Grace does not mean that God ignores or overlooks sin; grace means that God has dealt with sin perfectly and completely in His Son on the Cross. The grace of God, therefore, is exercised totally independent from human sin or failure. Grace is based on the freedom God has to express His love to all mankind through the Cross. In grace, we have no debt toward God; our debt was paid for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. An act is in no sense gracious if, under any circumstance, a debt is incurred.

 

ROM 4:4-8 Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

 

Grace must always remain unadulterated in its generosity and benefit. It is pure grace from a holy God; it has nothing whatsoever to do with man.

 

ROM 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

 

Grace did not appear in the immediate divine dealings with the sins of the world. Grace did not judge our sins; justice and righteousness did. We were never forgiven simply because God was “big-hearted” enough to forget the payment for sin, which is spiritual death. Under the principle of true Gospel preaching, sinners are to be told that they may now stand forever pardoned before God, not because God is gracious enough to excuse their sins; but because there is redemption through the blood of Christ and His saving work on the Cross.

 

COL 2:13-14 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross.