Let me count the ways. I recently came across a tweet (forgive an old man for being slow to change) wherein a gentlemen left of center theologically opined that what people need from the church is not guilt, but grace. In a sense I can agree with a sentiment that could fit inside those words. The message the church has for its members is less “You are a horrible and awful person and God hates you” and more “God loves all those who come to Him in repentance and faith.” Wondering if the tweet meant what I hoped it meant I asked, “Grace for what, if not our guilt?”
Grace, according to the theological liberal, is that which erases the law, making us not guilty. To the biblical believer, on the other hand, grace is that which covers our genuine guilt. The gospel isn’t the good news that God did away with His law. Rather it is the good news that the law’s just judgment for our failure to obey the law has already been paid by Christ on the cross. With the former one is right with God with no repentance, no acknowledgment of His law, nor any need to change at all. With the latter one is right with God despite our obvious failure, only through repenting of our sin, acknowledging His authority and striving to obey. Which one seems more appealing to sinners like us?
When a man acknowledges a god that has no law, no wrath, no justice, no authority, no judgment, the man is not only still stuck in his sins but has added the sin of idolatry. It matters not if the man calls this god Jesus or Adonai. It matters not if this man is a woman, ordained by the United Episcopal Presbyterian Church of Christ.
Of course that tweet itself, like every other variation of “Stop judging, you horrible judging people,’ falls under its own weight. If grace is better than guilt, then those who say we need grace rather than guilt are spreading guilt rather than grace. They are saying that those who preach guilt are guilty. They are right, of course, because we all are. But those who say it’s wrong to preach guilt are herein preaching guilt. Grace for me and mine, guilt for thee and thine.
The truth is we need more grace preached, presented, proffered, practiced, proclaimed. The truth is that there are, in some obscure pockets of the world, preachers who preach only guilt, without preaching the balm of Gilead, the blood of Christ shed for sinners like us. There are far more, however, preachers who preach only “grace,” an anemic, Christ-less denial of our guilt. Sound and biblical preaching (see Peter’s sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2) proclaims with equal vigor the horrible truth that we are all by nature vile sinners, due the just wrath of the Father. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (James 1:9). And despite our guilt, because of His grace, all who repent and turn to Him are not only forgiven, but are made the very children of God (I John 1:3). Guilt. Grace. Adoption. Amen.
Yes! I have been impressed and a little surprised by how deeply some institutions emphasize grace, only to realize later that that emphasis is at the expense of justice, minimizing guilt, presenting half-truths instead of the whole counsel of God.