As you can well imagine, Satan’s main personal task on this earth is to distort what the Bible teaches about grace. There are two basic ways to distort or pervert the idea of grace (taking it to mean or imply something that it does not).
First, grace is sometimes taken to mean that is permissible to sin.
Many professing Christians wrongly think that God’s grace means that He gives out free passes that allow us to sin, with no consequences for disobedience. Thus, grace is used as an excuse for licentiousness, emphasizing overt sins. This is always condemned by the word of God (Rom. 6:1, 2; 1 John 1:9 to 2:1; Jude 4).
Second, grace is sometimes taken as permission to be lazy.
For them, grace means permission for sloppy living. This emphasizes sins of omission. But this idea violates all of the Bible’s commands to study, to be diligent, to be oriented to grace (Heb. 6:11, 12; 2 Pet. 1:5, 10; 1 Cor. 15:10)
The Enemy of Grace
The greatest enemy of grace is legalism. Grace and legalism are mutually exclusive, (Rom. 11:6). Grace means that God does the “work” and receives the glory (credit) for it. Legalism means that man does the work and receives the credit.
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Grace depends solely on the character of God and entirely excludes human ability, human merit, human achievement, etc. Legalism, however, depends on human activity and ability. Grace and legalism have opposite emphasis.
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Grace emphasizes what God does in the soul of man, free of charge. The production and blessings in the Christian’s life are by products of what is first provided by God without cost. Legalism excludes the mental attitude and emphasizes overt activity for the purpose of gaining credit with God and impressing men.
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Legalism hinders a person from accepting Christ as Saviour (Gal. 2:21).
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Legalism neutralizes the believer in the Christian way of life (Gal. 5:2 to 4).
God is perfect, and His plan is perfect. Man’s work is excluded from the plan of God because man is imperfect. If man were permitted to make a contribution to the plan of God, the plan would no longer be perfect; it would be no stronger than its weakest link. Grace eliminates all considerations of human merit. Grace, then, in the antithesis of human arrogance. An awareness of the full meaning of grace is a giant step toward true humility.
Four types of pride are noted in those who are not oriented to Grace:
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There is pride on the part of the believer who rejects the eternal security of grace. He thinks his sins are greater than the plan of God. He thinks that grace is not sufficient.
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There is pride in the believer who falls apart during suffering. He thinks that his pressures and adversities are greater than the provision and protection of God.
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There is pride in the believer who enters into a life of false spirituality through legalism or religion. He thinks his personal works impress God and are greater than His plan.
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There is pride in the emotional believer who thinks feelings and emotions are greater and more real than the word of God or the grace of God.
Evangelist Rodgie Quirante
The Workman’s Treasure Study Series