Amazing Grace Vs. Easy Believism
By David Gray
“Amazing Grace” is the favorite hymn of millions. I suppose it has blessed more people, calmed more troubled hearts, and inspired more devotion to the Lord than any other Christian song in the history of the world. Of all the wonderful blessings which God’s Word reveals, Grace is probably the most misunderstood. Some think it is a license to sin. Others teach that it has predestined some to be saved while barring the door forever to the rest. Still others twist grace to mean that God conveniently and blindly accepts their sinning and somehow turns it into righteousness. A segment of Christendom even goes so far as to teach that grace removes from man his power of free choice, so that once he believes, he is made into a kind of robot. Even though he may turn reprobate, revelling and delighting in the utmost filth and depravity, through grace he is forced to go to a sinless heaven whether he wants to or not. Some people’s grace is a disgrace!
Oh, but how different is the true, wonderful grace of God! Even though grace in the minds of many has been so warped and twisted by those who teach “easy believism” that it is hardly recognizable as the marvelous gift of a loving God which it is, you have a right to know the truth. I want to tell you how through the grace and love of God your life can be changed and made new. Listen to these wonderful words: “…exceeding riches of his grace…” and “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast…”
Since grace is the means by which we are saved, and through it God creates His masterpiece, His church which shall be with Him through all eternity, it is of the most vital importance to us to know and understand just what grace is and how we may obtain it. There are many definitions of Grace.
One is the undeserved goodness of God shown to fallen man. Another: the free and eternal favor of God, spring of all spiritual blessings bestowed by God. It is everything really good and eternal, given and received absolutely gratis. The definition I have found most satisfying and helpful is this: grace is the power God gives us to fulfill the will of God in our lives. Whatever the will and purpose of God is for you, grace empowers you to fulfill it. Instead of grace leaving the sinner as he is in his sin, but changing the mind of a holy God so that He can overlook or ignore his sin, as some teach, grace actually changes and transforms the sinner. Oh, the amazing power of grace! “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (11 Corinthians 5:17).
The sinner does not have to remain a sinner, the weakling does not have to remain weak, the dope addict does not have to remain a dope addict, the homosexual does not have to remain a sodomite, the thief does not have to continue to steal, the prostitute does not have to continue being a harlot, the alcoholic does not have to remain a slave to alcohol. Because the power of grace transforms weakness into strength,
ugliness into beauty, uncleanness into purity, sinfulness into holiness, and enmity into love. Grace is all-sufficient, for all classes, in all circumstances, unto all ages. Grace fills the vacancy in the heart, and it meets every need of God’s people in the time of sore trial. It is the nature of divine grace to flood all the depths and to overflow all the heights of man’s need. Oh, the amazing power of Grace!
How may this marvelous grace become mine? How may I obtain it? How may the power of grace begin to work its wonderful transformation in my life? Listen to the gracious words of Jesus: ‘…Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” (Acts 1: 8).You see, friends, the power of grace is the power of the Holy Ghost. It comes in the Holy Ghost! Perhaps some weary, sin-sick soul is crying our even now, “Brother Gray, what shall I do? I want, I need the grace of God to cleanse me, to fill me, to change me. What shall I do?” The apostle Peter answered that very same question with these words, in Acts 2:38: “Repent (that is, turn away from your sin and turn to Jesus, the Lamb of God), and be baptized (that is, immersed or plunged into water) every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ (and friends, there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, Acts 4:12), for the remission of sins (this is the power of grace in action, bringing about remission, or the complete removal of all your sins), and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (and that is the power God gives us to fulfill the will of God in our lives).”
And friend, there is grace enough for you. You need no longer be weak, a slave to your sins, or deceived by a powerless “easy believism.” The amazing power of grace, the power God gives you to fulfill the will of God in your life, that power is yours in the Holy Ghost. It was purchased at Calvary, delivered to mankind at Pentecost, and it can be yours now. Let God’s Spirit accomplish in your life what you have always longed for, by the amazing power of grace.
The above article was published in The Gospel Tidings p. 11
Christian Information Network
