Grace doesn’t free us from striving towards holiness, but rather it changes our motivation for doing so.  We do not strive in an attempt to ascend to God.  We do not do it to earn His love—or our salvation.  No.  No amount of striving will ever accomplish these ends.  Rather, we strive because he loves us, and this allows us to love in return.  We understand that obedience is a tangible way to love God back.  We strive because we understand the destructive nature of sin.  We understand that each and every sin is a rejection of and rebellion against the one who died to save us.

To some of you, it will be considered heresy to propose that there are potential dangers in the doctrines of grace.  You will be appalled by the insinuation that reformed theology is anything less than perfect.  And you will be offended by the suggestion that perhaps you have misunderstood and thus misapplied what it means that you are saved by grace alone.  And yet, I feel compelled to continue.

Growing up, I spent time attending a variety of different churches within a variety of different theological camps.  I was part of a Lutheran Church when I was saved in high school, attended a Wesleyan Church in college, went to a non-denominational church for a few years after graduating, before befriending a Nazarene Pastor and switching to his church.  Around this time I began to think deeper about my theological convictions on what I would deem to be secondary and tertiary issues.  While all of the churches I attended prior were faithfully preaching Jesus as the only way, I discovered I aligned most closely with Reformed theology on these other issues.  Since then, I have attended church and seminary within the Reformed camp.

During my time in this camp, I have been able to experience the good, the bad, and the ugly—the strengths as well as the weaknesses.  I am deeply grateful for the rich tradition of robust theology and doctrinal precision that I have been so fortunate to learn from and grow under.  I am grateful for the men (and women) that have labored, sacrificed, and prayerfully wrestled through the difficult issues that arise as one seeks to faithfully understand and adhere to biblical teaching.  Yet still, my heart is deeply grieved by a few tendencies that are all too common within our “tribe”.  I could summarize them as “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”  By in large,  I have found that “Reformed” Christians often excel at an intellectual level, but struggle to let that theology get to and radically transform their heart.

Today, I want to focus more specifically on how this relates to our understanding of  Sola Gratia (grace alone).  Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe there to be anything inherently wrong with the doctrine itself.  I believe with all my heart that we are saved entirely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  Our righteousness comes from Him and what He did, not what we do.  God’s love, favor, acceptance, etc is not something we earn, but something we receive.  And yet, I believe that there is an issue in the way many of us understand this and how it relates to our pursuit of holiness.  In our humanity, we have taken biblically faithful doctrines (perhaps the most important doctrine) and put an emphasis in a place the Bible doesn’t, and thus have been led to live in a relationship to sin that the Bible doesn’t condone.

This relationship is largely not one of total licentiousness (treating grace as a license to sin).  While some people use God’s grace as an excuse to live however they please, indulging in sin and justifying that it is okay because of grace, this is probably not the case for most of you reading this article.  Instead, it is a more subtle licensure.  It is one that begins the day expecting to sin, and in doing so, gives oneself permission to do so.

There is a quote that is rather popular on social media.  It says, “Strive for progress, not perfection.”  While this is a wonderful mantra when it comes to eating healthy or losing weight, it can be quite dangerous when it becomes our Christian motto.  1 Peter 1:14-16  reads:  “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The Bible calls us to holiness—to strive for perfection—and yet we have developed an allergic reaction to the idea.  We are quick to cry “legalism” before alleviating our conscience of such an obligation by exclaiming “Grace! Grace!”  But when we strive for progress instead of perfection, we are starting out expecting to fail.  It’s like a child who doesn’t try in school, sports, or music because then it won’t hurt as bad if he fails.  But that’s exactly the point!  In our Christian walk it should hurt when we fail, because it’s in these moments that we’re most aware of our complete inadequacy apart from Jesus.  It is in these moments that God touches the depths of our hearts and soul as he pours out his grace on our wounds.  It’s in these moments that we are transformed by grace.  And it is in these moments that God is tilling the hard ground of our rigid hearts, making them more tender, more humble, more loving, and more worshipful.

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