Proponents of the grace message face some questions. What’s the big deal about the grace message? Is the grace message just an example of theological nitpicking? Doesn’t adding my human effort to what Jesus did make me even more qualified for salvation? We don’t want to make salvation too easy, do we? Is this an example of “easy believism” that lowers the Christian standard?

Thankfully, the most radical leader of the grace movement also wrote a major portion of the New Testament—the apostle Paul. He answered those kind of questions in his writings. The first New Testament book I ever preached through was Galatians. I went to it because of questions like those I mentioned. There I found Paul’s forceful, even radical, defense of salvation by grace through faith alone. We can’t understand the danger of adding our human effort to faith as the basis of salvation until we understand what Paul was saying to the Galatians. Some of them were adding circumcision to faith as the basis of salvation. Paul knew the danger of that teaching. That would have led to a Christianity that taught we are saved, not just because of what Jesus did for us, but because we are keeping the law as well.

Here is what Paul said about that false teaching: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). For us to begin adding our rules to what Jesus did for us isn’t just a theological, irrelevant issue, it is turning from Christ Himself. It reduces His death for us to being not quite enough to save us.

Adding our human effort to what Jesus did changes our message into “another gospel.” Salvation by faith in Jesus and what He did for us is the authentic gospel. The Greek language has two ways of saying “another.” Allos is another of the same kind. The Greek word, heteros, means another of a different kind [as in heterosexual]. Paul calls the false gospel a heteros gospel. The unadulterated gospel of the New Testament is that we are saved by believing in what Jesus did for us, with nothing else added—like our best efforts. Faith in what Jesus did the only way we can receive salvation. Nothing we do could ever earn the righteousness God wants from us. We all were sinners. His righteousness is a gift we receive by believing in what Jesus did for us when He died and rose again. The righteousness of Jesus Himself is put on our ledger the moment we believe.

Paul followed that thought in Galatians with a statement that made clear his underlying reasoning. “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). The importance of contending for salvation being based on Christ alone is that what Jesus did for us was enough. To add our works to what He did devalues the work of Christ. Believing in His death and resurrection on our behalf is the only basis for our salvation. There is nothing else we need to do, or more importantly can do, to add to that.

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians put all this in a positive statement. “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:6-9).

Since our salvation isn’t based on anything we did we have no room for pride or boasting. We simply remain thankful for the grace of God granting us salvation we didn’t earn and couldn’t pay for. What Jesus did is enough. Just believe that.

Wally | GG Team