I hope you get a chance to meet him one day. In person, he is a fired-up, fireball of a preacher....... until he steps away from the pulpit. Then he is one of the gentlest, calmest people you could hope to meet. The only other theologian I know personally, Michael Hardin, is pretty much the same way, though he IS a bit more privately opinionated. (But he is still a hippie, at heart.)
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What is all this talk about grace being a god? 
The grace of God that bringeth salvation., grace is describing the LOVE of God. Grace is the kind of love only God gives that could bring salvation. (God IS Love) Grace begins with God and that is the only way we can understand Him and what He did for us., by getting a "revelation" and understanding of "HOW" He loves us. BY GRACE; not by our earning it. Alleluia!!!!!!! It's a time to celebrate!!! . We love Him because He first loved us. We have all we have in Christ because of the Love of God. That "love" is described as unmerited.,unearned., and unconditional.
That is the kind of love that the word GRACE describes. The Gospel of grace is the love of God. Everything is about the love of God IN Christ.
So we who are alllllllllllllllllwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyys talking about the gospel of grace are talking about the love of God in Christ. That is the gospel. We are to BEHOLD what MANNER of LOVE the Father has given unto us. we are to behold this manner of love and we do. Amen. GRACE is the manner in which God loves us., He does it based on Him and what He has overflowing in Him. His love is not based on us and who we are or what we do. Only God can do graciously all things for and to us. He does it graciously and UNCONDITIONALLY without our meriting any of it....
How is that knowing the love of God making grace a God???? You guys are so suspicious about so many things you don't accept the word grace; God's love., with allll of it's many and deeper ramifications. We celebrate and talk about and lean on and comfort ourselves IN His love for us., and are able to survive because of the manner of love the Father has given in Christ Jesus and His love is described by the word GRACE. The "way" God loves is not the "way" humans love. God's love is unmerited., unearned, unconditional in every possible way. The word GRACE describes God's love in and for us. It's un-worldly and un-human. Without Christ we are void of that kind of love and do not have understanding.
So when you hear the words "gospel of grace" and call it another gospel, I don't understand yours and others peoples reasoning. Remember that God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son., Because of God's (grace) the "way" He loves us which is ---graciously., which means He does it -unconditionally. He gives it with unmerited unearned favor. He gives His love unconditionally. God's love=the word 'grace' and that kind of gracious love sent Jesus (God's kind of love sent Jesus) Not human love, but God's love as described by the word;GRACE.
If someone is mean forinstance., the love of God (grace) teaches us how to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. We are able to understand because Christ was our example.,we don't give back what they deserve., we give them what they don't deserve...unearned unworthy of love like God gives us In Christ. That is grace;unearned unmerited kindness toward someone because of the grace of God. Jesus brought grace and truth where Moses brought in the law. Jesus died for the ungodly., not the godly. That is grace/love in action. The law is out, grace and truth are in. When we deal with people we deal with them according to "grace which is the kind of love God gives us" and we don't deal with people according to "law the way Moses taught" We deal with people AND ourselves the way God does., with His kind of love which is described by the word (GRACE) Welcome to the new covenant Lynn.
The grace of God that bringeth salvation., grace is describing the LOVE of God. Grace is the kind of love only God gives that could bring salvation. (God IS Love) Grace begins with God and that is the only way we can understand Him and what He did for us., by getting a "revelation" and understanding of "HOW" He loves us. BY GRACE; not by our earning it. Alleluia!!!!!!! It's a time to celebrate!!! . We love Him because He first loved us. We have all we have in Christ because of the Love of God. That "love" is described as unmerited.,unearned., and unconditional. That is the kind of love that the word GRACE describes. The Gospel of grace is the love of God. Everything is about the love of God IN Christ.
So we who are alllllllllllllllllwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyys talking about the gospel of grace are talking about the love of God in Christ. That is the gospel. We are to BEHOLD what MANNER of LOVE the Father has given unto us. we are to behold this manner of love and we do. Amen. GRACE is the manner in which God loves us., He does it based on Him and what He has overflowing in Him. His love is not based on us and who we are or what we do. Only God can do graciously all things for and to us. He does it graciously and UNCONDITIONALLY without our meriting any of it....
How is that knowing the love of God making grace a God????
You guys are so suspicious about so many things you don't accept the word grace; God's love., with allll of it's many and deeper ramifications. We celebrate and talk about and lean on and comfort ourselves IN His love for us., and are able to survive because of the manner of love the Father has given in Christ Jesus and His love is described by the word GRACE. The "way" God loves is not the "way" humans love. God's love is unmerited., unearned, unconditional in every possible way. The word GRACE describes God's love in and for us. It's un-worldly and un-human. Without Christ we are void of that kind of love and do not have understanding. So when you hear the words "gospel of grace" and call it another gospel, I don't understand yours and others peoples reasoning. Remember that God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son., Because of God's (grace) the "way" He loves us which is ---graciously., which means He does it -unconditionally. He gives it with unmerited unearned favor. He gives His love unconditionally. God's love=the word 'grace' and that kind of gracious love sent Jesus (God's kind of love sent Jesus) Not human love, but God's love as described by the word;GRACE.
If someone is mean forinstance., the love of God (grace) teaches us how to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. We are able to understand because Christ was our example.,we don't give back what they deserve., we give them what they don't deserve...unearned unworthy of love like God gives us In Christ. That is grace;unearned unmerited kindness toward someone because of the grace of God. Jesus brought grace and truth where Moses brought in the law. Jesus died for the ungodly., not the godly. That is grace/love in action. The law is out, grace and truth are in. When we deal with people we deal with them according to "grace which is the kind of love God gives us" and we don't deal with people according to "law the way Moses taught" We deal with people AND ourselves the way God does., with His kind of love which is described by the word (GRACE) Welcome to the new covenant Lynn.
His name is Jeff Turner..he is a good friend of Willie's...I posted one of his videos in this thread ( no it is not Prince )..click on the link below and it will take you to it.
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...growth-within-gods-people-20.html#post2650228
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...growth-within-gods-people-20.html#post2650228
Maybe this is all semantics, or grammar or even logic.
But when you say something IS something else, it means they are one and the same.
I want to quote from Stanley Grenz's book "Theology for the Community of God." It is a awesome book, and I would highly recommend that everyone take a break from Internet videos from preachers with questionable theology, and spend a month or so, instead, reading this book. It really tells you not only about God, but about how we are to live in community but all the other "ologies" including where sin and repentance fit into the scheme of being a Christian and walking with God (and yes, we do need to continue to confess our sins, and that does not make us morose or miserable, but in fact acknowledges that we do still live in this sin filled world, and our sancitifcation is not yet finished). In fact, I am going to try and spend some time re-reading it today!
"The New Testament (specifically 1 John 4:7-21) suggest that the ontological unity which the [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] constitute and therefore which comprises the divine essence is agape (love). This does not mean, however that love itself is God. In the original Greek, John's construction is carefully written, so as to state that "God is as to character love." While God is love, love cannot be God. Love is a relational term which presupposes someone who loves and someone who is loved. Therefore, love has no objective existance apart from being the relation between the lover and the beloved."
So God is love (not equals). But love is not God. (Love does not equal God)
Once again, Jesus is NOT grace, but he does give grace. Jesus is a person, but he is also God. You cannot take an attribute and claim it is Jesus. That is heresy.
If one was going to "personify" grace, that would be making grace into a PERSON. However, that is not what is happening in this thread and in this forum.
In fact, grace is being deified, or made into deity. Again, because Jesus is deity. He is God. Another word for trying to make grace into Jesus, in the Bible is blasphemy. You simply cannot take the attributes of God, and make them into God. As others have said, that leaves out the other important attributes of the character of God, and makes God in fact, less than he is.
God gives us grace, but he is not grace. He is the giver of all things gracious, including salvation, but the giver is not the gift. And that is because the giver is so much more than the gift! Jesus is God. Grace is not!
U
Titus 2: 11-14
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
Jesus is the Grace of God personified
I watched much of one of his videos posted here (could be this thread but honestly there are so many vids of his plastered all over the BDF I could not assuredly attest to the fact that it was this thread without going back to check and I am not going to do that ) that was quite disturbing on how much he focused on the number five and how he associated it with grace, he was occultish in his obsession with that number, and the resultant insistence that everyone of grace is a Benjamite generation.
) that was quite disturbing on how much he focused on the number five and how he associated it with grace, he was occultish in his obsession with that number, and the resultant insistence that everyone of grace is a Benjamite generation.
Thank you for taking the time to reply and I can see what you are saying however I still don't think people are making it the 4th member of the Trinity and as you say maybe it's just semantics. At least I don't think of it that way.
I can see where people might think that but anyway I only mention that grace and Jesus cannot be separated like wet can't be separated from water a few times before when this came up. I always just think of Jesus and what He has already done for us in His "completed" work and it is all by grace alone.
I believe the gospel is Jesus too. Certainly not the fullness of Him but all Him nonetheless. I also believe the Truth is Jesus as well and again not the fullness of Him but it is all Him too.
Who can fathom His fullness?
Jesus is in fact God and His essence of His nature will be revealed to us throughout all of eternity!
Anyway thanks again for taking the time to write to us as I know the RA in your fingers make it very difficult for you to do so. We value your posts and opinions greatly.
I can see where people might think that but anyway I only mention that grace and Jesus cannot be separated like wet can't be separated from water a few times before when this came up. I always just think of Jesus and what He has already done for us in His "completed" work and it is all by grace alone.
I believe the gospel is Jesus too. Certainly not the fullness of Him but all Him nonetheless. I also believe the Truth is Jesus as well and again not the fullness of Him but it is all Him too.
Who can fathom His fullness?
Jesus is in fact God and His essence of His nature will be revealed to us throughout all of eternity!
Anyway thanks again for taking the time to write to us as I know the RA in your fingers make it very difficult for you to do so. We value your posts and opinions greatly.
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It's been going on since I came back to this site (Last December.) The first trickle came before I left, but it wasn't truly started when I left, (late last summer? I kind of forget.) This is the cause of all those annoying grace/hypergrace/antigrace/My-Grace-is-Better-Than-Your-Grace Grace posts.
Honestly? I thought it would fade out like the old OSAS ad-nauseum posts did the first time I was on this site. If enough of us ignored it long enough they'd get bored with the same ole arguments, and even get tired of patting each other on the backs for agreement. But this is different.
This one came with a cheering section. Kind of like Amway rallies -- get enough being really excited about the pyramid scheme and the upper echelon get richer and richer, forever willing for the lower echelons and foot soldiers to either convert or not convert new recruits, but just as long as they sell a product or two. Even if the new recruits only sell one product, the upper echelon get their commission. Enough pennies from enough recruits is a buck, and enough bucks give you ten, and enough tens... so? Who cares if the new recruits last or not? The math is right. If you can make just one of 100 recruits into a lieutenant, then that lieutenant can find a few more over the years to keep going. (You think I've been suckered enough in my life to figure out THAT math? lol) Except, at least Amway gave commissions to everyone. This seems closer to just the upper echelon gets the money. The recruits just get the high.
So, at first it was just a few. Then more came. And more. (Notice how many people named grace lately?) And they rahrah each other until they got the buzz. (And no mistake with that term. It is a high. It is an "experience." It is a drug!) And the buzz gets them rahrahing others until more come.
And all the time those of us who have been here long enough to remember the before are something like 40somethings listening to teens. Most of the words we understand, so we think they're talking the same talk, but all the while some of the words have change just enough that they can talk in front of others without anyone catching on to some words have changed their meanings enough that they most certainly aren't talking the same talk.
The new word -- "Grace" (with a cap.) The rest are catch phrases.
When we were young, the illegal substance many were smoking was called "pot." A few years ago I answered questions on a gardening forum, and people kept coming in to find out how to grow weed. I'm stuck wondering why anyone wants to intentionally grow weeds in their garden, (also didn't understand they were growing them in their basement for a while -- really would have helped to know the plant wasn't going to be grown outside
), until I got the definition of what they meant.
We're busy thinking Grace means grace. It really takes something like this to catch on that there are two worlds happening on this site, and...well. I think I've been clear that one of them is a cancerous growth.
(For all those who have officially lowered the boom on me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. I'm judged as being judgemental, intolerant, against humanity and a divider-of-the-brethren, and, oh yeah. Now I'm afraid. And just so I'm perfectly clear, yupper. I am judgemental.
)
Honestly? I thought it would fade out like the old OSAS ad-nauseum posts did the first time I was on this site. If enough of us ignored it long enough they'd get bored with the same ole arguments, and even get tired of patting each other on the backs for agreement. But this is different.
This one came with a cheering section. Kind of like Amway rallies -- get enough being really excited about the pyramid scheme and the upper echelon get richer and richer, forever willing for the lower echelons and foot soldiers to either convert or not convert new recruits, but just as long as they sell a product or two. Even if the new recruits only sell one product, the upper echelon get their commission. Enough pennies from enough recruits is a buck, and enough bucks give you ten, and enough tens... so? Who cares if the new recruits last or not? The math is right. If you can make just one of 100 recruits into a lieutenant, then that lieutenant can find a few more over the years to keep going. (You think I've been suckered enough in my life to figure out THAT math? lol) Except, at least Amway gave commissions to everyone. This seems closer to just the upper echelon gets the money. The recruits just get the high.
So, at first it was just a few. Then more came. And more. (Notice how many people named grace lately?) And they rahrah each other until they got the buzz. (And no mistake with that term. It is a high. It is an "experience." It is a drug!) And the buzz gets them rahrahing others until more come.
And all the time those of us who have been here long enough to remember the before are something like 40somethings listening to teens. Most of the words we understand, so we think they're talking the same talk, but all the while some of the words have change just enough that they can talk in front of others without anyone catching on to some words have changed their meanings enough that they most certainly aren't talking the same talk.
The new word -- "Grace" (with a cap.) The rest are catch phrases.
When we were young, the illegal substance many were smoking was called "pot." A few years ago I answered questions on a gardening forum, and people kept coming in to find out how to grow weed. I'm stuck wondering why anyone wants to intentionally grow weeds in their garden, (also didn't understand they were growing them in their basement for a while -- really would have helped to know the plant wasn't going to be grown outside
We're busy thinking Grace means grace. It really takes something like this to catch on that there are two worlds happening on this site, and...well. I think I've been clear that one of them is a cancerous growth.
(For all those who have officially lowered the boom on me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. I'm judged as being judgemental, intolerant, against humanity and a divider-of-the-brethren, and, oh yeah. Now I'm afraid. And just so I'm perfectly clear, yupper. I am judgemental.
Yes, Grace vs grace!
Grace -the deified attribute equal to God
Versus
grace - the undeserved blessing freely bestowed on humans by God. God's loving actions towards creation and towards humankind in particular.
I do remember a thread on hypergrace and I asked for the defintion. I got an answer, but I confess I did not see the ramifications and implications.
Because GRACE or Grace is really hypergrace! So I looked through the threads, and could not find the definition and googled one instead. Because I finally get what this discussion is all about!
"The term hyper-grace has been used to describe a new wave of teaching that emphasizes the grace of God to the exclusion of other vital teachings such as repentance and confession of sin. Hyper-grace teachers maintain that all sin, past, present, and future, has already been forgiven, so there is no need for a believer to ever confess it. Hyper-grace teaching says that, when God looks at us, He sees only a holy and righteous people. The conclusion of hyper-grace teaching is that we are not bound by Jesus’ teaching, even as we are not under the Law; that believers are not responsible for their sin; and that anyone who disagrees is a pharisaical legalist. In short, hyper-grace teachers “pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 1:4) and flirt with antinomianism.
Hyper-grace teaching is a good example of mixing truth with error. An emphasis on the beauty and power of God’s grace is good, but some teachers are neglecting what Paul called the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). For example, it is true that Christians have been forgiven by God. But that doesn’t mean we never have to confess our sin. James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” If we are to confess our sins to each other, why would we not need to confess them to God, since every sin is ultimately a sin against God (Psalm 51:4)?
Also, 1 John 1:9 gives clear instruction to believers about confessing sin. It begins with the word if: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is a cause/effect statement implying that we cannot have the second without the first. As blood-bought children of God, we do not continue to confess our sin in order to be saved from hell. We confess and repent in order to reestablish an intimate relationship with our Father. We are “positionally righteous” but “practically sinful.”
To counter this argument, hyper-grace preachers deny that John’s letters were written to believers. However, 1 John 2:1 begins with this: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” John is clearly writing to believers whom he personally knew. He indicates that his believing friends may indeed sin, and that, when they do, they need to confess it.
Hyper-grace preachers also claim the Holy Spirit will never convict Christians of their sin. Mature Christians should recognize this fallacy right away. Every disciple of Christ has felt the overwhelming conviction of the Holy Spirit when he or she has sinned. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth” (John 15:26). Truth, by its very definition, will not tolerate anything false. When the Spirit of Truth abides in a believing heart (1 Corinthians 6:19), He brings conviction about anything that is not truth.
In summary, much of what the hyper-grace preachers teach is valid. We are indeed saved by grace, not our works (Ephesians 2:8–9). And God’s grace is marvelous, great, and free (1 Timothy 1:14). However, hyper-grace teaching is out of proportion to the rest of Scripture. Any time one doctrine is emphasized to the exclusion of the rest, we fall into error because we fail to “correctly handle” the Word (2 Timothy 2:15).
Jesus was full of both “grace and truth” (John 1:14). The two are in delicate balance, and a tip to either side can result in a false gospel. We must always compare any new teaching with the “whole counsel of God” and learn to disregard anything that veers even slightly from the truth (1 John 4:1)."
What is hyper-grace?
"Hyper-grace teaching is a good example of mixing truth with error. An emphasis on the beauty and power of God’s grace is good, but some teachers are neglecting what Paul called the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27)."
Hypergrace is a good example of mixing truth with error indeed! So I am flipping from agreeing with the truth part of hypergrace (which is that grace is essential and saves us without respect to works and absolutely and uncompromisingly true!) - and standing against the error of this hypergrace teaching. Sorry it took me so long to figure this out!
And here are the reasons why some people are for hyper-grace if that's what they call it.
I am posting JGIG's post by her permission. Here is the link below.
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...conditional-unconditional-20.html#post2633067
What is hyper-grace? It's a pejorative term used to refer to the Gospel of Grace. Here's an article I wrote on the subject. There are several links embedded if you wish to look further into the matter.
Grace and peace,
-JGIG
What About ‘Hyper-Grace’???
Posted on February 26, 2014 by JGIG
What About ‘Hyper-Grace’???
Over the past year or so (starting in 2013), a manufactured label, ‘Hyper-Grace’, has been made popular and applied to the Gospel of Grace. Personally, I embrace the term, because in my opinion, the Living God coming to Earth as a man to die for oursin and bear the judgement due us, and then to give those who believe the gift of Righteousness and New Life in order to reconcile us to Himself is a pretty Hyper Grace!
That aside, not all believers embrace the term, and many are uncomfortable with the concept of pure Grace. Rather those who mix Law and Grace use the term as aderogatory label, on which they pile false accusations about what the Gospel of Grace is and how those who walk in Grace live their lives.
A main instigator in applying the Hyper-Grace label to Grace-embracing believers is Dr. Michael Brown. Understand that Dr. Brown is a respected theologian, and many take what he says quite seriously, seeing him as a credible source sounding a valid alarm – “Christians are seeing Grace as a license to sin!”,“Hyper-Grace teachings are leading to ‘grace horror stories!’” and the hyperbolic like.
You can do a search with Dr. Brown’s name and ‘Hyper-Grace’ and get a number of video teachings and interviews that he’s done on the subject, as well as an assortment of articles regarding the Hyper-Grace label/concept. Note the ‘tabloidesque’ flavor to his interviews with Sid Roth, and the unbridled discussion about how this ‘hyper-grace’ can (and in their opinion does) lead to the loss of salvation.
How do you avoid losing your salvation?
By not sinning, of course!
How do you keep from sinning?
By keeping laws/commandments/rules . . . whatever the circle of like-minded folks you surround yourself with deems appropriate as the Biblical standard.
And if you do sin?
Repeated confession and repentance to God for sins that, according to their theology, God will hold against you if you don’t!
This of course, is contrary to contextual Scriptures (John 3:16-18, Romans 5, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 2:1-2 for starters).
Many of the resources available on the Audio and Text Resources page here at JGIG refute the ‘Hyper-Grace’ hype, giving a Biblical defense for the Gospel of Grace.
Rob Rufus actually recorded a teaching entitled, ‘A Biblical Defense of the Gospel of Grace‘ several years before Dr. Brown made the ‘Hyper-Grace’ label popular. A video version of the teaching can be viewed, as well:
Paul Ellis, author at the site, Escape to Reality, author of The Gospel in Ten Words, and The Gospel in Twenty Questions (links also in the left sidebar below), took the issue head on in “Confronting the Error of Hyper-Grace” – a response to Michael Brown, which garnered a few hundred comments in a good, lively discussion. One more (of many) good articles found at his site in line with what we’re discussing here: Confession, Conviction, Confusion!
When Dr. Brown’s book on ‘Hyper-Grace’ came out, D.R. Silva put together a good resource rebutting the common argumentsagainst Grace. Silva builds a solid defense for the Gospel of Grace in about 68 pages, whereas Brown’s book spends 304 pages trying to refute the Gospel of Grace and expound on its ‘dangers’.D.R. Silva does reference Dr. Brown in his book, but I think it’s important to note that Hyper-Grace: The Dangerous Doctrine of a Happy God is not primarily a refutation of Hyper-Grace: Exposing the Dangers of the Modern Grace Message (dangerous stuff, that Grace of God!!!), but rather a Biblical defense of the Grace position, taking on the common arguments/accusations leveled by those who mischaracterize the Grace position.‘Grace is good, But . . . !’ should have been the title for Dr. Brown’s book. A good audio by Rob Rufus, a teaching recorded several years ago, is available with a similar title: Grace is Good – No Buts!
Edited to add 4/7/14:
Paul Ellis has published a book entitled, “The Hyper-Grace Gospel: A Response to Michael Brown and Those Opposed to the Modern Grace Message“, where he also provides an outline of the content, which systematically addresses the false perceptions of the Gospel of Grace as well as responds to specific assertions made by Dr. Brown. Ellis puts together a definitive, clear presentation first and foremost of the Gospel of Grace. Highly recommended:
A good video review of D.R. Silva’s book can be found here: Book Review “Hyper Grace – the Dangerous Doctrine of a Happy God”
So if someone warns you of the ‘dangers’ of ‘Hyper-Grace’, the Audio and Text Resources, Video Resources, and The Gospel pages have lots of materials to support the Biblical Gospel of Grace, and this article has given you a few specific resources (click on the embedded links) to help you defend the Gospel of Grace with confidence and good humor. [Added 5/4/14 – And more good humor.]
And Grace \o/..
I am posting JGIG's post by her permission. Here is the link below.
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...conditional-unconditional-20.html#post2633067
What is hyper-grace? It's a pejorative term used to refer to the Gospel of Grace. Here's an article I wrote on the subject. There are several links embedded if you wish to look further into the matter
.Grace and peace,
-JGIG
What About ‘Hyper-Grace’???
Posted on February 26, 2014 by JGIG
What About ‘Hyper-Grace’???
Over the past year or so (starting in 2013), a manufactured label, ‘Hyper-Grace’, has been made popular and applied to the Gospel of Grace. Personally, I embrace the term, because in my opinion, the Living God coming to Earth as a man to die for oursin and bear the judgement due us, and then to give those who believe the gift of Righteousness and New Life in order to reconcile us to Himself is a pretty Hyper Grace!
That aside, not all believers embrace the term, and many are uncomfortable with the concept of pure Grace. Rather those who mix Law and Grace use the term as aderogatory label, on which they pile false accusations about what the Gospel of Grace is and how those who walk in Grace live their lives.
A main instigator in applying the Hyper-Grace label to Grace-embracing believers is Dr. Michael Brown. Understand that Dr. Brown is a respected theologian, and many take what he says quite seriously, seeing him as a credible source sounding a valid alarm – “Christians are seeing Grace as a license to sin!”,“Hyper-Grace teachings are leading to ‘grace horror stories!’” and the hyperbolic like.
You can do a search with Dr. Brown’s name and ‘Hyper-Grace’ and get a number of video teachings and interviews that he’s done on the subject, as well as an assortment of articles regarding the Hyper-Grace label/concept. Note the ‘tabloidesque’ flavor to his interviews with Sid Roth, and the unbridled discussion about how this ‘hyper-grace’ can (and in their opinion does) lead to the loss of salvation.
How do you avoid losing your salvation?
By not sinning, of course!
How do you keep from sinning?
By keeping laws/commandments/rules . . . whatever the circle of like-minded folks you surround yourself with deems appropriate as the Biblical standard.
And if you do sin?
Repeated confession and repentance to God for sins that, according to their theology, God will hold against you if you don’t!
This of course, is contrary to contextual Scriptures (John 3:16-18, Romans 5, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 2:1-2 for starters).
Many of the resources available on the Audio and Text Resources page here at JGIG refute the ‘Hyper-Grace’ hype, giving a Biblical defense for the Gospel of Grace.
Rob Rufus actually recorded a teaching entitled, ‘A Biblical Defense of the Gospel of Grace‘ several years before Dr. Brown made the ‘Hyper-Grace’ label popular. A video version of the teaching can be viewed, as well:
Paul Ellis, author at the site, Escape to Reality, author of The Gospel in Ten Words, and The Gospel in Twenty Questions (links also in the left sidebar below), took the issue head on in “Confronting the Error of Hyper-Grace” – a response to Michael Brown, which garnered a few hundred comments in a good, lively discussion. One more (of many) good articles found at his site in line with what we’re discussing here: Confession, Conviction, Confusion!
When Dr. Brown’s book on ‘Hyper-Grace’ came out, D.R. Silva put together a good resource rebutting the common argumentsagainst Grace. Silva builds a solid defense for the Gospel of Grace in about 68 pages, whereas Brown’s book spends 304 pages trying to refute the Gospel of Grace and expound on its ‘dangers’.D.R. Silva does reference Dr. Brown in his book, but I think it’s important to note that Hyper-Grace: The Dangerous Doctrine of a Happy God is not primarily a refutation of Hyper-Grace: Exposing the Dangers of the Modern Grace Message (dangerous stuff, that Grace of God!!!), but rather a Biblical defense of the Grace position, taking on the common arguments/accusations leveled by those who mischaracterize the Grace position.‘Grace is good, But . . . !’ should have been the title for Dr. Brown’s book. A good audio by Rob Rufus, a teaching recorded several years ago, is available with a similar title: Grace is Good – No Buts!
Edited to add 4/7/14:
Paul Ellis has published a book entitled, “The Hyper-Grace Gospel: A Response to Michael Brown and Those Opposed to the Modern Grace Message“, where he also provides an outline of the content, which systematically addresses the false perceptions of the Gospel of Grace as well as responds to specific assertions made by Dr. Brown. Ellis puts together a definitive, clear presentation first and foremost of the Gospel of Grace. Highly recommended:
A good video review of D.R. Silva’s book can be found here: Book Review “Hyper Grace – the Dangerous Doctrine of a Happy God”
So if someone warns you of the ‘dangers’ of ‘Hyper-Grace’, the Audio and Text Resources, Video Resources, and The Gospel pages have lots of materials to support the Biblical Gospel of Grace, and this article has given you a few specific resources (click on the embedded links) to help you defend the Gospel of Grace with confidence and good humor. [Added 5/4/14 – And more good humor.]
And Grace \o/..
I would encourage you Angela and others to read this as getting things from one side website can be warped and founded on the wrong information too.
Here is another one about the common "mis-representations" of what some call hyper-grace. Again this was from JGIG's post in this thread.
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...conditional-unconditional-20.html#post2633073
Why I am Hyper-Grace: Answering Five Common Objections
Is Hyper-Grace “dangerous” or “imbalanced”?
Author: Jeremy White/Thursday, August 21, 2014/Categories: Jeremy White, Top Picks
Introduction:
In recent times, a label has surfaced regarding what some view as a “dangerous” or “imbalanced” teaching of the grace of God. “Hyper-Grace” is now a term being used to suggest that there are some folks (such as myself) who “take God’s grace too far” and in so doing either ignore or minimize other significant teachings of the Bible.
What follows is an attempt to address a few of the most common “warnings” some have offered regarding those of us who make much of the finished work of Christ.
Objection #1: The Hyper-Grace Gospel is Unbiblical
For starters, you may be shocked to discover that “hyper-grace” is really the only adequate description for grace in the first place, according to the Bible. For example, when Paul wrote in Romans 5:20 that “…where sin increased, grace increased all the more” he was literally referring to God’s grace as “hyper.”
The Greek term for the phrase “increased all the more” (NIV) is huper-perisseuo which literally means “super-abounded.” Hyper is simply a transliteration of the prefix “huper” in Greek and means “above and beyond” in scope or quality. The term “perisseuo” refers to that which is “in far excess of what might be expected, superfluous or gratuitous.”
So in Paul’s description of God’s amazing grace, he is literally saying that because of the abundance of sin in this world, God’s grace has super-abounded in order to rescue us from sin! Paul literally describes God’s grace as HYPER in this passage. It is super-abundant and unfathomably plentiful and powerful. In fact, a few verses later Paul would state that the very reason sin is no longer our master is because we are no longer under law, but under this hyper-abounding grace (Rom. 6:14)!
If this is what one means by “hyper-grace,” then count me in as one of the “grace-heretics!” It is a label that was applied to both Paul and Jesus by the Pharisees of their day, so I am more than happy to wear it in ours. As the late scholar D. Martin Lloyd-Jones famously pointed out (andthis is my paraphrase), "If people do not sometimes misunderstand and falsely accuse you of being soft-on-sin or against God’s law, you are not preaching the real gospel!"
Objection #2: Hyper-Grace Preachers are Soft on Sin
This is a common one, of course. The idea here is that because of our high esteem of the finished work of Christ and our insistence upon keeping our eyes fixated on Jesus as Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2), we are either afraid to preach against sin or do not take sin seriously enough.
Far from being “soft on sin” – we who preach grace are extremely big on Jesus. Any gospel worthy of the hyper-grace label is a gospel which points all fingers toward Jesus rather than judgmentally pointing them at those He came to save.
There are definitely many contexts in which it is appropriate to talk about sin, warn about sin and preach against sin. I do this routinely in my preaching ministry, as do my friends who are also labeled as hyper-grace preachers. Sin is bad. It is ugly. It brings death to everything it touches. It grieves God. It makes us miserable. It comes with a variety of consequences.
No legitimate grace-preacher that I am aware of minimizes the reality that sin is evil, wrong, bad, unproductive and unfitting for a new creation in Christ. What we DO focus on, however, is the Answer to sin, which is Jesus – and the fact that His grace alone is precisely what delivers us from its penalty (death), its power (enslavement) and eventually even its very presence (when we live in the fullness of His heavenly kingdom one day).
I talk about sin all the time, but not as a means of manipulating, judging or condemning people. I talk about sin so as to help people understand both their daily and eternal need for Jesus as Savior and Lord. We hyper-grace preachers are simply standing with Paul on the promise that it is the grace of God which “teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age…” (Titus 2:11-13).
Paul taught that the power of sin is the law (1 Cor. 15:56). If a person wants to ensure that they will remain in slavery to life-dominating sin and addiction, one simple way to do that is to live under a law-based mentality. A grace-saturated life, however, frees us from the grip of sin’s mastery over us. Far from being soft on sin, we take sin very seriously. So seriously that we are pointing people unapologetically to the only Source of rescue from it! That Source is not trying harder to be a good person, culturally-espoused self-help tactics or pop-psychology.
That Source is Jesus Christ and the grace He alone offers.
Objection #3: Hyper-Grace Preachers Don’t Believe in Repentance
Not only do we believe in repentance, but we seek to understand and teach it thoroughly and accurately. In the New Testament, “to repent” is a translation of the Greek verb “metanoeo” meaning “to change one’s mind or perspective.” Obviously, when we receive Christ, we have repented in the genuine sense of the term – changing our minds about our need of a Savior and receiving Christ.
Before Christ, we lived as self-sufficiently as possible, thinking that God would probably grade on a curve and accept us at least partly on the basis of our own best efforts and self-generated goodness. When we came to understand our spiritual bankruptcy and our desperate need for Christ’s forgiveness and new life, we repented (had a change of perspective) and received Christ by trusting in Him alone to rescue us.
Beyond this initial experience of “getting saved” (as we often call it), repentance is a daily lifestyle in which an ongoing “renewal of the mind” process is taking place within us. As we grow in faith and in our understanding of God through His Word and our union with His Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), we begin to replace old thinking with new thinking and false thinking with true thinking. This renewal of the mind (Rom. 12:1-3) is an integral part of the transformative process of the Spirit’s work in our lives. This is the essence of a lifestyle of repentance – taking false thoughts captive, making them obedient to (in conformity with) Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).
Paul affirmed in no uncertain terms that God’s kindness (His expressed grace toward us) is what leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Far from being anti-repentance, hyper-grace theology affirms repentance and the ongoing renewal of the mind as an integral part of what it means to follow Jesus under His New Covenant.
Objection #4: Hyper-Grace Preachers Are Against Confession of Sin
This is one of the most common misrepresentations of hyper-grace theology. The Biblical term “to confess” simply means “to speak the same thing as” or “to agree with.” We teach that confession is important because we should yield our minds to agreement with God about everything He reveals – including, but not limited to, sin.
What we often also teach (and this is where the rub is with some people) is that confession is not about triggering any transaction between us and God that would issue forth more forgiveness, as though God were dispensing forgiveness in various doses based upon our confessions. Forgiveness of sin is something that was provided objectively ONE time by ONE act of grace through ONE Savior who shed His blood on the cross for us 2000 years ago. As the book of Hebrews repeatedly emphasizes, He is the “once for all” sacrifice for sin.
Confession of sin then, is about humility and walking in agreement with God – not about getting more forgiveness from Him. Some will suggest that God’s forgiveness is dispensed using a “two-tiered” approach. On one level, they say, God has forgiven our sins judicially and objectively through the cross. On the second tier, however, we need to confess our sins in order to receive “relational” or“experiential” forgiveness in order to maintain close fellowship with God.
This two-tiered approach is nowhere taught in the New Testament, and has only been popularized because of two basic levels of rationale. The first is based upon a misinterpretation of two passages in the New Testament, both of which have been clearly explained in books and sermons by a host of solid gospel teachers. These two passages are Matthew 6:12 (where Jesus appears to be commanding His followers to ask for God’s forgiveness) and 1 John 1:9 (which seems to link forgiveness to confession of sin).
In my book “The Gospel Uncut: Learning to Rest in the Grace of God” I deal with these passages quite clearly, as do other authors such as Bob George, Andrew Farley, Ralph Harris, Paul Ellis, Cathy Hildebrand and Andrew Nelson. I encourage you to investigate these writings for yourself in order to understand the context in which these passages were intended to be understood.
The bottom-line is this. We hyper-grace preachers DO value confession of sin. We also practice confession of sin in our own lives. However, we understand confession to be about agreeing with God concerning the foolishness of our sin rather than begging for forgiveness based upon a humanly-invented two-tiered approach to somehow "maintaining close fellowship" with Him.
Our fellowship with God was purchased unconditionally and irreversibly by Jesus at the cross. Once we receive that fellowship by simple faith in Christ, it is our eternal possession regardless of our recent performance or track-record. As I’ve written in my book, The Gospel Uncut:
"The way I now approach confession is to simply agree with God about the foolishness of my sin. I admit to Him that my sin hurts me as well as others and that it fails to bring glory to His Name. Often I am sorrowful over the foolishness of my actions. The Apostle Paul wrote that there is a “godly sorrow that brings repentance” (2 Cor. 10:7). When I know I have sinned, I humbly admit that my sinful behavior is out of step with my new nature and identity in Him, and I ask Him to help me rest in His completed work. Now here comes the best part! After agreeing with God about my sin, I begin thanking Him for the fact that this sinful act was already forgiven at the cross. Understanding these realities has literally transformed my practice of confession, changing the experience from a guilt-ridden begging session into a dynamic, worshipful encounter in which my conscious mind (and behavior) is realigned with the grace and truth of Jesus.
So yes! By all means confess your sin to God! Agree with Him about sin and everything else He has revealed. But don’t think of confession as a means of obtaining something that Jesus Christ died “once for all” to secure for you. Remember that confession is about humility and the ongoing renewal of the mind process – and never about getting something from God that is already yours in abundance through the finished work of Christ. If you are a believer in Christ, you are NEVER out of fellowship with God. Fellowship is an identity issue, meaning that you now share "all things in common" with God as a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17)! This never has been and never will be based upon your behavioral performance and is not something that you must confess sin in order to have reinstated! Because of Christ, you are always clean and God is always close!
Objection #5: Hyper-Grace Preachers are Against God’s Law
Some take this claim so far as to suggest that we even want to throw out or ignore the Old Testament. Wow! What wild imaginations these accusers have! The truth is that we are by no means antinomian (against the law of God), nor do we disbelieve or avoid teaching the Old Testament. Most of us actually esteem the power and purpose of God’s law so highly that we understand grace to be the only way of escape from its impossibly stringent demands.
Paul shared in Romans 3 and elsewhere that God’s purposes for the law were two-fold: 1) to stop our self-righteous excuses, minimizations and justifications of our sin and 2) to reveal our desperate need of a Savior by grace through faith. The entire thrust of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was to bury His very self-righteous audience under the weight of one inescapable reality: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the world’s most stringent law-keepers (the Pharisees and teachers of the law) you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt.5:20).
That Jesus came to “fulfill” the Law (Matt. 5:17) means that He came to keep its demands perfectly because He knew that we couldn’t and wouldn’t. He fulfilled the stringent demands of the Law on our behalf as our Substitute so that His record of perfection could be credited to our spiritual account when we received Him by grace through faith. He did what you and I couldn’t and wouldn’t, and the Sermon on the Mount is a damning indictment of anyone who thinks they can measure up to God’s standards on their own effort.
And have you heard of this “cheap grace” idea? Sometimes the term is ripped off and redefined from Bonhoeffer’s vocabulary to insinuate that the hyper-grace movement has cheapened the grace of God by making it “too easy” for people to attain. After all, we live in a world where there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? We certainly don't believe or teach that grace is cheap. It cost Jesus His life! But we DO agree with the New Testament that His grace is FREE to those who receive it freely by faith.
The truth of the matter is that hyper-grace teachers are not guilty of promoting cheap grace at all. Rather, our critics are often guilty of promoting cheap Law! Far from being anti-law, WE are the ones who esteem God's Law so highly as to conclude that there is no escape from its condemnation apart from faith in Christ alone! The Law is an all-or-nothing proposition. To stumble in just one aspect of keeping it is the equivalent of breaking all of it (James 2:10). The Law is a ministry of death and condemnation (2 Cor. 3:7-11). The Law is not the bad guy, however. It simply points out who the bad guys are (the world, the flesh and the devil)! The Law is holy and pure and designed to show us what sin is (Rom.7:7).
But living under Law cannot save, change or transform a single heart – only grace can! And this is why we are so adamant about never mixing a law-based mentality with a grace-based mentality toward spiritual life or growth under God’s New Covenant. The New Testament repeatedly affirms that our salvation and sanctification are either completely by law or completely by grace, but cannot be a result of mixing the two.
Conclusion:
With all of that said, the idea of trying to somehow “balance grace” with anything is ludicrous according to both Scripture and plain reason. Grace, by definition, is radically IMBALANCED in our favor! If it were not, it would cease to be grace on that very basis! The term “hyper-grace” is far from insulting! It is in fact the ONLY kind of grace taught, supportedand promoted in the Bible.
God understands that His grace is open to the possibility of abuse by those who might misunderstand it. He understands that people may take His grace for granted or even at times misrepresent it as a license to sin. Paul addressed those concerns very clearly, as did Jesus and the other New Testament writers.
However, the fact that grace is open to misinterpretation and the possibility of abuse does not give us license to water it down, explain it away or cheapen its glory by adding a single measure of law into it as an attempt to stay "balanced." There is nothing balanced whatsoever about the grace of God! We rejoice in that! We celebrate that! We proclaim that without apology!
May God reveal His hyper-grace more clearly to you in the days ahead! Feel free to chime in with your thoughts below.
(For a more exhaustive treatment of this critical subject, check out the book "The Hyper-Grace Gospel" by my friend Paul Ellis )
Why I am Hyper-Grace: Answering Five Common Objections
Here is another one about the common "mis-representations" of what some call hyper-grace. Again this was from JGIG's post in this thread.
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...conditional-unconditional-20.html#post2633073
Why I am Hyper-Grace: Answering Five Common Objections
Is Hyper-Grace “dangerous” or “imbalanced”?
Author: Jeremy White/Thursday, August 21, 2014/Categories: Jeremy White, Top Picks
Introduction:
In recent times, a label has surfaced regarding what some view as a “dangerous” or “imbalanced” teaching of the grace of God. “Hyper-Grace” is now a term being used to suggest that there are some folks (such as myself) who “take God’s grace too far” and in so doing either ignore or minimize other significant teachings of the Bible.
What follows is an attempt to address a few of the most common “warnings” some have offered regarding those of us who make much of the finished work of Christ.
Objection #1: The Hyper-Grace Gospel is Unbiblical
For starters, you may be shocked to discover that “hyper-grace” is really the only adequate description for grace in the first place, according to the Bible. For example, when Paul wrote in Romans 5:20 that “…where sin increased, grace increased all the more” he was literally referring to God’s grace as “hyper.”
The Greek term for the phrase “increased all the more” (NIV) is huper-perisseuo which literally means “super-abounded.” Hyper is simply a transliteration of the prefix “huper” in Greek and means “above and beyond” in scope or quality. The term “perisseuo” refers to that which is “in far excess of what might be expected, superfluous or gratuitous.”
So in Paul’s description of God’s amazing grace, he is literally saying that because of the abundance of sin in this world, God’s grace has super-abounded in order to rescue us from sin! Paul literally describes God’s grace as HYPER in this passage. It is super-abundant and unfathomably plentiful and powerful. In fact, a few verses later Paul would state that the very reason sin is no longer our master is because we are no longer under law, but under this hyper-abounding grace (Rom. 6:14)!
If this is what one means by “hyper-grace,” then count me in as one of the “grace-heretics!” It is a label that was applied to both Paul and Jesus by the Pharisees of their day, so I am more than happy to wear it in ours. As the late scholar D. Martin Lloyd-Jones famously pointed out (andthis is my paraphrase), "If people do not sometimes misunderstand and falsely accuse you of being soft-on-sin or against God’s law, you are not preaching the real gospel!"
Objection #2: Hyper-Grace Preachers are Soft on Sin
This is a common one, of course. The idea here is that because of our high esteem of the finished work of Christ and our insistence upon keeping our eyes fixated on Jesus as Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2), we are either afraid to preach against sin or do not take sin seriously enough.
Far from being “soft on sin” – we who preach grace are extremely big on Jesus. Any gospel worthy of the hyper-grace label is a gospel which points all fingers toward Jesus rather than judgmentally pointing them at those He came to save.
There are definitely many contexts in which it is appropriate to talk about sin, warn about sin and preach against sin. I do this routinely in my preaching ministry, as do my friends who are also labeled as hyper-grace preachers. Sin is bad. It is ugly. It brings death to everything it touches. It grieves God. It makes us miserable. It comes with a variety of consequences.
No legitimate grace-preacher that I am aware of minimizes the reality that sin is evil, wrong, bad, unproductive and unfitting for a new creation in Christ. What we DO focus on, however, is the Answer to sin, which is Jesus – and the fact that His grace alone is precisely what delivers us from its penalty (death), its power (enslavement) and eventually even its very presence (when we live in the fullness of His heavenly kingdom one day).
I talk about sin all the time, but not as a means of manipulating, judging or condemning people. I talk about sin so as to help people understand both their daily and eternal need for Jesus as Savior and Lord. We hyper-grace preachers are simply standing with Paul on the promise that it is the grace of God which “teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age…” (Titus 2:11-13).
Paul taught that the power of sin is the law (1 Cor. 15:56). If a person wants to ensure that they will remain in slavery to life-dominating sin and addiction, one simple way to do that is to live under a law-based mentality. A grace-saturated life, however, frees us from the grip of sin’s mastery over us. Far from being soft on sin, we take sin very seriously. So seriously that we are pointing people unapologetically to the only Source of rescue from it! That Source is not trying harder to be a good person, culturally-espoused self-help tactics or pop-psychology.
That Source is Jesus Christ and the grace He alone offers.
Objection #3: Hyper-Grace Preachers Don’t Believe in Repentance
Not only do we believe in repentance, but we seek to understand and teach it thoroughly and accurately. In the New Testament, “to repent” is a translation of the Greek verb “metanoeo” meaning “to change one’s mind or perspective.” Obviously, when we receive Christ, we have repented in the genuine sense of the term – changing our minds about our need of a Savior and receiving Christ.
Before Christ, we lived as self-sufficiently as possible, thinking that God would probably grade on a curve and accept us at least partly on the basis of our own best efforts and self-generated goodness. When we came to understand our spiritual bankruptcy and our desperate need for Christ’s forgiveness and new life, we repented (had a change of perspective) and received Christ by trusting in Him alone to rescue us.
Beyond this initial experience of “getting saved” (as we often call it), repentance is a daily lifestyle in which an ongoing “renewal of the mind” process is taking place within us. As we grow in faith and in our understanding of God through His Word and our union with His Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), we begin to replace old thinking with new thinking and false thinking with true thinking. This renewal of the mind (Rom. 12:1-3) is an integral part of the transformative process of the Spirit’s work in our lives. This is the essence of a lifestyle of repentance – taking false thoughts captive, making them obedient to (in conformity with) Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).
Paul affirmed in no uncertain terms that God’s kindness (His expressed grace toward us) is what leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Far from being anti-repentance, hyper-grace theology affirms repentance and the ongoing renewal of the mind as an integral part of what it means to follow Jesus under His New Covenant.
Objection #4: Hyper-Grace Preachers Are Against Confession of Sin
This is one of the most common misrepresentations of hyper-grace theology. The Biblical term “to confess” simply means “to speak the same thing as” or “to agree with.” We teach that confession is important because we should yield our minds to agreement with God about everything He reveals – including, but not limited to, sin.
What we often also teach (and this is where the rub is with some people) is that confession is not about triggering any transaction between us and God that would issue forth more forgiveness, as though God were dispensing forgiveness in various doses based upon our confessions. Forgiveness of sin is something that was provided objectively ONE time by ONE act of grace through ONE Savior who shed His blood on the cross for us 2000 years ago. As the book of Hebrews repeatedly emphasizes, He is the “once for all” sacrifice for sin.
Confession of sin then, is about humility and walking in agreement with God – not about getting more forgiveness from Him. Some will suggest that God’s forgiveness is dispensed using a “two-tiered” approach. On one level, they say, God has forgiven our sins judicially and objectively through the cross. On the second tier, however, we need to confess our sins in order to receive “relational” or“experiential” forgiveness in order to maintain close fellowship with God.
This two-tiered approach is nowhere taught in the New Testament, and has only been popularized because of two basic levels of rationale. The first is based upon a misinterpretation of two passages in the New Testament, both of which have been clearly explained in books and sermons by a host of solid gospel teachers. These two passages are Matthew 6:12 (where Jesus appears to be commanding His followers to ask for God’s forgiveness) and 1 John 1:9 (which seems to link forgiveness to confession of sin).
In my book “The Gospel Uncut: Learning to Rest in the Grace of God” I deal with these passages quite clearly, as do other authors such as Bob George, Andrew Farley, Ralph Harris, Paul Ellis, Cathy Hildebrand and Andrew Nelson. I encourage you to investigate these writings for yourself in order to understand the context in which these passages were intended to be understood.
The bottom-line is this. We hyper-grace preachers DO value confession of sin. We also practice confession of sin in our own lives. However, we understand confession to be about agreeing with God concerning the foolishness of our sin rather than begging for forgiveness based upon a humanly-invented two-tiered approach to somehow "maintaining close fellowship" with Him.
Our fellowship with God was purchased unconditionally and irreversibly by Jesus at the cross. Once we receive that fellowship by simple faith in Christ, it is our eternal possession regardless of our recent performance or track-record. As I’ve written in my book, The Gospel Uncut:
"The way I now approach confession is to simply agree with God about the foolishness of my sin. I admit to Him that my sin hurts me as well as others and that it fails to bring glory to His Name. Often I am sorrowful over the foolishness of my actions. The Apostle Paul wrote that there is a “godly sorrow that brings repentance” (2 Cor. 10:7). When I know I have sinned, I humbly admit that my sinful behavior is out of step with my new nature and identity in Him, and I ask Him to help me rest in His completed work. Now here comes the best part! After agreeing with God about my sin, I begin thanking Him for the fact that this sinful act was already forgiven at the cross. Understanding these realities has literally transformed my practice of confession, changing the experience from a guilt-ridden begging session into a dynamic, worshipful encounter in which my conscious mind (and behavior) is realigned with the grace and truth of Jesus.
So yes! By all means confess your sin to God! Agree with Him about sin and everything else He has revealed. But don’t think of confession as a means of obtaining something that Jesus Christ died “once for all” to secure for you. Remember that confession is about humility and the ongoing renewal of the mind process – and never about getting something from God that is already yours in abundance through the finished work of Christ. If you are a believer in Christ, you are NEVER out of fellowship with God. Fellowship is an identity issue, meaning that you now share "all things in common" with God as a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17)! This never has been and never will be based upon your behavioral performance and is not something that you must confess sin in order to have reinstated! Because of Christ, you are always clean and God is always close!
Objection #5: Hyper-Grace Preachers are Against God’s Law
Some take this claim so far as to suggest that we even want to throw out or ignore the Old Testament. Wow! What wild imaginations these accusers have! The truth is that we are by no means antinomian (against the law of God), nor do we disbelieve or avoid teaching the Old Testament. Most of us actually esteem the power and purpose of God’s law so highly that we understand grace to be the only way of escape from its impossibly stringent demands.
Paul shared in Romans 3 and elsewhere that God’s purposes for the law were two-fold: 1) to stop our self-righteous excuses, minimizations and justifications of our sin and 2) to reveal our desperate need of a Savior by grace through faith. The entire thrust of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was to bury His very self-righteous audience under the weight of one inescapable reality: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the world’s most stringent law-keepers (the Pharisees and teachers of the law) you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt.5:20).
That Jesus came to “fulfill” the Law (Matt. 5:17) means that He came to keep its demands perfectly because He knew that we couldn’t and wouldn’t. He fulfilled the stringent demands of the Law on our behalf as our Substitute so that His record of perfection could be credited to our spiritual account when we received Him by grace through faith. He did what you and I couldn’t and wouldn’t, and the Sermon on the Mount is a damning indictment of anyone who thinks they can measure up to God’s standards on their own effort.
And have you heard of this “cheap grace” idea? Sometimes the term is ripped off and redefined from Bonhoeffer’s vocabulary to insinuate that the hyper-grace movement has cheapened the grace of God by making it “too easy” for people to attain. After all, we live in a world where there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? We certainly don't believe or teach that grace is cheap. It cost Jesus His life! But we DO agree with the New Testament that His grace is FREE to those who receive it freely by faith.
The truth of the matter is that hyper-grace teachers are not guilty of promoting cheap grace at all. Rather, our critics are often guilty of promoting cheap Law! Far from being anti-law, WE are the ones who esteem God's Law so highly as to conclude that there is no escape from its condemnation apart from faith in Christ alone! The Law is an all-or-nothing proposition. To stumble in just one aspect of keeping it is the equivalent of breaking all of it (James 2:10). The Law is a ministry of death and condemnation (2 Cor. 3:7-11). The Law is not the bad guy, however. It simply points out who the bad guys are (the world, the flesh and the devil)! The Law is holy and pure and designed to show us what sin is (Rom.7:7).
But living under Law cannot save, change or transform a single heart – only grace can! And this is why we are so adamant about never mixing a law-based mentality with a grace-based mentality toward spiritual life or growth under God’s New Covenant. The New Testament repeatedly affirms that our salvation and sanctification are either completely by law or completely by grace, but cannot be a result of mixing the two.
Conclusion:
With all of that said, the idea of trying to somehow “balance grace” with anything is ludicrous according to both Scripture and plain reason. Grace, by definition, is radically IMBALANCED in our favor! If it were not, it would cease to be grace on that very basis! The term “hyper-grace” is far from insulting! It is in fact the ONLY kind of grace taught, supportedand promoted in the Bible.
God understands that His grace is open to the possibility of abuse by those who might misunderstand it. He understands that people may take His grace for granted or even at times misrepresent it as a license to sin. Paul addressed those concerns very clearly, as did Jesus and the other New Testament writers.
However, the fact that grace is open to misinterpretation and the possibility of abuse does not give us license to water it down, explain it away or cheapen its glory by adding a single measure of law into it as an attempt to stay "balanced." There is nothing balanced whatsoever about the grace of God! We rejoice in that! We celebrate that! We proclaim that without apology!
May God reveal His hyper-grace more clearly to you in the days ahead! Feel free to chime in with your thoughts below.
(For a more exhaustive treatment of this critical subject, check out the book "The Hyper-Grace Gospel" by my friend Paul Ellis )
Why I am Hyper-Grace: Answering Five Common Objections
(Hyper grace simplified)
Galatians 1:6-9
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:6-9
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
I have a problem with this declaration. In one interpretation sin is forgiven through faith in Jesus for everyone who puts faith in Jesus. Another is all sin is forgiven, dealt with for everyone, so sin is no longer an issue in the world.
The problem with the idea all sin is just forgiven, is this is a form of universalism. People then add well no, because people will be sent to hell for not believing in Jesus, which is now the only unforgiven sin.
This is the theology of a law court, as if sin is a debt paid for so eleminated. This removes the idea that the problem in people is sin which is the expression of a lack of communion with God. So people sin, will fail no matter what. People cannot enter heaven because they are sinners, not because they are not forgiven. You have to cease being a sinner, be washed, made clean, walk in love and righteousness, which is imputed through faith.
There is no salvation without transformation, because otherwise sin is not a problem, which it is. It is such a problem, you cannot enter heaven with sin in your life. This is hard, because we need to know what sin is and why it is there to even begin to understand the issues. Faith is the rope that keeps us safe while we work through the bumps in the road and where we are and where we need to get to.
But for those who want no choice and complete no effort theology, this is blasphemy, to suggest we are called to walk and behave after the love God has planted in us.
Jesus showed love, forgiveness and redemption. It is applying this in our lives that matters, not just saying, Jesus is cool.
The problem with the idea all sin is just forgiven, is this is a form of universalism. People then add well no, because people will be sent to hell for not believing in Jesus, which is now the only unforgiven sin.
This is the theology of a law court, as if sin is a debt paid for so eleminated. This removes the idea that the problem in people is sin which is the expression of a lack of communion with God. So people sin, will fail no matter what. People cannot enter heaven because they are sinners, not because they are not forgiven. You have to cease being a sinner, be washed, made clean, walk in love and righteousness, which is imputed through faith.
There is no salvation without transformation, because otherwise sin is not a problem, which it is. It is such a problem, you cannot enter heaven with sin in your life. This is hard, because we need to know what sin is and why it is there to even begin to understand the issues. Faith is the rope that keeps us safe while we work through the bumps in the road and where we are and where we need to get to.
But for those who want no choice and complete no effort theology, this is blasphemy, to suggest we are called to walk and behave after the love God has planted in us.
Jesus showed love, forgiveness and redemption. It is applying this in our lives that matters, not just saying, Jesus is cool.
Of course it's not always that obvious...
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 KJVS
[13] For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. [14] And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. [15] Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 KJVS
[13] For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. [14] And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. [15] Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
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