"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The Saint Paul School
with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Walter and Cecilia Contreras

THE PERVERSION OF GRACE (PART 4)
(True Grace Versus Counterfeit Grace)

INTRODUCTION

There is a "false grace" that has spread like a cancer in today's churches. It speaks of God's forgiveness and acceptance but it requires no repentance. So with no genuine sorrow for sin, the "Christian" can claim to believe in Christ even while lying, stealing, living immorally, etc.

Some have even gone so far as to say, "While it's true that the Old Testament and the gospels emphasized repentance before Christ's death and resurrection, the epistles speak of faith and grace; not a legalistic repentance." This is a teaching to which the devil can say "Amen!" But it is false. We are going through the epistles to see how Paul, James, Peter and John all stressed the importance of genuine repentance for sin and true faith in Jesus Christ. We can do nothing to earn salvation. God does it all. But His divine grace is not an alternative to godly behavior-but the means to godly behavior.

We have gone through the books of Acts and Romans. Let's do I Corinthians.

I CORINTHIANS

I Corinthians 2:9 If God prepares riches for those who love Him, what does "love Him" mean? John 14:21,23 says it means obeying Him.

"However, as it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" (I Corinthians 2:9). "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21).

I Corinthians 3:16,17 Here we see the "temple of God" (our body) being destroyed through unrighteous behavior.

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple , God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple."

I Corinthians 4:2 We are called go be "faithful." Faithful to what? Obviously faithful to walking in the light of Scripture.

"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

I Corinthians 5:1-7; 11-13 The church had accepted as a "brother" a man living in horrible sin. Paul had to discipline the man and rebuke the church. (Study this chapter closely).

I Corinthians 6:9,10 The church at Corinth had deceived itself into thinking that unrighteous behavior would not exclude people from heaven. Paul had to tell them the unpleasant truth.

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

I Corinthians 10:5-12 How important is repentance before God for our sins? Here Paul gives examples of ungodly behavior to be avoided if we are not to fall into the trap of "I believe in Jesus, so it doesn't matter how I live."

"Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were: as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry. We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did-and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did-and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did-and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"

I Corinthians 11:27-32 How serious is living in sin while claiming to be a Christian? So serious that to take communion carelessly can result in sickness or even death.

"Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world."

I Corinthians 15:10 Here we see how true grace results in obedience (spiritual effort). Also note in verse 34 how one who has awakened to true righteousness will not excuse and practice sin.

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me" (vs 10). "Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God-I say this to your shame" (vs 34).

continue with part 5 of this lesson