-16). Scripture is filled with exhortations to holy living, and this is always seen as consistent with grace. We never can earn our salvation. Neither can we drift into heaven through laziness and lack of diligence. “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:10-11). Grace and response are intertwined.
Let us dedicate ourselves to God’s grace, and also to repentance. These are not at odds with each other, but rather fit together within God’s purposes. He is a God of grace and mercy, but He also hates sin. Grace can help shape us into people who are holy, but holiness does not come without repentance.
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” (Acts 3:19-21)
