"Grace is opposed to earning, not effort.". Dallas Willard
This quote is one of Dallas' favorite quotes. I have been slowly digesting it for a few weeks now and trying to internalize it and reconcile it with another concept that was ingrained in me many years ago: we are saved by faith alone through the grace of Jesus- we are not saved by works.
When I was younger, I was led by pop, modern Christianity to believe that the only point of grace is to forgive us of our sins when we ask for it. Taken in combination with my misunderstanding that "faith" was a matter of believing certain ideas to be true (ie. the "right" things about God, Jesus, and a myriad of sociopolitical issues) and my belief that I needed to try really hard not to sin (lest I ask forgiveness for the same thing too often and cheapen grace) resulted in a personal theology of "sin management" [citation needed :-] and what Willard calls "consumerist Christianity without discipleship."
I went to church to participate in worship, but also to get more head knowledge and clarify the head knowledge I had to make sure I had the right answers (this was before I was introduced to the idea of a healthy respect for the mysteries of God). I tried really hard not to sin (not in an attempt to earn grace, but so I wouldn't "cheapen it"). And eventually, when I was a senior in high school, I hit a wall. I realized that while I wasn't doing anything really bad, neither was I doing anything really good. This bothered me and I felt like it was a deficit in my life. But I also had the ingrained idea that we don't do good works in an effort to earn salvation (most Protestants I knew avoided good works as a general rule, just to be on the safe side). I felt like that young rich man who said to Jesus: look, I keep the commandments, I am a good boy...what now?
Jesus' answer: sell all your stuff, give the money to the poor and follow me (discipleship)! Ok, nice in theory. But how do I follow Jesus at the turn of the twenty first century? My church wasn't giving me too many specifics: believe, read the bible, pray, witness, ask forgiveness (but don't cheapen grace!), repeat. Since Jesus is not physically standing before me, how can I follow him? If I try to do the stuff he did, barring the stuff I cannot do (miracles and such), and the stuff I was already trying (scripture, prayer and witnessing) it seems like there were a lot of good works involved (helping those less fortunate, feeding the poor, etc) and a lot of talking back to hipocritical and out-of-touch religious authorities (scribes, Pharisees, etc). This seemed in direct conflict with the dual concepts I had been taught since a youngster: we are saved by grace, not works, and you must respect your elders.
Now, given my youth and the youthful inclination toward rebellion, I was all about exploring the possibility that Jesus was a little more complex than the docile, sacrificial lamb that Sunday School portrayed him as (except when he cleared the money changers out of the temple - that had always made him seem uncharacteristically edgy). So I began to re-read the Gospels for the first time as though Jesus was also my teacher (I was in college at this point). This read much differently than it had when I read it ealier in life. Before this, I had known that Jesus was saying cool stuff, but all I really needed to remember was that Jesus loved and forgave me. But as Jesus also became me teacher, I began trying to live a little bit like he did in terms of my interpersonal relationships. I have no delusions of grandeur - I do not actually think I am perfect- just ask anyone close to me. But if Jesus is my teacher, shouldn't I TRY to treat others with love and understanding, despite our differences? And still, this did not seem to me to conflict with the idea that you cannot earn Grace or salvation. However, it did not mesh either, until I read this Dallas Willard line: "Grace is opposed to earning, not effort".
Just because we are saved by grace does not mean we should go through life as passive as a lump on a log. Even the demons believe that God is God and Jesus saves (and they tremble), but to do kingdom work requires some effort. Dallas also elaborates on how Grace plays a part in this. Grace is not merely used as a sin-balm; grace also sanctifies our actions. How do you "grow in grace"? Not by sinning more to exercise God's forgiveness (Rasputin style!), but by acting out of a desire to follow Jesus everyday and to do God's will (Discipleship is, after all, an action). Then, God's grace sanctifies our actions to serve his purpose. If God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose (and we know he does- it's in Romans somewhere) then surely that doesn't just apply to helping us work through the bad stuff in our lives. It also applies to helping our good efforts actually result in some good for the kingdom of God.
Grow in Grace!
Be disciples (and teach others to do likewise)!
