Escaping the Religious Noose, Part 2: Grace Redefined

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Escaping the Religious Noose, Part 2: Grace Redefined

Escaping the Religious Noose, Part 2: Grace Redefined

19 July 2011, 08:00

[Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a four-part series. Click here for Part 1, Part 3, or Part 4]

I will never forget the first time I heard Mr. Gothard teach that “unmerited favor” is a faulty definition of grace. His first step in redefining grace was to look up the New Testament word “graciousness” which is abbreviated as “charis” in the Greek language. “Charis” means, in part (the part that Bill utilizes) “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude, joy, and liberty.” He used this partial definition of graciousness to define and apply every usage of the word grace in the Bible. Romans 11:6: “And if by grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more of grace.” Gothard removes the emphasis on the unmerited gift of God and replaces it with an emphasis on one kind of gift from God and how we are to utilize this gift, earning His favor. Bill Gothard teaches that “in the Old Testament, those who found grace possessed qualities that MERITED God’s favor.” He uses Philippians 2:13 to explain his extra-biblical definition of grace as being “the desire and the power to do God’s will.” His teaching limits “grace” to the realm of sanctification (growing in Christ) while excluding justification (God’s declaration of sinners being righteous in Christ).

Yes, God in His grace gives us the power to carry out His will and to obey His law written upon our hearts. Everything that we do is only because of His grace working through us. But this cannot limit our understanding of its definition. This power is freely given by God. Never earned. As with his other teachings, Bill Gothard bends grace, leading people back to a set of rules, thus making his followers stuck in this self-defeating cycle: Get grace to keep the law in order to earn more grace to keep the law so that you can earn more grace in order to keep from sin,… and on the cycle goes.

Obviously, we believers grow in grace as noted in the Bible. We grow in GRACE, though. Not the law. Not by works do we grow INTO grace. Not by graciously complying with anti-societal rules, regulations, and “principles” compiled to earn favor with God. In order to grow in grace, we apply Matthew 7:8-9. We ask, seek, and find this beautiful gift. Forget about “earning” or “meriting” this gift. It’s free!

Those who struggle with sin, temptations, habits and addictions, instead of depending on lists of man-made rules and regulations, should rest their hopes on prayer and the promises of God’s Word. We have a generous Heavenly Father Who longs to give His grace to us–free of charge. And this grace, unmerited and unearned, continues to grow in us, changing us, transforming our lives. This is the cycle of grace. Unaltered, undefined, UNMERITED, unearned, free grace!

In his re-defining of grace, Bill laid a foundation (on the basis that it’s earned) which leads to a cycle of never-ending bondage to performance. He’s laid a foundation portraying merited grace combined with the teaching that Christians can’t handle freedom. The common thread throughout his ministry is that God is our harsh judge. I spent many years under this understanding. I neglected to see God as a loving Father because I was too consumed with wondering if I’d failed God. My heart was heavy, weary and rule-burdened under the weight of pleasing Him. Only in recent years has it occurred to me that God is not the kind of Father who simply lays down a list of moral demands. Rather, He is a loving Father who redeems and transforms us through His grace into the image of His son. This changed me from feeling like a slave of the law, fearing the wrath of a ruthless Judge because I may have missed a rule or two to recognizing that I’m a sanctified, free child of God. Free to overcome sin, and free to walk in newness of life.

"And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privately to spy out our liberty which we have in Jesus Christ, that they might bring us into bondage; To whom we gave place by subjection, no not for an hour; that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you.” Galatians 2:4-5

I heard Bill Gothard once say (on a trip to Russia) that “Christians can’t handle freedoms.” Yet, the believer who enjoys Christian liberty experiences true worship–praise from a heart toward God. The believer who lives only by a list of rules will praise (and defend) the one who wrote that list. This is why Bill Gothard’s followers are too often distracted from devotion to Jesus, and so vehemently defensive of him.

This post is continued here…

All articles on this site reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of other Recovering Grace contributors or the leadership of the site. Students who have survived Gothardism tend to end up at a wide variety of places on the spiritual and theological spectrum, thus the diversity of opinions expressed on this website reflects that. For our official statement of beliefs, click here.

The Destructive Effects of ATI & IBLP

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6 Comments

Recovering Grace » A Gothard generation shines light on the teachings of IBLP and ATI » Escaping the Religious Noose, Pt 1: Legalism July 23, 2011 Reply

[...] post is continued here… The Truth about ATI ATI Bill Gothard legalism [...]
Lauren August 3, 2011 Reply

I'm so glad you wrote about this. I cannot tell you the freedom that has come after I realized (duh) that grace is free. Nothing I do will earn it, and the harder I try to earn it, the farther away I am from it.

God is Love, pure and simple. He loves everyone, no matter what. He woos everyone, there is no secret formula. No ifs, ands or buts, no hidden clauses or codes. There is nothing, no words, actions, attitudes that will give me extra brownie points in God's book.
Dandelions | Recovering Grace September 14, 2011 Reply

[...] decisions, marriage raising children, and so forth) But once I began to figure out the truth about grace, it occurred to me that I was looking at this holy living thing all upside down! It is BECAUSE OF [...]
guest November 28, 2011 Reply

I can see how those who follow Bill Gothard will easily 'accept' the new world order. Gothardites will beleive that they must get under the global elites 'authority'. How..how can those profess Jesus Christ be so easily decieved?? How can they cast aside so easily the freedom that Jesus won for them? Gothard's teaching on grace is tragic and shows he has no grasp on the deep thing's of God. I have to wonder if gothard is even a biblical christian and if when he 'accepted Christ' it was more an acceptance of a historical figure and he 'purposed' to live by christian standard's. I also must wonder if his character studies is of the beleif that if one developes character then God will give them grace to accept Christ.This man is full of error. Run from him.
guest December 19, 2011 Reply

The central ingrediant in the christian life: the absolute grace of God. Gothard subtly redefines grace so it is no longer about God's favor but our performances as christian's.
The parallel's between gothard's 7 non-optional universal principles and that of Theosophy is striking. An example: in new age thinking there are: 7 creative power's of the Godhead; 7 great ages of the earth;7 races of mankind;7 law's govering human life;7 school's of mystery religion's; Number 7 is all about number symbolism and considered the most sacred divine number.In the new age thinking the number 7 is said to have a profound influence on society and our lives are run by it. In India they speak of 7 sages;Buddha walked 7 step's, christianity-7 virtues&7sin's; Islam..there are 7 heaven's;7 gates to hell.And in theosophy there are 7 step process of human evolution in which race evolves from a lower to a higher form of life. Step's and chart's and life principles and rules and law's no matter how good they seem get's our eyes unto ourselves and off of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.' having a form of Godliness,but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Energy Givers, Energy Wasters, and Energy Takers | Recovering Grace December 28, 2011 Reply

[...] Acknowledge your need for God’s energy – Grace: the desire and power God gives to do His will [...]

Escaping the Religious Noose, Part 2: Grace Redefined

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