Gospel Allegiance by Matthew W. Bates

Author:Matthew W. Bates
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Life/Salvation;Christian life—Biblical teaching;REL012000;REL109000;REL067100
ISBN: 9781493420506
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2019-07-23T00:00:00+00:00

Effectiveness

Since you’re always cold, I give you a wool sweater for Christmas. But you are allergic. Or, let’s say that I present to you a brand-new road bike for your commute. Yet you work on a boat in Alaska. Or, because you appreciate music, I purchase you a rare vinyl record. But you don’t own a record player. All these gifts are nice, but none are effective. None achieve their intended purpose.

Effectiveness is different from the other angles of grace that we’ve explored. We are not assessing the merit of the gift or its size. Nor does this pertain to the desire to benefit or the timing of the gift. Gifts are usually given for a specific purpose. The effectiveness of grace concerns its ability to achieve its intended goals.

Is God’s grace effective? Reflexively, those who know Jesus shout, “Yes!” We, and others whom we know and love, have personally been changed, so our hearts overflow with thanksgiving. “I was blind but now I see.” We have such a rich experiential knowledge of God’s saving grace that any conclusion to the contrary is impossible.

Scholars associated with the so-called apocalyptic school of Paul’s theology speak effusively of grace as “unconditional actions by God that deliver salvation” or even of “militant grace”—grace so limitlessly effective that it does not even require human response.17 Though it is prudent to affirm that God’s grace is tremendously effective, we should have doubts when it is suggested that saving grace does not even require a human response for it to work. Grace’s effectiveness has limits.

Individually Effective

I do not intend to question the efficacy of God’s grace to transform the individual who remains in the Messiah. God does not leave individuals helpless in sin. We have died to sin if we are in the Messiah (Rom. 6:6–7). We are no longer ruled by it. God and the king, and their righteousness, rule instead (Rom. 6:11–14, 17–20). Indeed, we are ruled by grace (Rom. 5:21)! God’s saving grace, the good news of Jesus the king, breaks sin’s domination, allowing us to live new lives. Grace is perfectly effective for all those who abide in the Christ since we will be conformed to his image at the consummation of the ages (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). But this is not the primary purpose of saving grace per se in Scripture. For the Bible emphasizes group more than individual salvation.

We can sharpen our way of speaking about grace’s effectiveness by thinking about the boundaries that Scripture places around it. Consider that God’s grace, though truly amazing, has not yet totally transformed us. We all still sin (1 John 1:8). Moreover, not everyone has been or will be changed by God’s grace, so it is not universally effective for all humanity. And contrary to some incautious expressions that we hear today, the Bible indicates that for God’s saving grace to be effective, humans must respond to it with repentance, faith/allegiance (pistis), and baptism.

Purpose Determines Grace’s Effectiveness

How can we assess the true

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