I'll admit that I'm getting tired of hearing people complain that we in "the churches of Christ don't put enough emphasis on the grace of God." There may have been a time when the need to refute the false teachings of Calvinism appeared to create an imbalance in our preaching, but that was not intended and certainly does not persist today in most places. Nevertheless, the false charge persists, and even some people who should know better are heard to repeat that worn-out sectarian mantra.

The grace of God is amazing as evidenced by many inspired descriptions in the New Testament. The apostle Peter refers to God as "the God of all grace" (1 Pet. 1:5), describing His grace as "manifold" (v.10). The apostle Paul, in his letters, is especially generous with descriptive adjectives when referring to God's grace. He refers to it as "exceeding" (2 Cor. 9:14), "abundant" (Rom. 5:17) - even "exceedingly abundant" (1 Tim. 1:14) - and says that it "abounds" (Rom. 5:20; 2 Cor. 9:8). In describing God, Paul refers to the "exceeding riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7; 2:7) after calling grace "glorious" (Eph. 1:6). After petitioning God three times to remove his thorn in the flesh, Paul got the message that God's grace was "sufficient" (2 Cor. 12:9).

Let me say it again: God's grace is great and amazing! But grace is a gift and the extent to which it is granted belongs to the Giver. We are not at liberty to presume grace beyond what has been revealed in the Scriptures.

The greatest gift of grace that God gave to mankind is Jesus, Who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Instead of presuming that the God of all grace will extend mercy to the heathen who has never even heard of Jesus, we need to do all we can to bring the gospel of Jesus to the whole world.

There are some who cannot imagine that God would withhold His grace from honest, morally upright, Bible-believing, spiritually-minded family, friends, and neighbors who reject His grace offered through baptism into Christ for the remission of sins. As a result, they presume God's grace will cover a rejection of His grace in baptism and feel free to have fellowship with those who have not been baptized according to Scripture and/or worship God in ways that are not authorized by Him.

Fortunately, it is not our job to presume just how far God will extend His grace. If God chooses to have mercy on some who have never had the advantage of having a Bible or hearing the gospel, that's His business - not mine. If He chooses to save early reformers who, at the cost of their lives, made great progress in bringing the written word to us, that also is His business, and His alone.

No doubt, every one of us will need God's amazing grace when we stand before Him in judgment. If God chooses to save people who have misconceptions about the necessity or purpose of baptism, He'll get no argument from me; but that does not allow me to presume to extend His grace for Him. In the meantime, we do people no favor by presumptuously ignoring, excusing, or participating in their religious error based on a view of God's grace that is not revealed in His Word.

- www.thinkonthesethings.com