God saved us by his grace (Eph 2:8-9). There is nothing that we did to earn his favor. Spiritually, we were dead! Salvation is a free gift that God freely chooses to give us out of his incredibly huge wealth of kindness.

The apostle Paul was so consumed with thinking about God’s grace that he named it over 150 times in his epistles in the New Testament. Paul’s discussion of grace is interwoven all through his discussion of God’s entire plan for Salvation, from the moment we are saved until the moment we are received into glory. Paul was God’s messenger to bring the Good News to the Gentiles. And when Paul talked about the Good News, he often spoke of grace. To misunderstand grace is to misunderstand Paul’s message of Good News.

But what is grace? Harry Ironside has been quoted as saying “Grace is the very opposite of merit… Grace is not only undeserved favor, but it is favor, shown to the one who has deserved the very opposite.” God’s grace is God’s favor poured out on those who deserve it the least.

A scene from the life of David is an image of undeserved favor. The house of David and the house of Saul had been at war. By the customs of the day, the people would have expected a bloody battle with a bloody conclusion: the winner putting to death as many of the losers as possible. Saul fought a dirty war but in the end God caused Saul to be defeated. One man on the losing team had a long name and a short step. Mephibosheth. He felt fear the day he was whisked away in a chariot to face king David’s throne. He bowed before the king, having nothing to offer and expecting the worst. But David told him not to fear. The lame man from the losing team was now invited to the king’s house, to live at a royal standard, to eat at the king’s table. Mephibosheth had no reason to expect David’s kindness and favor; David gave it freely of his own choice. David’s kindness is a small picture of the undeserved favor, or grace, God shows to us.

This grace, however, cuts against the grain of human nature. Pagan religions told of angry gods who needed to be appeased by people doing or sacrificing something. Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves to lessen the impact of their sin. Job’s comforters assumed Job had done something deserving of punishment and urged to do something to regain God’s favor. We instinctively know we fall short and we want to DO something.

William Ernest Henley’ words resonate deeply inside the human heart: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” We do not naturally want to bow helpless before God. We want to bring something, do something. But Jesus did not come to show favor to those who deserve it or have earned it. He came for those who could never earn it. Salvation requires giving up being the master of our own fate and saying instead, “nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”

What does this have to do with Bill Gothard? Anyone who has been to an Institute in Basic Life Principles’ Basic Seminar will likely remember Mr. Gothard giving a definition of grace similar to the one that currently appears on his website: “the desire and the power that God gives us to do His will.” This sounds good at first but notice what happens when you use that definition in the context of Eph 2:8-9. The meaning changes drastically. “For by the desire and power that God gives us to do His will you have been saved through faith…” Suddenly, salvation becomes a matter of behavior rather than God’s free gift. This is one reason why so many of Mr. Gothard’s followers have abandoned Christianity. When our salvation is based upon something WE do rather than what GOD does, eventually a person will grow disillusioned, frustrated, and spiritually suicidal.

The problems created by Mr. Gothard’s definition of grace go to the heart of the gospel. Pastor Tim Keller has said, “The essence of other religions is advice; Christianity is essentially news.” Other religions offer advice for how you should live in order to be connected to God. Christianity joyfully reports the good news: Jesus Christ has already lived and died in order to connect you to God.

Compare this to our opening description of grace in the context of Eph 2:8-9. “For by the undeserved favor that God has shown to those who deserve the very opposite you have been saved through faith..” This is the joyful report of the gospel. Out of his wealth, God freely chooses to pour out his favor on those who receive it by faith. Nothing you can do will earn you more favor, nothing you can do will earn you less favor. It is God’s free choice to pour out his favor on those who do not deserve it, it is your choice to receive it by faith.