THE FEAR OF GRACE
Galatians 3:2-3 (NIV 1984) 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
I heard a guy tell me he doesn’t go to church because they have too many rules that he can’t follow. Anyone who has been in church for any length of time understands his point. This is what I am calling “legalism”. It is following the letter of the law with little understanding of the Spirit of Christ’s interaction with us. Legalism can either cause a person to double down on their efforts, which leads to frustration, misery, and generally a bad mood, or it will lead them to give up on church altogether. People give up on church in two ways: they either quit going, sleeping in on Sundays and giving it little thought throughout their daily living, or they find a version of church that fits what they want to hear (2 Tim 4:3), in essence laying hold of powerless doctrines that fail to change the human heart. All of this proves the scriptural point that the letter of the law kills (2 Cor 3:6).
While our fear and reaction to legalism can be disastrous, legalism itself is a very real danger for the Christian. When our faith primarily consists of rules and human effort we get seriously discouraged, often leading to a crisis of faith. Here is where we need to be reminded that we did not begin our Christian walk by following Christ’s commands, but by believing His message and receiving His Spirit; yet, this translated into obedience in what seemed a very natural way at the time, but it wasn’t our good behavior that connected us with God, but our faith in Him and the work of His Spirit. The Christian has to return to this. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:6). As I have heard said, “The way you got in is the way you go on.” In other words, the way you became a Christian is the way you go on living as one. We got in by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9), and we go on by grace through faith. Stop trying to do all the commands and go back to the relationship. Stop trying to be that Christian that everyone thinks is so holy, and allow grace to work holiness in you. We are a process, a work of the Spirit, and that takes time; and God is very patient with the process. We are not under law but grace (Rom 6:14), but just as there is a fear of legalism, there is also a fear of grace. When we are rediscovering grace it can make other Christians uncomfortable with us. Why? Because they fear we will go off the deep end into compromise and sin, a genuine concern for sure, but only if true grace gets replaced with something else that masquerades as grace.
A Christian who has been laboring in the flesh needs to take break from the flesh, forever, and enjoy the freedom they have in Christ. It is here they begin to find some relief from their religious oppression; the law is no longer bearing down on them. This relief can be so marvelous. God is setting us free to follow Him in the Spirit rather than human effort. This is dangerous for God because He knows that in our flesh we can use this new found freedom as an excuse to explore sin, but He is also confident that His grace will accomplish His purposes in us (Titus 2:11-12), and He is confident that His Spirit will work in us a holiness that comes more naturally, like it used to come, bringing true freedom rather than frustration. The Christian need not fear the work of grace. It is the only way to true holiness and peace with God. Isaiah puts it well in chapter 30 verse 15, “In repentance and REST is your salvation, in quietness and TRUST is your strength.”
