Balancing Grace with Holiness

Balancing Grace with Holiness ― Jay Zinn

GRACE IS A BROAD MESSAGE and can sometimes be taught with too much emphasis on “freedom.” Any time grace is taught in a way that excuses a lifestyle of habitual sin in areas the Bible calls “sin,” it is false teaching. Paul says this about grace in his letter to Titus:

...the GRACE of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11-12).

 And in his letter to the saints at Rome:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means (Romans 6:1-2)!

When Paul refers to God’s grace, he’s saying the grace of God has done for us what the law of the Old Testament could not. In the Old Testament, the code was written initially on scrolls of leather-based parchment and plant-based papyrus. No one had access to these scrolls since they didn’t have printed copies for the masses. They relied on priests and religious leaders to pass the teachings of the law on to the people. The written law came externally to the people, requiring religious works few could maintain. They didn’t have the “grace” of the Holy Spirit to help them say “No” to the law of sin at work in them. So, God, in his foreknowledge, proclaimed (through Ezekiel) that a new day would come when that would change.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone from you and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

And again, from Jeremiah,

This is the [new] covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest (Jeremiah 31:33-34).

This explains why John was able to say in his letter,

You have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know [Him] the truth (1 John 2:20).  ...the anointing you received from him remains with you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is genuine, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him (1 John 2:27).

All three of these passages say the same thing about grace. What the written law could not move people to do and maintain, God’s grace did. This grace appeared to all people intending to put his code into their minds and His Spirit into their hearts, the anointing that would teach and move them internally [by grace] rather than externally [by works] to follow his decrees. We live out the orders of God by his imparted, supernatural grace through the salvation we receive from Christ. The truly converted person no longer desires to live carnally but holy and separate from the world unto Christ. When we understand this, then this passage makes sense,

Therefore, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life [his anointing] set me free from the [written] law of sin and death. For what the [written] law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of wicked man to be a sin offering [for us]. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, so that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us [by grace], who do not [actively] live according to the sinful nature but according to the [Holy] Spirit (i.e., that anointing we have from the Holy One). -Romans 8:1-4

God did what he promised through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Since the written law was powerless to keep people faithful to his written laws, he would establish a new covenant [with imparted grace] that would put his proposals in our minds and spirits to move us to remain faithful to his righteous decrees. Grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness because the anointing of the Holy Spirit teaches us to do so. We no longer need someone in the role of a priest, scribe, rabbi, or religious leader to relay what the law says because God’s Spirit (his anointing in us) teaches, convicts, and changes us to align our will and actions with the laws of God’s Kingdom in heaven. Grace has freed us from the control of our sinful nature, which is incapable of fully pleasing God. Paul confirms this again when he says,

Those who live according to the sinful nature [the law of sin in our flesh] have their [unregenerate] minds set on what that nature desires. Still, those who live [by God’s supernaturally imparted grace] by the Spirit [that “anointing” within] have their [redeemed] minds set on what the Spirit desires [and teaches us internally]. -Romans 8:5

When considering the message of grace in the letters from Paul, his word is not about having the freedom to sin, but that we’re incapable of carrying out all the righteous decrees of the law because of the sinful nature which controls and weakens our resolve to fulfill the law’s requirements. Therefore, it’s impossible in our unredeemed state to stand blameless before God because one violation, one act of disobedience, makes us felons of the entire law. God’s grace changes that when the Holy Spirit, the divine presence of God in us, enters our Spirit to free us from the dominating control of our sinful nature.

Most “grace” preachers are trying to help us understand that we can’t abide by the law through our own strength. The children of Israel proved that. We can only experience the real power of salvation through a complete focus on Jesus, knowing him as our only source for a life of holiness and the true meaning of grace. In this sense, their emphasis on grace can hardly be overestimated, and I have no qualms with them if that is their bottom line.

If we live by what the law of the Spirit of life teaches and moves us to do in our hearts and Spirit, then we will “live by the Spirit, and not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”  From that, the by-product of God’s grace at work is that we’ll not use our freedom (obtained by grace through faith in Christ) to indulge our sinful nature. Instead, we’ll serve one another in love. The entire law of the Old Testament is summed up in this single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which is the law of Christ that God placed in us by grace. Therefore, grace will always consider the higher good of others and not make those weaker in their faith stumble in their area’s weakness.

In some quarters of Christianity, there appears to be a misunderstanding of New Testament grace, leaving the impression that we can live loosely, fornicate, party, and drink without fear of condemnation because we’re not under the law. It is a counterfeit grace that believes in a kind of “chummy” relationship with God, where loose-living Christians believe the Lord graciously understands our sinful weaknesses and sexual liberties and covers that all under grace—without reprimand or consequences.

What preacher in their right mind would intentionally teach such a thing? No one who knows and loves God would say that’s what God’s grace is about. So, I’m reluctant to judge any preacher who loves God, while others claim this is what they teach. I’m more of the mindset that this kind of loose grace is read into their “grace” message by the saints who twist it as a license for self-indulgence, then point back to the teacher as having meant that in their words. This is the risk for any teacher who over-emphasizes the freedom grace brings.

We must understand that grace provides freedom from sin, not to sin. And since grace is a broad subject, clarity is essential; a balanced understanding between grace and holiness must be presented. Without holiness, no one shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).