Grace & Law

 Good morning...this is a Sunday message on Grace & Law, or we might say Bait & Switch.

I'll post, the Lord willing, daily installments.

I sure would love to preach this one again!

Love,

Bob

Grace & Law

 

Preached in Woodstock, VA

Robert L. Withers, 2006

 

            Author and professor C.S. Lewis was walking through a lecture hall one day when he overheard a debate taking place regarding Christianity and other religions. The question at hand was, “What, if anything, makes Christianity different from other religions?”

            Lewis stopped in his tracks, looked toward the debating group and interjected, “That’s easy…the difference is grace.” And having made that statement Lewis resumed his walk, leaving the lecture hall.

            But I wonder if Lewis was right. Is grace the distinctive feature of Christianity – or are we all victims of a classic bait-and-switch advertising ploy? Is Christianity like reading the Sunday advertising supplements?

            “Huge 90” high definition televisions, only $99.99.” Of course the small print reads that the sale is limited to what is in stock and when you get to the worldwide retailer you find that the nearest store with the televisions in stock is in Outer Mongolia and that for a mere $10,000 they will ship you the set…as long as you also pay transportation costs and duty fees at the port-of-entry.

            Is that what Christianity is like when it comes to grace? Is it a bait-and-switch ploy?

            My brother-in-law Rod Barton came to know Jesus in his late 30’s. And while he would not live many more years due to complications associated with juvenile diabetes, he made the most of those years by sharing Jesus with others. Since Vickie’s family lives in Iowa I didn’t get to see a lot of Rod but we did have many telephone conversations. A subject which Rod often brought up in our talks was whether Jesus really accepted him – he was always concerned about his salvation, always concerned about whether God’s love and mercy and grace were unconditional in Christ.

            Of course I tried my best to reassure him - for Jesus and the Scriptures are clear on the matter…but…well…anyway…now that Rod is with Jesus he knows all that worrying was for nothing.

            But, I understood Rod’s concern better when on a trip to Iowa about three years ago Vickie and I attended Rod’s old church. As I was meandering around the back of the church and reading notices on bulletin boards I read a notice something like this:

            “There are those who teach that when a person gets saved that that person is always saved and that that person need not work hard to maintain his salvation. We do not believe that but we believe that we must always work to ensure that we are worthy to go to heaven.”

            That is pretty close to the wording…and when I read that I thought:

            “Now I understand why Rod was always so concerned about the certainty of his salvation. No wonder his heart was never truly at rest in the love and grace of Jesus.”

            I wonder if Rod ever thought that he was the victim of a bait-and-switch Christianity?

            In many places we have a schizophrenic Christianity. The sign on the outside of the store proclaims: GRACE, GRACE, GRACE. However, once inside every aisle is labeled: WORK, WORK, WORK. The message is: “You got into the store by grace (we didn’t charge you) but now you’ve got to work, work, work to remain in the store…because…don’t forget, this store has a back door and we can show you to it if you don’t behave.

            Could C.S. Lewis really have been right?