Mistaking God’s Liberality in Grace
Dr. Allen M.
Barber
September 2, 2010
Romans
5: 21
21 so that as sin reigned in
death,
even so grace might reign
through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
NKJV
The grace of God does not directly solve the sin problem - that
every
person is born in sin whether he or she believes it or not.
Many
believe that God forgives sins because He is so kind and loving
that He
would never judge or condemn man to the infernal regions of hell –
some
even believe there is no hell, just heaven where everyone goes
when
they die. This wrong concept is not found in all of Holy Writ.
In forgiving the sinner, God has not overlooked one sin – big or
small.
“As sin reigned in death, even so
might grace reign through righteousness.” There are two
thrones
implied here – sin and grace. One reigns by death and the other
through
righteousness. To reign means to have complete authority and
power. Sin
is an authority and a power, which lost man cannot conquer. He
must
obey sin. Sins reigns by itself for that is what man is. Kings and
queens may sit on thrones and wear royal robes; presidents may sit
in
White Houses; tyrants may demand submission, but they all have one
thing in common – they are sinners under the reign of sin and
death and
will eventually succumb to sin’s power – death. The cemeteries are
undeniable proof that the Word of God is the truth regarding the
sinner-hood of the sinner. Men die because they are bad (born in
sin)
not good.
In contrast, grace does not reign by itself, but through
righteousness
because not only is God grace, but He has obtained righteousness
for
all men through one man, Jesus Christ. This is not to say that God
Himself is not righteousness for He is, but until Jesus came and
died
the death for the sinner, God
had not
obtained righteousness for mankind. God both saves and
protects
man through righteousness. He is able to forgive us because He has
obtained righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus – the God
man. Having done so, sin’s problem is now solved.
Mistaking God’s grace as His liberality is a grievous fault of all
the
liberal theologians and false religion. They dress up religion as
something inherent in man, that is, that man is basically good and
so
God in his liberality just normally accepts man who makes
mistakes, but
is not a sinner. This kind of hellish religion makes the cross of
Jesus
to be a lie and of no value. While
God is love, the love of God toward the sinner is not
efficacious
without the cross. John 3:16 says God so loved the world
that He
gave Jesus as a gift to man in order that man would not perish,
but
obtain eternal life. The Unity religion and all like it, interpret
this
verse as God being so liberal in love that He would never condemn
mankind since man is inherently good. If man is so good, then why
would
He perish unless God sent His Son? Religionists like the
Unity
false Church believes in the good teacher of Israel and His
beatitudes,
but they do not believe in His cross for to do so would mean they
acknowledge sin.
Know this and do not mistake it – God’s love alone in the absence
of
His righteousness would never demand the cross of Jesus. God
cannot overlook sin – He must judge it. Since we have no way to
solve
our sin problem, God Himself must bear them for us. This He did in
the
cross of His Son – the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the real
Christmas
story – the babe in the manger was born for one purpose – to die
the
death of the cross because mankind is hopelessly lost in
sin. To
see the birth of Christ as just a historical event of some Jewish
teacher who appeared in Israel is to completely miss the reason
for the
season. The birth of Christ and the cross of Christ were for
one
purpose – God demands
righteousness
and righteousness means sin MUST be dealt with. It must
be
judged in order to lose its throne – its power and authority over
death. This is the grace of
God!
God must first solve sins problem before He forgives it. There is
no
love of God extended to mankind in solving his sin problem except
that
righteousness dethrones sin FIRST. Jesus did that in His cross.
The
religious person who bypasses the cross is without righteousness –
right standing with God and will perish in his sins! This is
the
truth, not what the false teachers advocate.
May the Holy Spirit grant understanding of God’s love through
righteousness.