Ho! Everyone Who Thirsts!

I love talking about God's grace. It has changed me. All I want to do with my life is tell people about this wonderful gift that God extends to man. It's that great! My heart sings the wonderful praises of grace as Paul describes them in Ephesians, chapter one. In that passage, we see Paul describe God's grace as both glorious and full of riches (vv. 6&7). After a cursory reading of the New Testament, it's easy to see why Paul would describe it as such, since grace seems to be the theme that permeates every book, chapter, and nearly every verse. The reason for this is because the early church fathers, especially the Apostles, knew grace to be the center of God's message to men.

For this reason, it is of utmost importance for us to rightly understand both what grace is and the nature of what is given to us through the grace of God. If we do not rightly understand these two things, then our understanding of every book, chapter, and nearly every verse will be twisted and we will end up believing something entirely different from what those great men who authored the New Testament meant for us to understand. This would be a terrible mistake because if we misunderstand what grace is and the nature of what is given to us, we will also miss the message God desires to deliver to men.

Most people I meet, including myself, would be terrified to come to the end of their lives only to have God say, “Sorry, you misunderstood what I was trying to say to you.” To make sure this does not happen, let's examine what grace is, and the nature of what is given to us through the grace of God. Even if you disagree with my understanding, at the end of this article you will be strengthened in yours, because you will see the holes in my logic and be able to say, “See right there? That is where he was wrong.” If that is the case, I would appreciate it if you make known to me why I am wrong so that I do not have to undergo the embarrassment of standing before the God I have misunderstood all my life. 

What Grace Is

We could get technical and go into the Greek to examine the word charis, which is the word from which we get our English translation, but I do not believe that this is necessary because the word grace and the Greek word charis carry the same meaning (hence why translators have translated it the way they have). I have a huge Webster's dictionary in my home, and when I looked up the word grace in the theological sense of the word (not to be confused with the prayer one says before eating a meal) this is what it said:

Grace – the unmerited love and favor of God toward mankind; a special virtue, gift, or help given to a person by God

What I find interesting is that we often speak of the gift of God's grace. The reason why I find this interesting is because by definition, grace itself is a gift. There is a sort of redundancy within this commonly used phrase, but it is this redundancy that drives home what is being said and enlightens our minds to the character of God displayed through grace. A verse in Paul's letter to the Ephesians drives home this redundancy to a greater degree than any other verse in all of scripture, magnifying God's undeniable goodness toward man in such a way that my heart just cries out for joy, AMEN! A way of saying, I agree! Preach it Paul! This is what the verse says:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

- Ephesians 2:8, 9

Do you see the beautiful redundancy? This is what Paul is saying – You're saved by grace, which is a gift. This salvation is accomplished through faith. Since faith is not something you do, rather it's a mental state, the “giftness” of it all is maintained because one cannot work for a gift (otherwise it isn't a gift, it's a wage). He goes on to say that none of it (God's gracious gift) is of us, reiterating again that it is a gift. Then he flat out says grace is a gift. Further, he says that it is not of works, which is the antithesis of a gift. Lastly, the reason God gives this gift as a gift is so no one can say that they did something to earn it, which would to take our minds off of the gift of God and place it on ourselves, because the focus is on God's love of giving. What a wonderful display of God's character is revealed here by Paul! God loves to give gifts! He is lavishly generous to the core!

So, what we see is that God's grace is free of charge. We are called to fully indulge in its wonder. I believe that most of us would agree with what I have written concerning God's grace up to this point, and I hope that you are relishing with me in the beauty of God's wonderful love poured out upon men. But this is where things get sticky.

We all agree that God is full of love and generosity, but where I think there is a great division is in the nature of what is given to men as a gift from God. The reason why I say this is because I have heard more than one person say with confidence and joy that God is full of love, grace, generosity, and kindness, because He gives us the gift of salvation through the atonement Jesus made for our sins (to which I say AMEN!!), but then they add a condition for grace such as, you have to do something to use the gift God has given to us. If you don't use it, it is not made effective in your life. It is with this idea, that we must use the gift of grace to make it effective, that I disagree.

I would like to share an illustration that I was told by someone who truly loves God. This man used this illustration to support the idea that we must use God's grace. I do not discount this man's sincerity, or passion for God's goodness and love, but I do disagree with his understanding of the nature of what has been given to us by God. I was told by this man that the atonement of Christ is like if I were to give you the keys to a brand new car. The keys, the title, the car, are all in your possession and they are free of charge – you didn't do anything to get them. Grace abounds! But, what use is a car if it sits in your garage and you never use it? In order to enjoy the gift you must get in the car, turn the key, push the gas pedal, steer with the wheel, fill it with gas, and keep up with maintenance, among other things. I was stumped by this illustration for quite some time. I thought, He's speaking in my native tongue of grace, but this is a different dialect that I have never heard. I pondered this illustration for quite some time because something in it just didn't seem to fit well with what I believed. It was at least a year before I finally understood why I disagree.

What this man said was right as long as it is understood that God's grace is like a car. If God's gift of the atonement were like a car, I would have to use it in order to receive its benefits. The problem however, is that God's gift is not like a car. The nature of a car is very different from the nature of the gift that God gives to men. In order to understand why this is true, we must first understand what God's gift is, then we can explore its nature and how its nature contrasts with the nature of a car.

The Nature of What is Given to us Through the Grace of God

To begin, let's return to the Webster's dictionary definition I cited earlier. The first of the two definitions states that grace is God's unmerited love and favor toward mankind. After studying the first two and a half chapters of Romans, I have come to understand that it is unmerited because there is nothing in any of us that would make God desire us. God's love is unearned and undeserved. This means that God's love is a gift – it's grace. At this point, most of us still agree and can rejoice together. But let's get less ambiguous and more specific about what God's love is because I can say with all the heartfelt intention I can muster that I love my wife, but without substance and form, I am simply spitting out words without anything to back up what I'm saying. Love is not merely verbal, it is substantial, and God's love contains the greatest substance known in all the universe.

What is the substance of God's love? Reasonably, the substance of God's love would be found in the Gospel. If that is true, then the book of Romans is the best place to go because it's essentially Paul's dissertation of the Gospel. That's why when a lot of people talk about the gospel, they almost always stick close to the book of Romans. In it, Paul proves the gospel.

The first two and a half chapters of the book are quite condemning, though rightly so. Paul reveals the fullness of the implications surrounding the idea of sinful men in the hands of a just God. He must do this to box men in so that there is no wiggle room. We cannot save ourselves. We are condemned. But thankfully, God is not only just, He is loving as well. This is where it gets good – really good! When Paul shifts from speaking of God's wrath to speaking of His love in Romans 3:21, he says this, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” But why does he begin to talk about righteousness? This is a point I want to drive home by going back to a book that was very familiar to Paul. So familiar and so foundational, in fact, that Paul quotes from it in nearly every chapter of the book of Romans, and references it time and again. That book is the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah 56:1 the prophet speaks from the other side of Christ. That is, he speaks from the perspective of one who was looking forward to the Messiah, not backward. This is what he says, “Thus saith the Lord, 'Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.'” Notice the connection between righteousness and salvation in this verse, then notice that Paul, in giving his dissertation of the gospel, and having proved that man has no righteousness, says, “the righteousness of God without the law is manifested”! Wow! The point I am making is driven further when we realize that the theme of the book of Romans is righteousness by faith – remember, not of works, it is the gift of God, lest anyone can boast.

Now, in order to help us understand why the notion that a new car is like the gift of the atonement is false, we need to contrast the nature of a car and the nature of righteousness, which is the gift of the atonement – The substance of God's love and grace.

If God were to give a gift, He would give the best gift. I think that anyone would agree with that. That is exactly what He has done in extending to us the gift of righteousness. Righteousness is attributed to man when he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22, 4:11). When someone has righteousness from God, it is final. He is righteous. That's the end of it. When God makes a promise, He keeps that promise. It has nothing to do with man's behavior that follows. God does not turn back on His promises. He says, “You will be made righteous if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and stop relying on your own righteousness to come to me.”

A car, on the other hand, is something I can put away in a garage and never use. I can choose not to open the door and get in, fill it with fuel, or maintain it. I can even drive a car into a pole and total it, at which time I can never enjoy it again, unless I like looking at cars in the junkyard. But that is precisely why junked cars go to the junkyard – they are junk. But I cannot junk God's righteousness.

In summary, righteousness is, by nature, something you are whereas a car is something you use. Righteousness is not something you can use or choose not to use; it is given and cannot be revoked. A car, on the other hand can be covered up, or destroyed, and can even corrode. Righteousness is a non-physical attribute, a car is by nature physical. Righteousness is unlike any gift man can give! To what can you compare it?

I would like to clarify what I mean when I say that righteousness does not depend on my actions that follow after it is given. The law reveals my sin and makes me an unrighteous, condemned sinner in the hands of a wrathful God. But when Jesus came, he came to fulfill the law in my place and take the punishment I deserve (Matthew 5:17). Since He has taken that punishment for me, it would be unjust if God were to make me pay for what has already been paid after I have accepted Jesus as my substitute. Paul clearly says that Jesus took our sin upon Himself as our substitute, and freely gives us righteousness. We become righteous in Jesus, not ourselves, when we have faith in His substitutionary work (2 Corinthians 5:21). The law, which condemns me as a sinner, is taken away and I stand clean before God on the basis of the One who earned salvation for me. (Romans 7) Since He earned it for me, it is irrevocable and does not depend on my actions, rather it depends on His finished work.

When one first hears this, their immediate reaction is almost always negative, but I challenge anyone who does not agree to search the scriptures and see if what I have written is true. Further, I challenge them to look deeply into their own conscience to see if their reason for disagreeing has any root in pride, desiring to have some merit before God. I am not making accusations, I simply desire all men to see the fullness of God's glorious and rich grace that can be poured out on all men who will receive. But before we can receive, we must humble ourselves so that God can lift us up (James 4:10). As long as pride stands in the way, the throne that would otherwise be a throne of grace will remain a throne of wrath. I desire that all men come to God and receive from His good hand what can never be made effective by the self-effort of men. Are you hungry and thirsty? Please, come, eat and drink with me the only bread and wine that satisfy!

Isaiah 55:1-3

Ho, every one that thirsteth,

come ye to the waters,

and he that hath no money;

come ye, buy, and eat;

yea, come, buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?

and your labour for that which satisfieth not?

Hearken diligently unto me,

and eat ye that which is good,

and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Incline your ear, and come unto me:

hear, and your soul shall live;

and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

even the sure mercies of David.