I feel that I have been deceived concerning grace. I read blogs and articles and listen to messages that all talk about grace, yet grace is rarely defined per the applications that they draw from it. I recently tweeted the following statement (@DavePCochran):


“Responsive grace doesn't produce weak expectations and say it's all good in the hood. It relates as a fellow sinner without superiority.”

I must admit that the statement was a bit hypocritical. I’m a bit ticked off that I have been lead astray, and part of me wants to blame those who have influenced me. And not that any of the preachers that have produced the messages that I’ve been influenced by were really being deceitful. It’s just what I got out of it due to a severe lack of definition. So I feel it is necessary for my own sake, and to perhaps even edify any who would read this post, to give a bit of definition of grace as it would pertain to our interaction with other people.

In my tweet, I mentioned “responsive grace.” By this I mean the grace that we are to have to other men because of the grace shed so freely to us by Christ. Many may have said “because of the grace shed so freely to us on the cross,” but I don’t believe that was the only time grace was propelled toward us. I believe it is given every day. “For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.” The standard is set high. So high than no man or woman has ever reached it. And truly it is spoken that God’s grace abounded in Christ’s death for us: “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” But God’s grace continues: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”

And this grace produces a type of life within us. This is what I call “responsive grace.” It is the grace that produces abundant life through us that affects how we live and how we see ourselves and how we see and interact with other people. Consider the following passages that illustrate this:

“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.”

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith…”

“But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God”

“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God”

“But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also.” (“this act” being giving)

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

This list could go on and on. But I think we can conclude from these passages that when we are saved by grace, it is not just our eternity that is redeemed, but also our life. This is daily, responsive grace. We live our life in response to the grace that was shed upon us on the cross, and the grace that is continually shed upon us as the living Christ mediates on our behalf before the Father and works in and through us by the Spirit by the will and work of the Father (likewise we are baptized into Christ at salvation).

Much of what I’ve heard about grace has lead towards a great deceit among Christians. Not because it leads us toward sin, but because it leads us towards accepting sin in others as just another way that Christ’s grace allows us to differ. We allow ourselves to live as though we don’t have to focus on purity in ourselves or others. Christ has covered all sins, so we don’t have to cover it in our edification towards others. We can just boast in Christ’s freeing grace and not deal with seeing people live purely in this world. We boast in that we are acceptable because of Christ’s redemption, and not because of works, which is true, but we then go to conclude through our lack of proper edification that the way we live our lives is only between us and our God, and we need not presume upon others that they have improper motives or have set the bar too low for themselves. I’m not saying that we all need to repent of our CCM. I personally think that some standards do not need to be had by all people. But we should not keep our relationships so shallow so as to never be able to talk to a person about their motives, and just leave it between them and God. God has, by His grace, left us with a great Church to edify itself and bring itself up in the grace of God. He has left us to be our brothers’ keepers. So we must, according to the grace of God, keep our brothers in check before God, in our actions, attitudes, and motives. Especially the latter two, as those are the things that bring about our actions.

But this is not to say that we are to be critical of all works of men. Truly at some point we cannot know the ins and outs of everyone’s relationship with God. We cannot expect to have all answers for all men. We cannot, according to grace, believe that we have it all figured out, and that the standards that we walk according to are the universal standards that all men have to live by. We have to understand that we too are weak. We need our own barriers to keep us from the sins that easily beset us. Yet our besetting sins are not the same as someone else’s. Are you drawn into the self-sufficient rebellion of the rock culture? Then stay away from certain types of CCM. But not all people are likewise drawn, and do not need the same barrier that you need. Understand that you are weak. Understand that they are weak. Understand that, since you are weak, you have an understanding of the world around you that has holes in it. While you are redeemed by Christ’s blood, your walk and worldview are still being redeemed! It’s only natural to be wrong. And we must boast in our weaknesses, for in them is the grace of God most clearly displayed. But we focus too much on being strong…on being right…on being whole…as if God’s grace needs us to work for it. No, rather, humble yourself under God’s grace. Boast in your weaknesses because of God’s strength, yet strive with all men to live justly in this life, and to seek more and more daily grace and peace with our God. We cannot sacrifice purity for grace. Nor can we sacrifice grace for purity. They serve each other. And we serve men. It is a glorious existence when you understand that God’s will does not depend on you, and that you are merely a speck in this world. Because then you really see the glory of God’s work, and it becomes less about you and more about Him. Some are depressed by the fact that they never be anything more than a speck, but only because they want to be great. Rather, be consumed by God’s greatness and boast in His grace toward you. While you do this, edify all men to live holy and upright lives before their God. Get intimate with the Church so that you might edify their souls, and not just their actions. Do not judge as though you see all things in black and white. You only deceive yourself. Rather, see to it that in your edification you and God are in agreement concerning truth. Speak nothing as “thus saith the Lord” if the Lord did not thus say, yet what the Lord has spoken, speak to all men for their salvation and edification in a holy fear of God, knowing that one day you will give account for the things that you have and have not said. Often it is the things that we do not say “in the name of grace, peace, and humility” that are the most hurtful.

Responsive grace changes your life. Responsive grace seeks to change other people’s lives. Do not “leave it up to God.” Realize that, while it is all up to God, He has, according to His sovereignty, purposefully set up the Church to edify itself through the grace that He gives it. Leaving it up to God means acknowledging that He has given us as a means of edification to the Church. So get off your lazy, scared rump and get out there and speak the bold truth…in grace.