Thanks for the article. I am a bible college student at Trinity Lutheran College in Everett, WA. I have been wrestling with the subject of grace for some time now. It has caused me some great distress and distrust, not in God, but in myself.

The questions arose in my mind, “How much does grace actually afford the Christ-follower? What can I really do? Should I skate by on grace? or is the road to Christ-likeness paved by my own hard work that was begun and will ultimately be finished by Jesus Christ?”

In response to your statement, “…they are prone either towards lechery, saying ‘Let us sin that grace may abound,’ or to fastening on more rules that default back to their legalistic mode,” it seems clear to me that there is great truth in that.

In my own experience, I have found that my only response to conviction by the Holy Spirit is “sin management,” which states that X-sin plus Y-repentance equals Z-forgiveness. The folly in this is that I can repeat this equation as many times as I want knowing that God’s love is unconditional, God’s grace is huge, and I can always receive forgiveness of sins. But then my own “default” to this cycle seems to be legalism, wherein I know that I am reconciled–justified–to God by the things that I avoid doing, rather than by grace alone.

So then, the questions still remain, how am I to become conformed to the likeness of Christ if I cannot control my own behavior? What role does behavioral modification play in holiness? Where does spiritual maturity begin? What role does grace play in our daily lives?

Thanks for contributing to this e-magazine. I believe that avenues such as these are integral in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Shalom,
Anthony