Defined by Grace

I grew up in a Christian home. I live a life thankful that I have been exposed to teachers of truth since before I could talk. We all have different backgrounds with relation to the church. What is yours? And more importantly, does it define your Christianity?

Some of us were raised by Christians, became Christians because that’s what was expected of us, and rode the wave of our family heritage, as if that equated with faithfulness. (And I write this, troubled by the reality that those of such an attitude would rarely read such a writing as this.) Beware! Genuine faithfulness to Jesus and His truth is what is important to God.

Paul describes himself as being from “the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee,” etc. (Phil. 3:5b, 6a). But he realized that, though he was one of the “chosen people” of God, the zeal of his physical heritage blurred his view and subsequent faithfulness to truth – the truth that Jesus is Lord. In Romans 11 he describes God as the root (vs. 18), giving sustenance to the branches, His faithful people. Paul speaks of branches being broken off (vs. 17) – no doubt the group he found himself in, because of his earlier rejection of truth. His Gentile audience of “grafted in branches” (vs. 19) is urged to heed the reality that if the “natural branches” (vs. 21) were cut off, faithfulness, not heritage, was the bond tying them to the nourishing root.

But within the warning is the beauty of the impartiality of God. While it may be more advantageous to be raised by Christian parents, any person, from any family, from any walk of life, from any level of worldliness, can, by faith, be grafted in among the “remnant according to the election of grace” (vs. 5). The person who has every advantage and expectation to believe truth can become disqualified and cut off, while the most disadvantaged person with no expectations can become “a partaker of the root” (vs. 17).

So Paul says to his Gentile audience, “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Rom 11:22). But then in verse 23 he gives the hope of the level ground before God. Of the branches that were once cut off he says, “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.” Those who fall away can return once more.

In the original context of Romans, Paul is showing that there is no difference between the blessings available to Jews and Gentiles, as they come to God through Christ. While the Jew/Gentile issue is not one that we experience today, the principle is as relevant as ever. We all know those who define their Christianity by their parents and heritage, leading to apathy. And we know those who define their Christianity by their past sins, stifling their potential for growth. On the one hand, a lack of humility disqualifies one from grace; on the other hand, blindness to the transforming power of grace leads one to feel disqualified.

So then, what defines your spiritual state? Is it your heritage, the works of your past, or the grace of God?

-Cary Gillis D.Min.

October 16, 2020