Hating Grace

A lot of people hate the gospel. Do you? Timothy was called to suffer for the sake of the gospel, because the good news of salvation is rejected by the world. Timothy was persecuted for telling people that God saves sinners by grace through Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:8-9).  Jesus doesn’t try to save us, or give the opportunity for salvation, but does save us, finally, fully, and freely. Mankind naturally hates the grace of God. Those who are saved by Jesus Christ are called by the Holy Spirit and those who are called are saved. God doesn’t save and not call, nor does he call and not save. Don’t mistake this holy calling as God looking for and calling men unto salvation who live holy, and act holy. On the contrary, it’s a holy calling despite our works, as Paul says, “not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” Grace.

Do you rejoice in God’s grace or recoil? If you are saved, it’s not because you are a good person. If you are a Christian, it’s not because of how much you work, how much you deny yourself, and how unspotted from the world you remain. If you are going to Heaven, it’s not because you are a decent person who tries their best and goes to church as much as you can. If you are redeemed, it’s not because you are a member of a church, because you were baptized, or even because you said the sinner's prayer the preacher told you to repeat. Christians are not saved by their works, but according to God’s “own purpose and grace.” If you are saved by works, you are not saved by grace and vice versa. Grace is an underserved gift. If you work 40 hours a week, your boss doesn’t give you a gift on payday. He pays you what he owes you. If God saves because of your choice, your works, or you good deeds, then you are not saved by grace. And, if you are not saved by grace, you are not a Christian. Salvation is in the work of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, purposed in God, to save his elect, from all of their sin. We are the recipients of God’s grace in Christ, whom we receive, not by works, but by faith alone.

Do you recoil at sovereign grace? There is no other gospel. The Bible, from beginning to end, tells of the sovereign God, doing as He pleases, saving undeserving sinners by His grace. There is no good news in being saved by works, because the law cannot justify you it only condemns. God saves sinners by grace through faith. We don’t need help, we need saved. We don’t need reformed, we need regeneration. The pride of the human heart hates the confession of our inability, thus hates grace.