Having come out of a legalistic background, I well know the feeling of disdain for the word “grace.” I hear this contempt coming from Christian circles and it’s absolutely wrong. Grace is the Gospel. The word “grace” is used 159 times in the KJV of the Bible; used twenty times in Romans alone. The practice of God giving grace is throughout the whole Bible. Without grace all we have is legalism because legalism is the absence of grace; therefore, legalism is equivalent to sin. Without embracing grace, all we have is fleshly merit and performance which is, as sin-filled filthy rags. My biggest eye-opener when understanding the true gospel was that Paul kept scolding the baby Christians for returning to the law which kept them in sin! Every time they rejected grace and returned to legalistic practices, sin abounded. This is why in Hebrews 10:29, get ready for this (drumroll please), Paul warns them that there will no longer remain a Sacrifice for their sins if they reject it by returning to their own righteousness to save them. He’s warning them about rejecting God’s grace!

“Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” Heb 10;29

When we abhor that which God calls good, calling good evil, (and evil good) God says Whoa Nelly! “Woe” is actually the word and it is an expression of grief.

Someone tell me, what is  “greasy grace?” Is it suggesting that one wants to slide into heaven? Or is it that one is trying to climb to heaven  by one’s own efforts but grace won’t let you?  Either way, it doesn’t sound attractive. I feel the urgency to say WOE! to those calling grace evil. The FEAR OF GRACE is evil, not grace! Let’s get it straight, people! Grace is biblical. Embrace it! The grace people are the ones dealing with sin! Applying grace to sin removes the evil desire; thus deflating its power over us. Based on biblical principles and experience, the churches preaching against sin have the most members staying in  blatant  sin, doing nothing to change. The grace churches are the ones with victory over sin, not by gritting teeth but by believing that they are under grace, the desire to sin leaves through deliverance which is successful repentance. The more sin-conscious we are, the more we are enslaved to sin. If you feel condemed, you are suffering from legalism of the heart. But if your heart condemns you, God’s grace is greater than the condemnation in your heart.

Take this quiz to test your understanding of the Gospel:

1. By what were you saved?  (Ephesians 2:8)
2. By what are we justified?  (Rom 3:24)
3. Where sin abounds, what else abounds more? (Rom 5:20)
4. When does sin have no power? (Rom 6:14)
5. True or False:”I was saved by grace but I keep it by my obedience”  (Rom 11:6)

The answers are provided in those verses. Read Romans until grace hits you in the face. The translations really don’t help. We need a Grace Bible. You must see the gospel by revelation and then turn in your LAW glasses. Many verses can look condemning but once you realize what the gospel really is, by grace through faith, you can see it more clearly.

Grace + Law = SIN;    Grace + Faith = Salvation

^{Rom 1:16} For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth

^{Rom 2:29} But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.