Maximizing Grace
There is a way to speak very strongly about God’s grace in such a way that the end result is a picture of grace that is actually much less than the Biblical picture. It might go something like this, “Our salvation is all about grace and has nothing to do with our good works or righteous acts whatsoever.”
The true aspect of such a statement is what what we read in verses like Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” What is missing from the statement is the truth of passages like Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God saved us completely by grace in order to fulfill His plan for doing good works through us.
There is nothing good in man, left to Himself. But God does not leave His children (those who by grace trust in Him) in that condition. Ezekiel 36:22ff is a classic statement of God’s promise to us in the new covenant:
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
Now if that’s not grace, then I don’t know what is. God says He will cause you to obey Him. I call that amazing grace, because I know that there is no way that I would have obeyed Him if He hadn’t caused it.
God’s gift of free, unmerited grace to those who trust in Christ is not only that He sets us free from the penalty of sin, but also that He frees us from slavery to sin, frees us from the love of sin, writes the Law of God on our heart, puts the love of God in our hearts, and puts in us His Spirit who is eager to do His will!
In other words, part of the gift of grace is a God-empowered desire and capacity to do good deeds and fulfill the law of God! It is true that man does no good works to contribute to God’s grace, but God’s grace does everything to contribute to man’s good works.
If grace had “nothing whatsoever” to do with good works, then I would still be a slave to my sinful nature. Thankfully, grace is much more than that! We don’t maximize the glory of God’s amazing grace by totally disconnecting it from man’s good works. Rather, God’s grace is all the more glorious by virtue of the fact that it actually has the power to cause a (formerly) selfish, depraved, sinful man to do good deeds, and even enjoy them!