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• Amazing Grace

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 Amazing Grace

In the last issue of this journal we learned that God loves us and that He has
proved His love for us with many wonderful actions. In this issue, I intend to examine the
basis of our relationship with God. There would be no need to examine this if it were not
for the fact that we can have many types of relationship, each of which may be grounded
on a different basis. The need for this examination becomes even more important, when
the fear many Christians have that their relationship with God may one day end, probably
because of some mistakes that (they worry) may displease God, is taken into account. In
this issue it will be shown that our relationship with God cannot be terminated
because it is a grace-based relationship, NOT a works-based relationship.

1. What is grace?

The word "grace" used in the English Bibles is a translation of the Greek word
χαρις (charis) . "Charis" means "free undeserved favour". In the Bible, it means "God's
unmerited favour". The importance of understanding precisely the meaning of this word
cannot be overstated since all too often people confuse grace with works. However, grace
and works are entirely different things. Romans 4:4 tells us:

Romans 4:4
"Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation"
(NIV)

In that passage the word "gift" is the word "charis" in the Greek text, which as we
have learned means grace (it is rendered so in the KJV). What this passage tells us is that
when someone works for something that which receives back is a reward for his work.
This reward therefore is not given to him by grace because he worked for it, and thus he
deserved it. Equally, when the Word of God says something has been given to us by
grace it means that it has been given to us as a gift, as something for which we didn't
qualify and for which we didn't work. It is clear therefore that something either will be
earned by works or will be given by grace. It cannot be both by works and by grace at
the same time. Difficulties in understanding and accepting this fact have caused many
Christians, instead of enjoying what they already have by grace and utilise it to build their
fellowship with God, to try to achieve by works what they already have.
Another passage which defines grace and its relation to works is found in Romans
11:6.

Romans 11:6
"And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were (i.e. by works), grace would no
longer be grace."
(NIV)

This passage explains us, once more, what we already have seen: if something is
gained by works then it could not be by grace since otherwise "grace would no longer be
grace"!!! How clear and pure is the Word of God. Many of us when we go to the Word of
God, we think that what we read has to mean something different than what is said; We
must, at the end of the day, understand that the Word of God means what it says
and says what it means. It is our refusal to accept the Word of God which has
produced all these strange ideas that gift means wage and grace means works. We go to
the Word of God with the preconceived idea that we must do something to achieve a right
position before God and when we see that the Word of God says that this right position
has been granted to us by grace, through the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ,
then we worry what is wrong with the Word. Rather, we should and must ask what is
wrong with our preconceived ideas. When you go to the Word of God YOU MUST
NEVER GO WITH ANY PRECONCEIVED IDEAS. You must go with the intention to
fit your ideas to the Bible and not the Bible to your preconceived ideas. With regard to
the topic of salvation and righteousness that is examined here and seeing the confusion
that abounds about it, it is little wonder God paid such special attention to telling us that
when He says grace He means grace and not works!!! May we understand and appreciate
God's special attention.
2. Righteous, saved by grace

The good news1 contained in the part of the Word of God which is addressed to
the believers after the day of Pentecost is that Jesus Christ met all the required conditions
so that by just believing in him you are righteous and saved. This is really good news,
isn't it? Ephesians tells us:

Ephesians 2:8
"For BY GRACE you are saved through faith: and this not from yourselves: it is the
GIFT of God: Not by works, so that no-one can boast"
(NIV-KJV)

Also:
Romans 3:20-23, 28
"Therefore NO-ONE will be declared righteous in his (God's) sight by the works of the
law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin. But NOW the righteousness
from God, apart from the law has been made known, to which the law and the Prophets
testify. THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD COMES THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS
CHRIST TO ALL WHO BELIEVE. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE
THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS......Therefore we
conclude that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law"
(NIV-KJV)

The above passages, in addition to many others, state that our salvation and our
right standing before God, i.e. our righteousness, are not based on how many good works
we did, do or will do but on the grace of God. According to the above passages, even if
you kept all the law you could not be righteous before God; for it says that no-one can be
righteous before God by the works of the law. And it also says that "all have sinned".

1The Greek word that is translated as "gospel" in the English Bibles is the word “evaggelion”
which means "good news".
Even if you don't make a single mistake in your life (which is not at all true regarding
myself and I suspect not true for you either) there is still Adam's mistake which passes
down from generation to generation. But praise God, another way has been provided by
which we can be righteous before Him and this way is called grace. Yes, someone had to
work for all these gifts to be made freely available to us. However, this was neither you
nor I but the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3 tell us about the accomplishments of Jesus
Christ:

Romans 3:23-26
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth2 to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; he did it to demonstrate his
righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who
have faith in Jesus."
(NIV-KJV)

The redemption is IN CHRIST JESUS, not in what you and I achieved. This is
very important if we want to understand the relationship we have with God. Our
relationship is based upon the grace of God and the accomplishments of Jesus Christ,
NOT upon our worth, works or achievements. We are righteous before God twenty four
hours a day. The reason is that this right standing was given to us by grace. It was given
to us as a result of the unmerited favour and love that God has for us. It is "righteousness
FROM God", NOT righteousness from ourselves i.e. self righteousness. This "from" is
used to denote the source of this righteousness. This source is neither you nor I but God.
Galatians also tells us:

Galatians 2:16
"know that A MAN IS NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW BUT BY
FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be

2The word translated as "set forth" in the KJV could also be translated as "foreordained".
justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law: for BY THE WORKS OF
THE LAW NO-ONE WILL BE JUSTIFIED."
(KJV-NIV)

Once more we see that it is not by works. If it was, I could say: "Look I did more
than you. I deserve it more than you." No-one deserved something from God. It was God
who, by His love, sacrificed His Son so that by believing in him we are righteous and
saved. That's really grace! Amazing grace!

3. "He became unto us"

A simple look to the thoughts and ideas of many Christians suggests that the idea
of righteousness by works, i.e. self-righteousness, is very well rooted in many Christian
minds. However, the Scripture does not support this idea. Indeed, what the Scripture
points out is not our ability to achieve a right standing before God but the sacrifice of
Christ who achieved this right standing for us. I Corinthians 1:30 tells us about Christ's
accomplishments on our behalf:

I Corinthians 1:30
"It is because of him (meaning God) that you are in Christ Jesus....."
(NIV)

Once more, we see that it is BECAUSE OF HIM, meaning God, that we are now
in Christ Jesus. It is not because of our worth or our abilities but because of the grace,
love and goodness of God that we are in Christ Jesus. In the preceding verse (verse 29) it
says "so that no-one may boast before him" (meaning God). We will see in a minute in
whom we can boast.
I Corinthians 1:30
"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who HAS BECOME (BECAME in the
Greek text) unto us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption. Therefore as it is written "LET HIM WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THE
LORD"
(NIV-KJV)

Jesus Christ became unto us all these things. HE BECAME (past tense). It does
not say that WE became unto him. HE became unto us. He became wisdom from God
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Do you know why we are righteous,
redeemed and holy before God? Because Jesus Christ BECAME unto us all these things.
When did he become ? When you believed. When you believed you were declared
righteous, you were saved, you were sanctified. I know, it would be very logical if God
told us: "Look, you will do this and that work and then you will be saved, become
righteous etc." Although there are many that teach exactly that, God never taught it.
What God teaches in His Word is that to become righteous and saved you need to believe
in Jesus Christ.
I remember many times when I ended up having condemnation in my heart
because I felt that I had to achieve my right standing before God by works and I failed. It
is impossible to develop your fellowship with God if you do not know that you
START as righteous and saved. Once you realise this, then you can utilise these
rights to build your fellowship with God. If you have a good fellowship with God
then the works will come as the fruit of that fellowship. These are not works that
you have predetermined to do for God but works that "GOD has prepared"
(Ephesians 2:10) for you. It is how you start. If you start doing good works in order
to achieve a good position before God then you have missed the mark. You will
always end up with condemnation because you are trying to achieve righteousness
by works, yet this is impossible. If you start by knowing that Jesus Christ became
unto you righteousness, redemption etc. and that all these were granted to you as
gifts (by GRACE), when you believed, then you can go ahead and do the works that
God has prepared for you. The works are not the foundation, the mean for the
fellowship with God, but the FRUIT of that fellowship.

4. The breastplate of righteousness

Further understanding of the role of righteousness is given in Ephessians 6. There it

speaks about the armour of God that was given to us to fight the spiritual war:
Ephessians 6:13
"Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes you may be
able to withstand, and having done all to stand"
(NIV-KJV)

I would like to point out two things in this verse. First, the armour is of GOD. It is
NOT an armour that you constructed. Rather, it is an armour that has been constructed by
GOD. Second, it is YOU that put on that armour. God will not put it on for you. God
made it available. Now you have to put it on. These two things have significance for
correct understanding of the next verse. There it states:

Ephesians 6:14
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around you waist, WITH THE
BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN PLACE....."
(NIV)

It is this second piece of the armour on which we will concentrate our attention
today. This piece is the breastplate of righteousness. The various parts of the armour, as
they are described in verses 14-17, have not been given a name through chance. God has
a reason for everything He says. Nothing was written "by chance" in His Word. So, we
must ask ourselves what is the job that a breastplate is designed to do? I believe that most
of us know the answer: in a suit of armour the breastplate protects the breast. As you
know, the heart, a vital instrument for our lives, is located in the left side of the breast.
Therefore, one of the most important jobs of the breastplate is to protect the heart.
Biblically, the word heart means the inner part of the mind; the inner being of a man.
What there is in our heart determines what we are. Romans 10 tells us:

Romans 10:9
"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved"
(NIV-KJV)

When it says "in your heart" does not mean the literal heart, for the literal heart
cannot believe. Rather it means, the inner part of your mind, the inner part of your being.

Also:
Proverbs 3:23
"Above all else guard your heart; for out of it are the issues of life"
(NIV-KJV)

The Word of God calls us to guard our hearts more than anything else. Once more,
when it says heart the actual reference is to the inner part of our minds. Indeed, what is in
the inner part of our minds determines "the issues of life". No wonder therefore, that it is
exactly this part at which Satan aims his darts. If his darts manage to pierce the heart i.e.
the inner part of our being, then this is exactly what he wants. One of the weapons which
Satan frequently uses to fire his darts into the heart of sincere and devoted Christians is
none other than condemnation. Condemnation is one of his best weapons since it makes
the heart, the inner part of our beings, ill. It is a powerful weapon of Satan to corrupt our
fellowship with God. I John describes the effects of this disease which affects many
Christians.

I John 3:21
"Beloved, IF our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God"
(NIV-KJV)
 Pay careful attention to that "if". Note also that the reference is to the heart.
Condemnation is a serious disease that affects the heart, the inner being of a man. When
there is condemnation in our hearts then there is no confidence before God and if there is
no confidence before God, then I really question of the fellowship that we are able to
have with God. The will of God is to "rejoice in the Lord always" (Philipians 4:4). It is
however impossible to rejoice in Him when you do not have confidence before Him.
Nevertheless, Satan will not manage to bring condemnation into our lives IF (and only if)
we use the armour of God for our defence. So the question is what is the piece of armour
which God has provided us with to protect the heart? Ephesians 6:14 tells us:

Ephesians 6:14
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around you waist, WITH THE
BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN PLACE....."
(NIV)

This piece is the "breastplate of righteousness". But which righteousness is this?

You see, we are accustomed to reading this verse using a preconceived idea of
righteousness by works. Thus, we think that the righteousness referred to in that verse is
our self-righteousness. We say "if I'm good enough and do good works then I'll be
righteous". However, we forget that the Bible says "therefore NO-ONE will be declared
righteous in his (God's) sight by the works of the law". The righteousness here is not our
self-righteousness but the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF (or from) GOD. The full armour has
been made ready for us BY GOD. It is the "armour OF GOD". It is not an armour that we
constructed. The Word does not say "Make up the armour". It says "PUT ON the FULL
ARMOUR OF GOD". If the armour is of God, whose then is the breastplate of that
armour? It is God's. Whose therefore is the righteousness that is the breastplate? Is it
your self-righteousness gained through your good works? No! It is the righteousness of
God, as indeed the whole armour is of God, and so therefore is each separate piece. You
didn't make up the armour. You just put it on. In the case of righteousness this means that
you place deep in your mind that you are righteous before God BY GRACE
("righteousness from God") and thus you do not try to achieve a self-righteousness
standing before Him. You understand that before Him "no-one will be justified by the
works of the law" and that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are
justified FREELY BY HIS GRACE". You must accept that grace is grace and works are
works. You must understand that when it says grace does not mean grace with some
works. As the Scripture says: "And if by grace it is no longer by works; if it were, grace
would no longer be grace" (Romans 11:6). Then, you will have ":the breastplate of
righteousness IN PLACE". Otherwise, you will leave your heart unprotected and be
vulnerable to the disease of condemnation. Satan will trap you by his "wiles" because you
are not wearing the full armour of God but something that you yourself made up. You
have put on the breastplate of self-righteousness instead of the breastplate of
righteousness of God. YET, the breastplate of self-righteousness has been declared
faulty by the Word of God. No wonder therefore that if you put on that breastplate you
will be vulnerable to this Satan-caused disease. When we protect our hearts with the true
breastplate of the righteousness of God then that which the Scripture says in Romans 8:1
will be fulfilled in our lives:

Romans 8:1
"THEREFORE THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN
CHRIST JESUS3"
(NIV)

Tassos Kioulachoglou

3The latter part of the verse that appears in the KJV is omitted by all critical Greek texts.