Stunted 'grace'
Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 10:56AM 
The form of 'grace' we have today is like an asthma patient who's given an inhaler to relieve their symptoms. The patient is grateful for the new freedom in their lungs, but the inhaler never cures the asthma: it only treats it temporarily.
I've recently come across an increasing number of very devoted followers of Jesus who believe in grace primarily as an act of pardon: "You're off the hook, now." And, they may also believe in grace as the action of God in them to produce goodness and Christlike character. But this form of grace will always be stunted, cut short by their view of the heart.
If the believer's heart hasn't been thoroughly renovated -- no, replaced -- by the very heart of Jesus, then this stunted form of grace is actually a cruelty. The resulting effect of stunted grace goes like this: "You're off the hook now because of God's grace; and he is indeed working in you to make you more Christ-like; but, because your heart is still sinful (desperately wicked) and prone to wander, you're probably not going to do very well at this holiness thing. Why? Because your heart is still bent on self-will and preoccupied with getting life on its own terms. Try harder next time (by God's grace) to not let your diseased and corrupt heart get in the way of this new holiness you're after.
Doesn't this seem a bit cruel to you? The problem with stunted grace is that it doesn't address the root problem: the heart needs an overall, and the rescuing work of Jesus has to go beyond pardon. It must go straight for the heart. And .... thankfully, it did.
Is it possible to "love God with all your heart" if your heart remains dark and prone to wander? Would God ask such a thing of us, knowing it sets us up for failure? "You're required to love me with your truest self, but you won't be able to. " It's similar to offering a man on death row a pardon, releasing him from his debt, but then asking him to function as a healed man in society.
How cruel it would be to expect a man with a shattered leg to climb Everest, pressuring him to be more committed to the task, admonishing him to have more faith, all the while knowing he can only do it if his limb is first restored.
First, you heal the man of the disease that sentenced him in the first place, then you ask him to live the life of Jesus -- out of that restoration.
To be sure, there will continue to be competing desires in a person, for the person's old heart/nature is still present, yet the believer is clearly a new creation with his identity firmly secured by his restoration. His new heart is now the center of his identity. "God became man to turn creatures into sons; not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. " -- C. S. Lewis
What does it mean that we are 'new creations in Christ' if it does not include the rescue of our hearts? If we first stray with our hearts, we can also (following our rescue) return with our hearts. The heart is at the center of it all.
"Grace" is the gift of a restored and noble heart.
Reader Comments (7)
Hi Jim,
I saw your url on the Key Life forum. I just posted a response on your thread "... heart desperately wicked..."
I just read your Stunted Grace commentary and find this "...... for the person's old heart/nature is still present, ......." contradictory. What remains in a believer who has been born again of God's Spirit is a mind that has to be renewed. But the old heart/nature of Adam is forever gone.
Even though I've only read some of your comments for the first time tonite, I can see that you have a heart that wants to build up and encourage the body of Christ by sharing His truths. May God bless you and keep you Jim.
Hey beacon,
Thanks for your response. See my post on the KLM thread for further thoughts.
Also, here's my thought on whether or not it's contradictory to say that we now have two natures living within us -- one good, and the former, still corrupt...
The new heart/nature is now the dominant force; the former nature having been sidelined, radically diminished and decentralized within us. But, it isn't contradictory to suggest that the old still exists in the believer, just as it isn't contradictory to suggest that evil can co-exist in a world filled and dominated by the presence of God. God remains the dominant and supreme force in the world, while evil is steadily vanquished by the forces of goodness -- culminating in the ultimate ruin and elimination of evil when Christ returns.
Maybe the issue is not a divided heart but more of an inclination to live from our heads and lean on our own understanding? Maybe it is an issue of living from our head instead of our heart? Maybe it is an issue of strength.. maybe we have fed and exercised our brains so much that our strong heads always trump our weak hearts?
Hey Bob,
I think I understand your point about the overemphasis on the cerebral/rationalistic dimension of human personality. The Enlightenment did a lot of damage to our view of human personality and how we experience and interpret life.
I do want to ask us how that has changed, if any, for the redeemed person. If we have "the mind of Christ" even now, what does that mean and what is the effect of that aspect of our redemption? Can the mind be truly vilified in a redeemed view of the person? What are your thoughts?
Hi Jim,
I think that self control (as in fruit of the Spirit) speaks to how our mind should be controlled by our heart or innermost being. I opined about it a few years ago at http://tinyurl.com/KBonSelfControl ... I'd appreciate any thoughts that you might have.
Blessings, Bob
Hey Bob,
Good post over at your blog on self-control. I think you include the mind as part of the flesh by the verse that you quoted.
Is there any way in which the mind has now come under the redemption of Christ and can now cooperate with the inner man?
"Is there any way in which the mind has now come under the redemption of Christ and can now cooperate with the inner man?"
I think it depends on how strong the heart/inner-being is Jim. I see the brain much in the same way that I see the rest of the flesh. Before our hearts were reborn we were incapable (in a general sense) to control our thoughts. Once God came and our hearts were born anew we had an ability we no longer had.. but our inner-being was weak (like a baby).. with proper spiritual feeding and exercise our inner-being grew stronger and had a greater ability to subdue the flesh (brain included).
So that is why I think that self control is an issue of what we feed our inner-being and what kind of spiritual exercises we partake in.. we need to eat right and pump spiritual iron.. so to speak.
Blessings, Bob