Let's take a voyage thru times to converse with great divines. I do know of puritans whose lives leave behind, marks of indellible graces. I read of the reformers who sailed against the drift of currents and tides. I sat side by side with Calvin, his theological offspring, John Gill and the prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon. I also dined with WatchMan Nee, whose life was an emblem of the cross, I, in my spirit, shook hands with these great men, but then i discovered they all had something in common....
Justification had been, before Martin Luther heralded it. It was confined within the walls of Augustine's seminary'. even in the whirl wind of papacy, there was a gentle voice that uttered grace, with indecipherable tones, only caught in the ears of a monk. Upon the deluge of the revival of grace, upon the numerous writings of this great reformer, the present age of 'proudly ignorant', quoted Him out of context.....
Martin wrote, "Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong..." ( from Dr. Martin Luther's Saemmtliche Schriften, Letter No. 99, 1 Aug. 1521)...
It's proper to place such statements under serious scrutiny. But what's my point in all this. When u preach a non-fictitious grace, u must be ready to be concluded under antinomianism.
Martin used great metaphors and powerful hyperboles in His writing. That man was drowning helplessly in the waters of grace. With the same spirit, he wrote most of his treatises. Do u wanna know the greatest of saints whose beards were even devoted to God, meet the reformers and the puritans.
This was the continuation of that mischievously extracted text..
" but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides.."... This was the purport of martin's note, not for license. But rather to acknowledge how so great sinners we are, and how so great salvation we have received.
Have u read John Bunyan's Grace and Law, spurgeon's 'forgiveness, all of Grace, putting away of sin, Have u taken time to study John Knox and Gill's materials. When you re thru, then u can conclude, ALL GRACE PREACHERS ARE ANTINOMIANS.
What do they all have in common.....they preached Grace, wrote Grace, spoke Grace, lived Grace and Died in Grace. I hear someone say, These guys preached Holiness with Grace...I tell you, when they needed to preach holiness, they would rather preach Christ. Take a quick stroll on Andrew's Murrays books.
WatchMan dined with a family, and while praying, the couple mentioned, 'God give us patience'..what a humble prayer from teary eyes. WatchMan Nee after the prayer, reacted, ' I assure you, God will NEVER answer that prayer'. he has nothing left to offer than the Christ he has given the world. Christ in you is ur patience, He is your Love, He is your peace, He is your Holiness. This is whole essence of the grace message. That all the demands of God, are supplied in the Grace He freely gave.
You know wat?? Have no repentance for preaching grace in its undiluted form. Regard it not, when people call you an antinomian, smile over it when they say, you give license to sin. Nod your head in apparent agreement when they say, you are turned aside to the doctrines of the nicolatians.
This one thing I have in common with religion, I preach Holiness. The 'How' of our Holiness are two parallel lines. They tell you to work it out, I tell you to look on Him, who works it in you. The working out is not in your prayers and self-denials, it is in your constant gaze at that one Man. He is Christ. That's God's All. God has nothing else to give. Only Christ.
Let me say this, i need not append a footnote to my write-up that, "this isn't a license to sin", all i need tell u is, SIN MORE. it's a proof of who of u re. It only shows u re yet to taste the real grace that saves from sin. I am yet to see a believer who embraced grace as a way of Life, defeated constantly by sin. I do not pity a soul who sins less, yet sees no need for a saviour. I wud rather rejoice in a sinning soul who showed His need for a saviour.
I love the concluding part: Luther wrote:
"If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner"
I'm tired of people trying to modify Grace, I have heard of several versions, that which mingles with the deadly mix of the Law; that which smells rancid; another which sours; i have heard of a kind that is not mighty to save, it needs the help of impotent man. I have also heard of a gospel that needs to be fine tuned, and sand-papered with our eloquence and grammar in order not to sound licentious.
My Life for this truth. I do not care much about this word, Grace. It means a lot to me because, Grace is Christ. Wen u take christ out of it, it becomes a five lettered word...
Live in this consciousness. There is nothing called HyperGrace. Grace must be 'hyper' to save. Grace is amazing, Grace is Hyper, Grace is super abundant, Grace is Free! Grace is excessive!! Call it anything. That makes it grace. but preach it right.
Luther was no antinomian!
