For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10 NKJV
Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Heb. 3:12-14 NLT2
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. 2 For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. 3 For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” Heb. 4:1-3 NLT2
WOW! These three short passages of Scripture really give us some food for thought. Notice, that in the first passage we see it is BY grace we have been saved, but it is THROUGH faith. What does this mean? So glad you asked! God is the One who gives us grace. He is the One who initiated this wonderful friendship and fellowship that we can now partake of because of the Cross. This grace, though amazing and available, does no one any good without the conduit of faith. This faith is our part of the deal that ensures we receive the grace of God for ourselves and enjoy all the glorious benefits of what Christ Jesus has done.
For example, in my neighborhood there is a huge water tower. Everyone has seen these huge structures rising above communities everywhere. These water towers hold a “gazillion” gallons of pure water that can be used for drinking, bathing, washing cars, and many other various things. As wonderful as this is, without pipes to bring that water to each individual home, this water tower is actually useless. This is a picture of the grace of God and how important faith is to access it. Grace is available in all abundance to every human being on planet earth (see 1 Jn. 2:2). It is pure, holy, and undefiled. This amazing grace does no good unless we put our faith into action (the pipes). When our faith is in action, it releases the grace of God into our individual lives for the washing of sins, sanctifying of flesh, maturing of spirit, and endurance of trials. (Notice, salvation is not the only function of grace!)
Now, in the second passage above, we are exhorted to be careful that our hearts don’t become evil and unbelieving which would turn us away from the living God. This means that if you stop walking in faith toward God, you will stop the flow of His grace into your life. Many false teachers are now teaching that nothing you do can separate you from your righteousness because God’s grace is always there to cover you. This is not right! When you step out of faith in Christ Jesus and move into willful compromise and sin, you step out of faith in Christ Jesus and thus no longer receive the marvelous flow of His grace. Remember: No pipes of faith, no access or flow to grace.
Finally, we are exhorted in the third passage listed above to “tremble with fear” that some of us might fail to enter His rest. It clearly states that the Good News of God’s grace was preached to all of them, but that some of them failed to enter God’s rest because of their lack of faith. “For only we who believe can enter his rest.” That faith is in the present tense. It is not something you did one time, and then it is over. You must continue in your faith daily so that you don’t fail to enter the rest God has made possible by grace. (His rest is referring to heaven.)
Practical application: Faith is not a onetime thing, but a lifetime walk with the Lord. Abraham walked by faith and lived his life completely led by the Spirit of God, so we must live out our faith for the entirety of our human journey on this earth. This faith will not only be for salvation but will move us far beyond that into the ability to walk in the Spirit by true sanctification, into maturity as a believer or minister, and finally into the ability to walk with endurance through all the fiery trials of the enemy. (There is more to come on this subject in future articles.)
Many have fallen prey to the lie that grace will do everything for us, and that no matter what we do, grace will “cover” us. This is a partial truth and lie. Yes, there is no one who is perfect and all of us have and will make mistakes that need the covering work of the blood of Jesus, BUT when you walk in the faith that God demands, you will never do these things willfully. If you do, you must repent and ask for God’s forgiveness. This forgiveness is not based on being alienated from sonship but from hurting the Father’s heart.
So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.” Luke 15:20-21 NLT2
Joel, I love you but I couldn’t disagree with you more.
You said: “Yes, there is no one who is perfect and all of us have and will make mistakes that need the covering work of the blood of Jesus, BUT when you walk in the faith that God demands, you will never do these things willfully. If you do, you must repent and ask for God’s forgiveness. This forgiveness is not based on being alienated from sonship but from hurting the Father’s heart.”
This doesn’t make sense.
What sin have any of us ever committed that wasn’t willful? When a Christian loses her temper, or looks at a woman lustfully in his heart, is he or she not willfully acting on an impulse to sin? According to you, such willfully-sinning people have stepped “out of faith in Christ and thus no longer receive the marvelous flow of his grace,” at least until they “repent and ask for God’s forgiveness.”
No. A thousand times no. To say that Christians must repent after each sin in order to remain righteous and receive grace is to say that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient.
Jesus paid for sin “once for all… not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). Animal blood only paid for past sins, not future sins; that’s why they had to be repeated. Jesus’s blood paid for past, present, and future sins, hence the “once for all.” His sacrifice was perfect and does not need to be repeated by Him or anyone else. Therefore, when a believer sins, he or she is not cut off from grace. They are still the righteousness of God in Christ.
The author of Hebrews warns his readers to watch out for an “evil and unbelieving” heart. An unbelieving heart is one that looks to human effort to achieve God’s grace instead of believing on Jesus to receive it. Once we look to ourselves instead of Jesus and his finished work, we have fallen from grace and are living by the Law. We are doomed to a lifestyle of sin. That’s how people fall away.
To quote the same passage you did, “…whoever has entered into God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:10). The only way to live for Jesus is to rest in Him and His grace.
As you have admitted, “all of us” sin–including you. It’s a good thing grace does cover us no matter what, isn’t it?
Thank you, Pastor Joel! This was such a clear explanation of how grace and faith work together to produce the character and power of Jesus in our lives. Love how your blog is consistently turning on the light of God’s word in so many dark corners of doctrinal confusion.
One argument I always hear is from Romans 8:38-39, “Nothing can separate us from God’s love…” Obviously, nothing but sin can separate us, but so many focus on NOTHING can separate. This also leads to false teachings on pre-destination. Would love to read a blog on this!
Love this blog……grace and faith going hand in hand. The only work God has called us to do is the work of believing in one He sent Jn 6:29, and then skip hop over to Ephesians 2:8-10 God saved us by grace through faith to good works. Then off to James 2:14-26 faith without works is dead……When we take in the whole Bible you’ll begin to see the harmony of God’s word all fitting together perfectly. I love the gospel
A paz amado. estou lendo o livro do seu pai, IGREJA EM CELULAs. E vi que ele esta aqui no Brasil. Vi ele na rede boas novas. Preciso de ajuda. PASTOREIO UMA IGREJA muito pequena, não tenho condições financeiras, mas acredito que vou vencer E PRECISO MUITO DE JUDA. quero implantar a visão celular e gostaria de entrar em contato com ele. Não falo ingles. mas precisode ajuda. Tel [21] 3404-4785 [21] 9392-5619 Obrigado. Espero resposta.
James 5:14-15 – Are any of you sick? He should call the elders of the church and the prayer offered in faith will heal the sick and the Lord will make you well, and if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven….Grace came flooding in…but business had to be taken care of….a trip to the cross. Pushing sin under the rug will prove to be deadly. Some people teach that we shouldn’t be sin conscious but how can you not know when you break Jesus’ heart.
“Abraham walked by faith and lived his life completely led by the Spirit of God, so we must live out our faith for the entirety of our human journey on this earth.” Just a thought. At my church we are doing an in depth study of the book of genesis. Abraham was not perfect, there were times when he acted out of fear, times when he told pharaoh that his wife was his sister out of fear, he did things many of times in the book of genesis that made him very less than perfect. God says he is faithful to us even we are faithless for He can not deny who He is.(2 Tim. 2:13 He called Abraham His own and He was faithful to carry Abraham through. Abraham had such an incredible relationship with the Lord and I give the Lord all glory and credit for sustaining Abraham. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. ” Romans 8:28-30. AND We shall know them by their fruit as the bible also says. ” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ BUT WISDOM IS JUSTIFIED BY HER DEEDS.” Matthew 11:18-19. I want to live the rest of my life living for the glory and fame of Jesus Christ because He died for me even while I was dead in my sin. He breathed life into me, a dead man can do nothing until the savior revives Him. I do enjoy your post Pastor Joel. Thank you.
Gabe Harris…..You got it my brotha! Thank you so much for this post and reply. It is right on and 100% scriptural. I pray that more people get a hold of the reality of what Christ has done for them. It will truly set them free. When I got a hold of the TRUTH about GRACE…it has empowered me to overcome sin. Things I had never been able to conquer for years have gone because I am focused on the finished work of the cross and not how I can do things better so I can please Christ….that part comes naturally once you get a hold of GRACE you no longer want to do things that would break His heart! AMAZING GRACE – how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…thank you Jesus for what you did for me not only the GRACE for salvation but the GRACE to overcome sin and live victoriously in YOU! I am the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus!
The message of grace needs to be more taught in the body of Christ. Grace is what makes the fullness of God available to us through Christ Jesus and it can be ours through faith. It’s like going into a store to buy some things. But the truth is that you can only buy what is available in the store while you are there when payment is made. Grace and faith works in similar way!
Grace: is God’s provision for us which includes everything pertaining to life and godliness which are already made available in Christ Jesus (The Storehouse).
Faith: is the currency we spend as believers to access or receive what He has already made available in His storehouse.
Any other attempt to receive from the storehouse of God without faith in Christ is considered as Works (Human Effort). So also is releasing faith for what is not available in Christ. No one can enter His rest this way. Our faith must always be in Christ and His works.
I concur with Gabe Harris: “An unbelieving heart is one that looks to human effort to achieve God’s grace instead of believing on Jesus to receive it. Once we look to ourselves instead of Jesus and his finished work, we have fallen from grace and are living by the Law. We are doomed to a lifestyle of sin. That’s how people fall away.”
I have found out that a lifestyle of sin is inevitable when the responsibility to live holy is put on one separate from the works of the cross. It’s just impossible to attain holiness that way. We’ve got to acknowledge the works of the cross and the gift of righteousness imputed to us by FAITH in Christ. It’s a free gift (Rom 5:17-18).
Acknowledging what Christ has done for us and receiving by faith is the key to victorious Christian living. A true understanding of these quickened by the Holy Spirit separates you from sin. You just want to live for God. It becomes effortless and such life begins to produce works of faith according to the book of James. You just don’t want to live for yourself and if you miss the mark at any time, there is forgiveness according to the riches of His grace (Ephe 1:7).
This same approach works not only for our forgiveness but also for our healing, blessing, deliverance, prosperity, etc