PJ HanleyThe “Grace Revolution”
Have you heard of the “Grace Revolution?” “What is it?” you ask. Is it like the Arab Spring? Well, not exactly. Yet, according to some of its leaders, it will have as profound an effect on the Body of Christ as those recent uprisings have had on the Middle East. It is not a “gentle reformation,” they insist, but a “true revolution.” A separation between what they call “grace teaching” and “law teaching.” A revolt against the “religious legalism and hypocrisy of those who mix law and grace,” thereby binding believers in condemnation and bondage, or so they say. According to some, it is sweeping the globe as churches and preachers are joining the ranks daily. Nevertheless, what is it really about and why would it be bad? Is not grace the divine favor of God – the empowering of the Holy Spirit to do what we cannot do and be what we cannot be on our own? We are justified by grace, sanctified through grace, and glorified by His grace. Indeed, “Of his fullness we have all received and grace upon grace” (John 1:16). What then can be wrong with a revolution of grace? Is it any wonder that the ranks are swelling? Who could possibly find fault with it? Is not the gospel of Christ itself the gospel of grace? Did not Jesus come to bring us into grace and Paul say that those who receive the abundance of grace will reign in life? What then is wrong with the revolution and why are pastors and leaders speaking out against it? The answer is actually quite simple. It is contained in the following Scripture:
“For (or because) the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16 (Emphasis Mine)
The above text says Jesus did not appear bringing grace only and neither does it say there was no grace before He came. What it clearly says is that for or because (Gr. OTI) the Law came through Moses, grace and truth were realized (or came) though Jesus Christ. It does not say that Moses brought the Law but Jesus brought the grace, as is the standard reading. There is no but in the sentence. The Law given by Moses is not being contrasted with or against the grace of Christ but shown to be the preparation for the grace of Christ. Nonetheless, Christ did not bring grace only but He also brought truth. The truth brought by Christ is as essential to us as the grace brought by Christ. We cannot have one without the other. Grace without truth is not really God’s grace but something entirely different. Therefore, the problem with the “Grace Revolution” does not actually have to do with grace but the “truth” that accompanies it. To have a true grace revolution we must have a truth revolution as well. Thus, we must take a closer look at the message of this movement and compare it to the truth brought to us by Jesus.
A Brief Summary of “Hyper Grace”
Before we begin, let us understand that this “Grace Revolution,” also known as “Hyper Grace,” does not claim to have a new release of grace from heaven, or a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Rather, it claims a new or “restored gospel” that has been purged of commandments and requirements, which it believes will revolutionize the church. According to this message, the Law given by God is the enemy of grace, and if the believer is truly walking in grace there can be no mention of commandments or requirements. The Christian is free from the Law since he died with Christ and has become a new creation. He is now exclusively under grace where there is no law or requirement. He is, in fact, the very righteousness of God and is no longer to receive any condemnation or even conviction, which they perceive to be the same thing. Thus, there is no need for him to repent ever again, since Christ has taken away all of his sins, past, present and future and has not even a record of them. All the believer needs now is education. He just needs to know who he is and get his thinking changed and he has arrived. This is the essence of the “Hyper Grace” message, although there is much more to it as we shall see later.
Fly in the Ointment
As we examine this relatively new message, we immediately see that there is much about it that is true – at least fifty per cent. That of course is the problem. If it did not have a good chunk of truth, most people would not fall for it. It is also why it is so dangerous – because so much of it is true, and even refreshing, that it snares the untaught and unsuspecting. However, the mixture is lethal, yet it is not the grace in the mixture but the error combined with it that will lead to ruin. The all too common plot in detective mysteries reminds us that if you want to poison someone, you must hide the poison in something the victim is eager to consume – where he would least expect it to be. What better than something sweet, something that he cannot resist. Thus, the best place for the enemy to hide his lies at the present is in the grace message we are all consuming. It is the proverbial fly in the ointment – the Achilles heel of the Revival Movement. It is the place where the church is weakest, since, it has distorted the Biblical understanding of Law and Grace from its early days. Consequently, when pastors and teachers confront it they often sound like they are backpedaling because their own understanding of Law and Grace is skewed. Thus, they are easily portrayed as the defenders of tradition and the Law – the “legalists” who have kept us in bondage all these years. In addition, when the message of grace is cloaked in a promise of freedom from “religion” and rules, this young “postmodern” generation of Biblically-challenged, six-month ministry school “equipped” revolutionaries, find it irresistible. Nevertheless, God has a plan in all this. He is flushing something out – bringing it to a head in these last days. In the following chapters, we will not only seek to uncover what is wrong with the “Grace Revolution” but we will also explain what is right and even enlightening about it. We will then go deeper and show how God is exposing the true culprit behind this doctrine and the distortions of Paul’s teachings on Law and Grace that have been with us for centuries.
An excerpt from “Grace Gone Wild: Confronting the Error of “Hyper Grace” & Restoring the Integrity of Scripture” by PJ Hanley