The grace of God

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:11-12

For many recently, there has been a rediscovery of the message of grace, and there is a returning to the centrality of the Good News of God’s gracious provision through His Son. But in re-emphasizing grace as foundational, much confusion theologically has entered the church. We’ve all heard the term, “sloppy agape”, which is to say that some understand grace to be a “free ticket” to now live however they want believing that grace will always be available regardless of how they live.

This is a dangerous and unbiblical understanding of the grace of God that has been provided in the Lord Jesus Christ. When grace is understood in a true Biblical sense, and is active in the life of a believer, Paul says it “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness.” In other words, grace is not only provision for sin, it is an enabling power to keep us from sinning! This is the spirit in which the text in Hebrews was written. It is an admonishment to apply diligence in our faith and it assumes a proper understanding of the work of grace in the life of the believer.

The writer to the Hebrews says that diligence is needed to the very end. Some translations use the word “earnestness”. In other words there has to be a seriousness and an effort in our faith. He warns of becoming lazy in their faith and running the risk of missing their full inheritance. That doesn’t mean “losing their salvation’, it means not living life to the fullest, and missing the full blessing of God in this life. That would be tragic because we also know that how we live this life as believers has great reward in the life to come. “Don’t forfeit any of your inheritance!” he warns.

What is needed the writer says, is diligence in our faith; earnestness, seriousness, and our full participation “to the very end”. Imitate others, he also says, who live this way. Imitate their faith and their patience as they live for God. Apply yourself to a life of faith, always dependent on the enabling grace and power of the Life that is at work in you, but also fully aware that our participation in this life is the outworking of our faith. True faith will always lead to good works.
Godly works come from resting in God’s grace. Rest and grace, works and diligence; two sides of the same wonderful coin. The rest and the grace is His part, that which is finished in Christ. Our part is to be diligent in believing, diligent in resting, and earnest in living out of His grace. This is not a time for casual Christianity. In fact there is no such thing.

R. Martinez