I think that the core problem with man and his understanding of grace is how he examines it. What I mean is that he examines grace in light of man's behavior and character. He evaluates grace according to the way mankind acts and thinks. His argument is, "how can I be holy and righteous and yet think the thoughts I think, say the things I say, or do the things I do." He looks at the declaration of God's word (which he affirms is truth) and then witnesses the inconsistency between the two. There in his mind is a contradiction. If he were truly holy and righteous standing in God's continual favor then why does he continue to fail?
Further more he knows humanity's tendency to abuse lenient authority. If man is allowed to be in God's grace without condition how will he learn to be holy? Not only do we judge the validity of Grace on the merits or demerits of our own character but also on that of our neighbors. We are afraid of a gratuitous measure of God's grace because we believe that men will only take advantage of it and continue in sin.
We don't trust in God's unmerited favor as it is, therefore we seek to make it a little tougher. We take scripture where we can and weave a strange creature that is part law and part grace. It strikes me interesting that we seem not to trust the law fully either or we would abandon grace totally. As it is we can't fully trust either and so we mix the two to come up with a stronger thing. However the concoction we derive violates the Heart of God and His New Covenant.
If only we would abandon ourselves to the Grace of Christ trusting that whatever is His is strong enough on its own to bring men to holiness and true righteousness. God doesn't need our help. I think He believes in Grace enough to unleash it upon a people who might abuse it. Could it be that the Word of Grace that departs from His mouth WILL accomplish what it was sent out to accomplish. I believe; do you?
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