transforming grace

There are five words all beginning with the letter L that we need to keep in right relationship to one another. All five are either used or implied in Galatians 5:13-14. They are law, liberty, love, license, and legalism. (I have not used license up to now, and by that word I mean an abuse of our freedom in order to indulge our sinful nature.) We need to learn to live within the right relationships of law and love, law and liberty, and liberty and love. Only when we have those relationships in proper order will we avoid the traps of license on the one hand and legalism on the other. Grace keeps the law, love, and liberty in right relationship to one another.

In one southern state, a narrow two-lane highway has been built through a swampland by building up the road bed above the swamp. You must be extra alert not to drift off the road because there is no margin for error. If you go off the road, you do not end up on a grassy shoulder but rather submerged in a swamp.

As shown in the following illustration, the built-up road bed represents grace that allows you to drive safely through the swampland of legalism and license.

*legalism - law, liberty and love - license*

When you focus on grace in the fullness of its meaning, you will keep the law, liberty, and love in their proper relationship to one another. But if you focus on any one of them instead of grace, you will invariably end up in the swamp of legalism or license.

What do I mean by the phrase, "grace in the fullness of its meaning"? An expression often used in a pejorative sense is cheap grace. The term denotes an attitude that, since God's grace is unconditional, I may live as I please; I may sin as much as I want because God will still love me and forgive me. That is the attitude of license. It results from focusing exclusively on liberty and denigrating God's law. To counteract this sinful attitude, some of us in Christian ministry have fallen into legalism. We have taught, either directly or implicitly, that God's grace is conditional, that there is a degree to which it is based on our performance. We have unduly focused on God's law and disparaged liberty.

- Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace

in one sense, grace is unconditional. it is not based on how God foresees we will respond. in another sense, grace is conditional. it is based on how we actually respond. however, grace cannot be both unconditional and conditional in the same respect and at the same time.

grace is unconditionally given by God

just because grace is unconditionally given by God does not mean that grace is unconditionally received by man. (non-moderate) calvinism starts with the premise that grace is unconditionally given by God and holds that grace is unconditionally received by man. however, if grace is unconditionally received by man, then man is not free.

furthermore, if grace is unconditionally received by man and not all unconditionally receive grace, then grace is not unconditionally given to all. if grace is not unconditionally given to all, then grace is not unconditionally given at all. to this end, the calvinist formulation of election is not 'unconditional election', but 'unknown election'.

grace is conditionally received by man

at the same time, just because grace is conditionally received by man does not mean that grace is conditionally given by God. (non-classical) arminianism starts with the premise that grace is conditionally received by man and holds that grace is conditionally given by God. however, if grace is conditionally given by God (ie. based on how God foresees we will respond), then God is not sovereign.

therefore, grace is unconditionally given by God and conditionally received by man. as geisler puts it, election is 'unconditional for God and conditional for man' (the sole condition being faith in Christ alone).