Grace. Historically, most theologians and Christian teachers view it simply as favor bestowed upon man by God. A supernatural intervention that, though we don’t understand its workings, changes the outcome of our lives.
For example, most Christians would view grace something like this:
My repentance + God’s grace = Salvation
My sorrow + God’s grace = Comfort and Endurance
My weakness + God’s grace = Power and Sufficiency
Although it is not literally a salve, grace acts much like a medicine that permeates and heals our condition. We do not do its job. We can’t. But over time we find that the grace of God sustains us and enables us to grow in Christ-likeness through each and every circumstance of life.
Power Broker
Bill Gothard casts grace in a lesser light. Through his teachings in the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and the Institute for Basic Life Principles (IBLP), he misleads generations of people who are simply trying to make the best choices for their families. He allows that grace is “unmerited favor” in the context of salvation, but changes the definition when it comes to living a holy life. Rather than being “unmerited favor,” it is now “the desire and power to do God’s will.”
His view of grace looks something like this:
My weakness + God’s power – Unmerited Favor = My work to live a holy life
At first glance, the formula seems to be a viable one. But when we put it into motion, we find that it’s like a machine missing oil. Or, as an analogy to the economic concerns of our day, it’s like a debt that snowballs.
Credit Peddler
Even if you personally have never faced a credit crunch, you’ve undoubtedly heard tales of those who struggle with severe credit card debt. They strive to make partial payments each month, all the while adding more purchases and interest until they fall so far behind that they cannot catch up.
In a similar way, Bill Gothard’s view of grace would start you with a clean spiritual slate at salvation. However, you would soon discover through some seminar or publication that you have several weaknesses that must be addressed. The solution put forth would be that you need more grace, the “desire and power to do God’s will.” With grace at your side, you can work your way to victory over these failures. But as you are working to defeat those weaknesses, more weaknesses are brought to your attention. Time to work harder.
Then, through no fault of your own, you experience a difficult time in life…perhaps a lost job or a sick family member. Gothard’s system would suggest that perhaps your difficulty is caused by some unyielded expectations or sin in your life. This, of course, can only be overcome by God’s “grace” (i.e., more work).
But then you get frustrated and angry, meaning that you probably need to attend an anger resolution seminar and make commitments to relieve that “stress” through God’s power (more and more work). You fail and fail again, all the while taking on a heavier yoke, summoning all your strength, still working–yet never having worked hard enough to defeat the original weaknesses, sorrows, and anger.
In an unfortunate twist, you are pounded with a verse that mentions both grace and power: “…My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness…”(2 Cor. 12:9) You are told Jesus has given you sufficient power! You must be doing something wrong! Work harder! Be perfected! Do the impossible!
Saddled by Debt
Most people reading this article would agree that being in debt is not the ideal way to live. In fact, Gothard’s system of thinking is emphatically anti-debt. The truth is, though, that families who follow Gothard’s teachings ARE living under a weight of debt that cannot be overcome…spiritual debt, emotional debt, and even physical debt.
Working harder without grasping the unmerited favor from God is like having debt with compounding interest. The amount of work needed just keeps building. And, unfortunately, this is why so many Gothardites have crashed and burned spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
But hasn’t Bill Gothard found success? Hasn’t he achieved the holy living that can only come through properly utilizing the grace he’s been given? No.
Gothard has not been able to do the impossible: overcome sin through human effort. His pride and deceit have grown, and his ministry has withered. To truly do the impossible he will need to love as Christ loved. He will need to stop charging God’s children interest through legalistic standards that can never be met. He will need to confess and pay back what was taken, and more.
Living Within Your Means
No man is able to achieve a standard of perfection on earth. Certainly, we seek to please the Lord Jesus Christ in every thought, word, and deed, but we realize that perfection will only be obtained through the glorification of our souls one day in heaven. Christ’s strength IS made known through your weakness. HE is the One who is sufficient.
The Holy Spirit has already applied the proper medicine, the transferring agent that lets His life soak through our thick skin—grace—and he will apply more as we humble ourselves to rely on Him more than on our own efforts. With this change in thinking, you can finally see the Jesus who loves you. The Jesus who doesn’t keep a running credit tab based on your behavior.
Will you transfer your daily debt to Him today? There is no catch…and no interest.
That is a very good illustration of what it felt like to be in ATI (or any legalistic system, I'd imagine). Always something else to "cleanse" from my life, always despairing over my weaknesses, trying to hide from God who must really dislike me by this time.
And it's poetic justice that you can use credit card debt as such an apt illustration, seeing how emphatically IBLP teaches against credit cards. (Although they allow people to buy their materials with credit cards because it's easier to "keep records" that way.)
That analogy of debt paints such a good picture of what legalism does. Thanks for writing this.
"Will you transfer your daily debt to Him today?"
This concept of transferring responsibility to Jesus has been therapeutic to my OCD. Thank you for this article.
What is disturbing, however, is that many Gotharidites will not not see their system/definition of grace as failed; they see it as working for them and their family. Perhaps when others go belly up it must be because of their sin. This type of thinking is dangerous; the pharisees thought they were doing pretty good as well.
Thanks very much....this is very helpful...I'm one of those who has crashed and burned physically, emotionally, and to a degree spiritually. There imperatives seemed endless: Try! Do! Commit! Thank your for the reminder that the primary imperative is only to rest in the finished work of Christ.
Wow, that was fantastic! Such a succinct explanation of how Gothard mis-defines grace!
This is such a good explanation of the basic problem with Gothard's view of grace. I'm considering giving this to my parents (still trapped in ATI).
Are you the Rowena that was pen pals with Renee? I am her mom. I just asked her and she is hoping it is you and wants you to friend her. She is in the student group.
That was great! Thank you for writing it.
Thanks for this great image, Jay. I think that image of snowballing debt does give a sense of what it feels like to try to keep up in a works-based system.
This reminded me of something I heard recently, that grace is not opposed to effort but it is opposed to earning.
THANK YOU! Well worded, compelling truth, without attitude. This is an article I can actually use to help my family. I am so grateful.
I cannot EVER recall Gothard acknowledging grace as God's unmerited favor. I believe he always denied this, when I was in the program. Or at the very least, said this definition was "incomplete" [read: We must add something to the grace of God, it is inadequate in and of itself]. Is this acknowledgement of unmerited favor for initial salvation, in print anywhere? Because I have never seen nor heard this from him.
The analogy of compounding interest describes my former life to a tee. Thank you for writing this.
"Hannah," if you have a copy of "A Matter of Basic Principles" by Veinot and Henzel handy...at the bottom of page 149, they cite the reference that I had to take into account. But the authors also pretty well dismantle it.
As you and many other ex-ATI students point out, it's very telling that you can't remember ever hearing Gothard give a simple gospel presentation that stood on its own.
Thanks for the reference, I'll have to look it up. No, I completely believed, as I have testified elsewhere, that I was saved by grace, but that, once saved, it was all about my own good works. The concept of sanctification by grace did not even come across my radar until my late 20's, although I had professed Christ from the time I was a small child.
Jay,
Thank you Jay for an excellent article. What a perfect example you cite and how appropriate the comparison of the encumbrance of credit card debt. No matter the effort, the burden grows insurmountable.
Yes, that is "exactly" how I felt under Gothard's erroneous teaching. As the Holy Spirit within continued to warn me, I would find myself repeatedly intimidated and disheartened that I must be doing something wrong, I needed to try harder.
How could I not crash and burn with such destructive teaching? But............thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57 NASB)
I am now learning of His wonderful, peaceful grace. I will no longer be silenced, or intimidated. I will boldly speak the truth of the freedom of the cross and the liberty Christ bought for me.
And now I want to speak directly to you Bill Gothard, if you are in fact perusing this site.
Your teachings have upset whole families, Titus 1:11, they have caused division in churches, 1 Cor 11:18, they have caused MUCH pain, hurt, and destruction, Matt 12:13.
The majority of us are dealing with the pain of recovery in surviving the aftermath of the legalistic teachings placed upon us. For myself, I was only a baby Christian, and a woman. I will never get the lost years back with my children. The years that I tried to cram myself into the mold "you" set. Your teachings robbed me, they robbed robbed us, our family. We trusted you because you set yourself up as having more knowledge and authority. Where were you when the teachings failed? What are you doing now as you see these fruits of your teaching? Many on here were only innocent children. They too, suffered stolen childhoods, and also relationships with their parents suffered. You, through your teachings have injured us.
It is through GRACE alone. The work was completed by Christ at Calvary. Your repentance would do much to bring healing and restoration to multitudes.
We are a legion who have been sinned against. Many parents like myself have already repented. Repent, and no longer trample the blood of Jesus underfoot through your works based Christianity. Repent, and know the freedom, love, and mercy that we know through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are your fruit Bill Gothard. The evidence is ample upon this site.......
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. (Matthew 12:33 NASB)
Bill Gothard.. What Maddy said. I cannot describe the loathing I have for what YOUR PERSONAL invented theology did to myself and my family, what it's STILL doing! It will take the true Grace of God for me to be able to forgive you, and hope that maybe you'll make it to heaven after all. I nearly ended my life because of your teachings. But guess what? God is bigger than the boogie man (you), and I am ALIVE and FREE today because of the wonderful Grace of Jesus Christ! HE is my true authority, and the only one who stayed with me all that time, when YOUR faulty teachings failed me! YOU, Bill Gothard, have much to answer for. I hope for your sake that you repent before your time comes.
Great article! Very simple, yet perfectly descriptive of life in ATI. Thanks for writing this!
The amazing, humbling, and praiseworthy truth of Jesus prayer with the Father in John 17 is so powerful that it is difficult to comprehend.
Jesus' mission--the work of God reconciling sinful man to Himself. He knowingly paid the price to redeem us while we were the enmies of God to Himself and NOT ONLY that, he sanctifies us, provides the Holy Spirit to teach, guide, comfort, and reveal to us His goodness! Praise God!
Jesus, by establishing the new covenant, has NOT BROUGHT us under the crushing weight of the system referenced in Hebrews 12:18-21 but RATHER to that in v22-29 of the same chapter. The old covenant is damning and NOT GOD'S INTENDED DESTINATION for those He loves. It served the purpose to hold people captive until Jesus was revealed. NOW HE HAS BEEN! Why go back? Why turn back from God's provision in Christ Jesus, our Deliverer?
God has provided Himself the Lamb, the Way. He has made the provision out of His love for us. Love was taught almost as a dirty word in that it was thought to implicate a lack of reverential fear. Yet to the pure all things are pure. Jesus' love is as pure as it gets, church. He died for us, while we were yet ungodly, to effect our transformation from enemies to heirs with Him! Salvation: by God. Sanctification: by God. Glorification: by God. It's all to the credit and glory of our good God! There is nothing left to do but to bring glory and praise to the one true, loving God over all!
As we realize this amazing love, it takes almost nothing for us, amidst our daily struggles, to break into worship of such a worthy One!
To attempt to return to the old covenant or to raise a system of morality above our Omnipotent God is to rebel against the authority of the Holy Spirit:
Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
God is shaking with a purpose:
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Yet, His disposition toward us is grace:
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
His constitution has not changed:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Thank you for the article, I did not express this well, but it's what got me looking again into Hebrews 12 and John 17 and realizing yet again the implications of these passages.
PRINCIPLE #8 for those recovering grace
The principle of rest
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For
he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." - Hebrews 4:9,10