Copyright © 2006-2008 Robert D. Hosken, M.Min., D.Min.
What is grace, and how does it relate to ministry? As the Apostle Paul was visiting the church in Ephesus on his way back to Jerusalem, he had a sense of foreboding that something bad would happen to him there, just as he had been imprisoned and beaten in other cities. He told the elders of the church - "But these things don't count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry (diakonia) which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace (kharis) of God" (Acts 20:24). We have already shown that the word diakonia is ministry in the widest sense, from waiting on tables, to healing and caring for the sick, to preaching the Good News, and we have seen in Acts 14:9-10 how Paul combined preaching with healing the man who was lame from birth. Here we read that Paul defines his particular ministry to be that of "testifying to the Good News of the grace (kharis) of God." Proclaiming the Good News of God's grace was central for him, but he often included healing in his ministry. Both aspects of ministry demonstrate "the grace (kharis) of God."
Just a few verses later, in Acts 20:32 we read - "Now, brothers, I entrust you to God, and to the word of his grace (kharis), which is able to build up (epoikodomeo), and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (hagiazo)." What is grace, and how is it able to build up? Strong's Dictionaries give a rather long definition - "graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): - acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy)."1 Eastern Orthodoxy teaches that grace is the saving and sanctifying energy emanating from God, which corresponds to Strong's definition: "divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life." So grace is God's power influencing our heart, our inner being, changing our life and enabling us to do God's will.
Meditate Word By Word On These Verses:
Eph. 2:1 and 5,
Eph. 5:14,
Mk. 16:16,
Rom. 6:3-5,
Titus 3:5.
The word kharis occurs 156 times in the New Testament, and 130 of those occurrences are translated "grace" in the KJV and most other versions. It is also translated as "favor," "thanks," "pleasure," "acceptable," "benefit," "gift," "gracious," "joy," "liberality," "thanked" and "thankworthy" in the KJV,2 but the overwhelming majority of times it is used as "grace." The common definition is "unmerited favor." God bestows on us, completely undeserving sinners, His free gift of salvation - "for by grace (kharis) you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10). Nothing we had done, no amount of good works, could earn our salvation; it is all of grace, a free gift. In the preceding verses Paul writes that we were dead spiritually in trespasses and sins. What can a dead corpse do? - Nothing, except decompose. It certainly can't earn anything! But when grace comes into our lives, it revives us and begins to transform us. Grace doesn't demand good works; instead, it changes us so that we desire to do diakonia, good works. This is the purpose for which God has created us in Christ Jesus!
This is why it is utterly foolish to think that because grace is free we don't have to do anything in response. As Paul wrote in Rom. 6:1-2 and 14-15 - "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace (kharis) may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? ... For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace (kharis). What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace (kharis)? May it never be!" If we are truly being transformed by God's grace, His divine power poured out upon us, how could we even imagine reverting to our dead sinful nature? Such ideas are either planted in a believer's mind by the old deceiver Satan, or else that person has never truly experienced the transforming power of God's saving grace.
Question:
1. What is the result of grace, according to Acts. 20:24 and Eph. 2:8-10?
(One or more of the following answers may be correct.)
ministry
a free ticket to heaven
good works
an excuse to sin, so that grace may abound
Dietrich Bonhoeffer begins his book The Cost of Discipleship with a chapter entitled "Costly Grace" -
"Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting to-day for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack's wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price, grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?
"Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, ipso facto a part in that grace. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God."3
Sadly, there are many who have heard a false gospel of "cheap grace" easy-believism and have raised their right hands or filled out a decision card, but they have never really entrusted their whole heart and life to Jesus Christ. They warm the pew, put a few shekels in the offering if it's convenient, and may even sincerely think they're on the way to heaven because they've done what the preacher said they should do. But they still calculate a cost-benefit analysis; they constantly run a profit-and-loss statement in their head: "What can I get from this?" The fleshly nature is still firmly in control. God's grace hasn't begun transforming them.
Question:
2. What do you think about Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings: is grace cheap or is it costly?
How is it that so many people who consider themselves Christians, especially in the Western world, have this mistaken notion of "cheap grace"? I believe it arose during the Age of Reason, when secular philosophers and political theorists were positing the autonomy of human reason and will, juxtaposed against the almost totalitarian authority of the Roman Catholic Church. This occurred at about the same time as the Protestant Reformation, when Luther championed the concept of "salvation by grace through faith," the priesthood of all believers and the ability of each person to understand and interpret the Scriptures for himself. Parallel to this, the Age of Reason taught that man is free and rational, therefore any logical decision he makes is valid, and only those things he can comprehend are real. This placed man in the center of the universe, displacing God. If man chose to believe in God, it was on the basis of equal partnership: "I will believe in you, God, if and only if you will do such-and-such for me."
So a distorted concept of the Protestant Reformation provided a philosophical basis for bargaining with God using the twisted notion of "cheap grace." The truth is, we are not autonomous and we cannot bargain with God. God is absolutely sovereign and we humans are utterly dependent upon His mercy and grace. We are totally bankrupt before God; it is completely senseless to calculate a cost-benefit analysis. God freely chooses to extend His scepter and pardon us, if we will cease our rebellious thoughts of the autonomy of human reason and submit to Him as king. Only when we acknowledge Him as truly God and sovereign Lord by receiving His gift of transforming grace, unmerited favor, will He receive us into His kingdom. When we receive His pardon, He redeems us from the prison of sin. "Redeem" means to "buy back," and God, the Person who bought us, now owns us. We belong to Him. We are not our own, we have been bought with a great price, the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. This is how we should understand "grace."
Let us now examine how grace, the saving and sanctifying power emanating from God, was at work in the Lord Jesus. The Apostle John described Jesus' Incarnation this way - "The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace (kharis) and truth. … From his fullness we all received grace (kharis) upon grace (kharis). For the law was given through Moses. Grace (kharis) and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:14 and 16-17). When the Son of God was conceived by the Virgin Mary and was born as the baby Jesus, He was already filled with grace. In Luke 2:40, just before the story of His boyhood visit to the temple in Jerusalem, we read - "The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace (kharis) of God was upon him." Jesus was so amazing, even as a young boy, that people couldn't help but notice His great wisdom and grace.
Question:
3. How did grace act in Jesus Christ when He was a child?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
Jesus performed great miracles as a child.
He was so amazing, even in His childhood, that people couldn't help but notice His great wisdom and grace.
Jesus as a child was strong, but kind and meek.
And in John 14:12 we find the answer to how God's grace was at work in Jesus, and we learn how we can receive grace (kharis) upon grace (kharis) - "Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father." Jesus explains that God's grace or power that He possessed to do great works of diakonia is available to any believer who is totally consecrated to God. The difference doesn't lie in the fact that He is the Son of God - although He is! - Jesus performed these great works while in His mortal human body that had limitations like we have. No, the difference is that Jesus was totally committed to do the Father's will, and that is why He was full of grace (kharis)! We can receive the same fullness of grace (kharis) if we will simply consecrate ourselves wholly and without reservation to doing the Father's will. A few verses later, in verses 16 and 26, Jesus promises to send the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Who transmits God's energies to those believers who are cleansed and consecrated vessels.
The Apostles experienced this same power after Peter and John were commanded by the Sanhedrin not to witness in Jesus' name - "With great power, the apostles gave their testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Great grace (kharis) was on them all" (Acts 4:33). Here we see that "great power" is used in parallel with "great grace," making the two almost synonymous. In the preceding verses we read how, after receiving this threat and praying, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and preached God's Word with boldness.
Several other Scripture passages refer to grace in the context of ministry: Acts 11:23; 14:3 and 26; 15:11 and 40; and Rom. 1:5. But perhaps most striking is the way St. Paul begins every one of his letters with the blessing "grace (kharis) to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ" or some slight variation of those words. Peter, John and Jude all include a similar grace blessing at the beginning of most of their letters and in the book of Revelation. These passages all show that the apostles believed they were transmitting grace, the saving and sanctifying power of God, by their words. To put it more precisely, they transmitted saving and sanctifying grace by preaching the Word which is the gospel of grace - "Now, brothers, I entrust you to God, and to the word of his grace (kharis), which is able to build up (epoikodomeo), and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (hagiazo)." (Acts 20:32).
Question:
4. How did grace reveal itself in Jesus Christ as an adult, in the Apostles, and how can it reveal itself in us?
We have already looked at 1 Cor. 3:10, but it bears repeating - "According to the grace (kharis) of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder (architekton) I laid a foundation, and another builds on (epoikodomeo) it. But let each man be careful how he builds on (epoikodomeo) it." Paul's particular grace or gift of ministry was to plant new churches on the foundation of the gospel of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Later, in writing to the Corinthian church on the topic of marriage vs. celibacy, he stated - "Yet I wish that all men were like me. However each man has his own gift (kharisma) from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind" (1 Cor. 7:7). The word kharisma shares the same root as kharis, and obviously has a similar meaning. Paul's gift of celibacy helped to equip him for his missionary task, the grace of planting churches all over the Roman Empire. Still later, in 1 Cor. 12:4 Paul writes - "Now there are various kinds of gifts (kharisma), but the same Spirit. There are various kinds of service (diakonia), and the same Lord." Here we again find a link between the grace-gifts and diakonia: The Holy Spirit's power through the various kharisma-manifestations empowers us to perform our unique diakonia-ministry to one and the same Lord. It is erroneous and divisive to conclude that if we have different gifts and ministries we can't work together in the same organization or church!
Question:
5. What is the relationship between grace and spiritual gifts?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
Khara-grace is manifested in the form of spiritual kharisma-gifts, some natural and some supernatural.
If you have the gift of tongues, it means you are saved by grace. If you don't, you are not saved by grace.
There is no relationship between grace and spiritual gifts: we are saved only by grace through faith, and spiritual gifts no longer occur.
How should we employ these gifts of God's grace, His saving and transforming power? St. Peter tells us - "As each has received a gift (kharisma), employ it in serving (diakoneo) one another, as good managers of the grace (kharis) of God in its various forms" (1 Pet. 4:10). Once more we find the grace-gifts linked with diakonia! The grace-gifts should be used to serve one another, not for self-gratification, just as freedom should be used to serve one another (Gal. 5:13). Also, notice here how Peter is using kharisma and kharis as synonyms. The particular gift (kharisma) a person has is a manifestation of the grace (kharis) of God, His energies poured out on us.
And how does a person receive a particular gift (kharisma)? Twice Paul instructs Timothy - "Don't neglect the gift (kharisma) that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders" (1 Tim. 4:14). And also "For this cause, I remind you that you should stir up the gift (kharisma) of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Tim. 1:6). The laying on of apostolic hands, as we also read in Acts 6:6 about the first six deacons, confers a special grace, divine power for a specific task. As Paul tells Timothy, do not treat the gift lightly, use it or lose it. God gives His grace-gifts so that we can serve Him!
Question:
6. How is "grace" used in a way similar to the way "freedom" is used in these Scripture passages?
We have already examined Heb. 12 when we were considering wholeness-teleiosis. In that same chapter we find some important teaching on grace. The author, in the context of discipline and correction, exhorts us in verse 15 to be "looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace (kharis) of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled." We must be careful not to let bitterness creep into our lives, which could cause us to fall short of continuing to receive God's grace. In verse 25 the author warns against turning away from God, because we have the firm hope of an unshakeable kingdom (verse 27). And in verse 28 he links together grace and service: "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace (kharis). By it, we may serve (latreuo) God acceptably, with reverence and awe"4 (HCSB). Again we see the continuing process of receiving the kingdom, which is itself unshakeable, but our receiving it is continuing and unfinished. So we must hold on to grace, God's transforming power, which enables us to serve Him acceptably.
Question:
7. According to Heb. ch. 12, is it possible to fall short of grace?
yes /
no.
Our response to God's antecedent, initiating grace is to worship and serve Him, writes Paul Hanson in his book The People Called -
"Israel became a people because of divine initiative. Its birth rested on no human merit. It was explainable solely in terms of God's grace. The particular nature of the initiating act revealed the unique nature of the God Yahweh, a God who embraced the cause of the most humble and oppressed, making them a people with dignity and freedom. The notion of community that unfolds in the Bible can be understood adequately only by clearly recognizing its origin in the initiative of a gracious God. Israel became God's people by responding to divine grace. All the terms for the community of faith in the Old and the New Testament have this response quality; for example, qahal (assembly), eda (congregation). sod (assembly), and ekklesia (assembly, congregation, church). In each case, God is understood as the One who has gathered the people."5
Here we see that God is the author, the initiator of koinonia-community through His act of grace. We become His people, His assembly, "by responding to divine grace." And our response is also of grace as we make use of the grace-gifts we freely receive from Him to do the work of ministry and thus build up the Body of Christ. Grace is most certainly the free gift of God, but it is not cheap: it cost God His only begotten Son to give us this gift. And when we freely receive it, we place ourselves under the sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty to serve Him faithfully forever.
Question:
8. According to Paul Hanson, how did Israel become the people of God, and how can we become His people?
Endnotes:
1. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, op. cit.
2. King James Concordance, (www.e-sword.net, 2004).
3. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, The Cost of Discipleship, (translation from the German Nachfolge by SCM Press, London, SCM-Canterbury Press Ltd., 1948), 3.
4. Holman Christian Standard Bible, (www.e-sword.net, 2004). 5. Hanson, Paul, The People Called, (San Francisco, California, Harper & Row, 1986), 24.