Ever Wonder: Q&A on Grace #2

We asked Joe Duke more questions about grace and GraceWorks.

GraceWorks: You started GraceWorks International, in part, because you saw a need. What is that need?

Joe Duke: Over many years now, I’ve become shocked by how easily people migrate away from God’s grace, both in their thinking and their behavior. There is a constant drum of anti-grace sentiment resounding from pulpits and podcasts throughout the world. But it’s often cloaked in spiritual sounding jargon so it’s not always easy to detect. I want to help people understand and experience God’s grace as described in the Bible and equip them to sniff-out that which is opposed to grace.

GW: When you talk about grace, would it be fair to say you are describing a perspective of life and not just the salvation experience?

JD: No doubt about it. We need God’s grace to find forgiveness and eternal life through Christ. And we need His grace to live like God wants us to live. God has woven His grace into the fabric of life. Grace is God’s unearned love expressed in action. But it can feel very unfamiliar to many of us.

GW: How would you describe the big pieces of God’s plan of grace for humanity?

JD: First, God is loving. Start there. His plan through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ demonstrates His love for all people. Salvation is free through faith alone. Then following Jesus as His disciple involves a cost. Some Christians are willing to pay that price, others are not. Regardless, salvation can never be lost. It’s permanent. But failure as a Christian is a very real possibility. In addition, every believer will be held accountable when Christ evaluates our lives after we die. That evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ is to determine reward or loss of reward. So, invest your one life for Jesus!

GW: Those pieces you just highlighted sound like they hold together as a coherent view of how grace works, right?

JD: They do! I would call it a grace worldview. If you start removing some of those pieces, you are playing theological Jenga! For example, if you disagree that Christians are eternally secure, then you’ve just introduced works or behavior, not grace, as the defining requirement for salvation. Then, salvation is no longer free. Or if you mix the requirements for discipleship with the single requirement for salvation, you will inevitably be a proponent of salvation by works.

GW: Why do you think it’s so easy for even some Christians to reject this coherent view of God and His grace?

JD: That’s a great question. And I have some thoughts about that. Seems to me, people have a hard time embracing grace because it seems too easy, and it diminishes their personal contribution to their salvation. German Lutheran pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined the terms cheap grace and easy-believism. He has unfortunately influenced people away from grace. Thus, those who embrace pricey grace and hard-believism have latched onto what is undeniably a salvation dependent on human effort. Additionally, I think some Christians have migrated away from biblical grace because the demands of following Jesus sound more spiritual, if I can say it that way. In other words, the passages that talk about the cost of following Jesus after you become a Christian—Christian growth passages—get brought over and pollute the waters of a free salvation. It’s an honest mistake, but a mistake, nonetheless.

GW: What difference do you hope GraceWorks can make?

JD: Well, I’m a small fish in a big pond, but the message of grace is unstoppable. One word I use to describe what GraceWorks is about is the word, clarity. There’s enough muddy communication out there so I hope to bring clarity so that people can understand how amazing God’s grace really is. I’ve been at this long enough to see people light up when they get grace. But so many of our anti-grace perspectives are deeply entrenched. Not surprisingly, it takes time for course corrections. Grace can free people, but legalism dies hard. So, I’m writing, speaking, meeting with pastors, having conversations with groups and individuals, and watching God’s grace do its thing!

Got a question? Email us at info@graceworks.international. Maybe we can address it in a future Q&A.