Everyone has a ‘line of grace’. Cross the line and watch out for the consequences. Ministries established through grace still have lines within which they operate. For example, Teen Challenge rehab. centres are all about giving grace and help to people, but the boys there know if you buck the system too many times and cross the line, you’re out. People in the army are subject to a line of grace different from people in civilian life. Society can’t function without a line of grace. People must respect the law. There would be chaos if it weren’t that way. The facts are, we need grace in society, relationships, church, rehab… but there are limits. There is a line.
The only kind of grace we know about, live with, and experience here on earth, is limited. So, naturally, we think God’s grace is the same. Thinking God has a line of grace can distort the truth about the way God feels towards us, and cause us to stumble in our walk as a Christian. When we believe we have crossed the line or used up all our chances we start to think things like, ‘Why continue trying? I’m just going to fail again. There’s no point’. We feel we have failed as a Christian, so we lose our passion and return to old ways. We base God’s mercy and love for us on our ability to keep from sinning (crossing the line). Believing Jesus is disappointed with us, we avoid getting close to Him. It’s impossible to maintain a relationship with someone who, you believe, disapproves of you.
What kind of grace is God’s grace? Are there lines and limits? From the Bible we find that, unlike everything on earth, God’s grace is unlimited. There are many scriptures outlining unlimited grace; this is a favourite: In Him we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us (Ephesians 1:7-8 ESV). ‘Lavished’ means to be over and above, to abound, abundance. His grace is not like a thin, wobbly board that’s only just holding you up over a chasm of damnation. One step to the side and you’re gone. It’s over and above what you need. It’s like building the Sydney Harbour Bridge just for a walk-way. We can be confident in the immensity of God’s grace.
The down-side to this wonderful truth is that it is open to abuse. Humans have an amazing ability to exploit things. The first generation of Christians wasted no time: ‘Let us sin so grace may increase’. Paul’s response in Romans 6 to this way of thinking was, ‘May it never be!’ After reading the book of Romans and other scriptures I am confident in saying this about the grace of God: God’s grace is unlimited but it is not cheap. Jesus paid a high price for so great a salvation. On one side it’s unlimited, and on the other side is the price. Tip to one side and you get abuse; tip to the other and you have legalism. Each extreme is wrong.
How then should we respond to God’s grace? Refusing this great gift is clearly not what He desires, but neither does He want us to abuse it. So where’s the line? How do we responsibly use the grace of God? The illustration God used to help my understanding was indoor rock climbing. In this sport you are attached to a rope for your safety and then you climb a wall using small grips positioned at various places. As you climb someone takes up the slack in the rope so you don’t fall to the ground; they ’spot’ for you. The people I’ve observed doing this sport generally cover a course suitable for their skill level, and usually make it to the top after a number of attempts. Indoor rock climbing is a challenge. It requires determination and persistence, but that is what makes it so popular and enjoyable.
How does this sport help us understand how grace works? The first thing you must do in order to climb is get hooked up to the rope. The rope is what saves you. It gives you the confidence to climb because you know it’s not going to let you fall. No-one climbs with the intention of falling, but everyone knows it’s inevitable. God’s grace functions just like the rope; it’s His ‘line of grace’. You are safe and secure. It will save you as often as you need.
How can grace be abused? Imagine someone turning up to the climbing wall and saying to the ’spotter’, ‘I don’t want to try. I want you to drag me up the wall with the rope’. That attitude would hardly be beneficial, would it? Not only that, look at the message it sends to the spotter. It has exploited and cheapened his service. This is not what the spotter and rope are designed for.
God wants us to treat our Christian walk just like the climbing wall. Approach it with faith, determination, perseverance, persistence, hope. And be secure and confident because the rope (the line of grace) will always save you if you fall. We don’t plan to use the rope but it is inevitable. Even when we fail we can try again because our confidence is in the rope, the grace of God. As long as you are honestly trying, you need not be afraid that you are abusing grace. People who abuse grace usually don’t progress. Remember, the rope isn’t used for pulling you up; it’s there to save you. Be thankful for grace instead of worrying about it.
When someone says to God, ‘I want to follow you’, it’s like saying, ‘I want to climb the wall of faith’. The Holy Spirit then says, ‘I will be with you every step of the way to guide and empower you to climb’, and Jesus says, ‘Here is your rope, your line of grace, I am spotting you myself, I will NEVER let you fall’.