Click on a title below to read about it:

– False Accusation #1
– False Accusation #2
– False Accusation #3
– False Accusation #4

False Accusation #1:

“Those who preach grace, say that everything written in Scripture before the Cross—including what Jesus said—is not applicable to the believer today!”

Let me first be clear about my stance on God’s Word:
The entire Bible is God’s inspired word. Therefore, I love and revere all of it! Every single word!

Having said that, Scripture also instructs us to handle God’s Word very carefully:

2 Timothy 2:15 (AMP)
Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.

The KJV puts it this way:

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

  1. “dividing” means separating—Paul was not telling Timothy to pick and choose what he liked or felt good; No! He was telling Timothy to make a clear distinction between the old and new covenant operating systems!
  2. In other words, making the distinction between what it means to relate to God by Old Covenant Law and by New Covenant Grace!
  3. Paul was in essence telling Timothy (and us) to avoid mixing the two and thus prevent bringing shame on himself!—Keep reading, I’ll prove this to you!…

Romans 10:4 (AMP)
For Christ is the end of the law [it leads to Him and its purpose is fulfilled in Him], for [granting] righteousness to everyone who believes [in Him as Savior].

  1. Jesus brought an end to the old covenant way of relating to God by Law, which involved one’s merit and performance.
  2. It was (and still is) an operating system which involves human effort and one’s merit and performance in order to enjoy God approval and blessing.
  3. It is a system that requires one to earn and deserve God’s blessing and favor—and Jesus brought an end to that way of relating to God!
  4. How did He do that?—While Jesus was on the earth, He himself lived under Law. He satisfied and fulfilled the requirements of the Law, and represented the Law correctly, in its fullness! (He was the only one who could, since He was not a descendant of fallen Adam!)
  5. Jesus was the only one, perfect enough to satisfy God’s prefect standard!
  6. Because of this, much of what Jesus said was addressed to people still living under the old covenant, relating to God by law—and at times Jesus would magnify the Law to its purest form so that those who thought they were getting it right would realize they were not!—For example:

Matthew 5:27-28 (AMP)
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

  1. Jesus takes the commandment of the law against adultery and reveals it in its purest, intended form, which is, at heart-level—By just looking at someone with lust in the heart, is adultery according to God’s Law!
  2. Jesus was not “raising the standard” for new covenant believers, as is commonly and erroneously taught!—Jesus was bringing people to the end of themselves by showing them the purity and perfection of the Law, so they would realize and see their need for redemption and the value of God’s grace, which would be extended to them (and us) through the new covenant!

The same is true in what is often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer”:

Matthew 6:9-15 (AMP)
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.

  1. Jesus not only states it, but makes it explicitly clear that in order to be forgiven by God, we first must forgive!!—Again, magnifying the purity and perfection of God’s Law!
  2. Based on what Jesus said here, we see that one’s merit and performance as a forgiver qualifies them for forgiveness!!—Again, magnifying the purity and perfection of the Law! And when it comes to forgiveness, it is proportional, conditional, and legalistic!—And rightly so, since that is how God’s Law works: You do, you get—You don’t do, you don’t get!
  3. This is how old covenant law works!—It is conditional and performance-based!
  4. Jesus was representing the law correctly here, to a people still under it!—Redemption had not yet come. The cross had not yet happened. The new covenant of grace had not yet been instituted!
  5. So we can conclude that this was written FOR us, it was not written TO us!
  6. Under the New Covenant everything changes! Believers are meant to relate to God by grace, not Law!—Even though many fail to do so because of erroneous teaching which mixes law and grace, often putting the greater emphasis on Law!—Essentially dressing the Law as Grace!
  7. Take a look at what the new covenant says about forgiveness:

Hebrews 10:17-19 (AMP)
17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS ACTS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE [no longer holding their sins against them].”
18 Now where there is [absolute] forgiveness and complete cancellation of the penalty of these things, there is no longer any offering [to be made to atone] for sin.
19 Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus,

  1. Notice: Because of Jesus and the finished work of the cross—God remembers our sins no more!
  2. New covenant forgiveness is not based on how well we perform as a forgiver; It is based on how well and completely we were forgiven through Jesus and the finished work of the cross!
  3. Your sins —past, present, and future— were forgiven when Jesus hung on that cross. That is when absolute, and complete forgiveness took place!
  4. If you are alive and reading this article, your sins were all in the future tense when Jesus hung on the cross, so if for any reason you’ve told that you were forgiven for all your past and present sins, but not your future sins—I hope you realize that, that makes no sense and ultimately devalues Jesus’ sacrifice and His complete work of redemption! (This is what mixing old covenant law and new covenant grace does!)
  5. In the New Covenant we forgive because we have been forgiven, not to be forgiven!

Ephesians 4:32 (AMP)
Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.

Conclusion:
Everything Jesus said is sacred. But He also told us to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Mixing the old and new covenant operating systems puts guilt and condemnation back on people and treats the finished work of the cross as incomplete and insufficient. That is the real problem!
So I encourage you, to search the Scriptures for yourself. Have an open mind, and discover what the Gospel of Grace, the Gospel Truth, truly says!

False Accusation #2:

“Those who preach grace say that we don’t need to strive for holiness, because we are already holy.”

Many who make this charge, define holiness as a matter of personal striving;
In other words, they would say::“Holiness is you becoming more and more like Jesus by obeying God’s Word and law, and by doing your very best to be as holy as you can be.”

In that view, holiness depends on the believer’s level of commitment and separation.—In other words, their own merit and performance. It is a definition that is full of legalistic undertones!

What the Bible actually reveals is that the believer is made holy in Jesus!
The moment one receives salvation in Jesus, they also receive holiness in Jesus!

A fact that we cannot negate from, however, is that personal holiness, or you could say, practical holiness, is a progressive transformation which results from the holiness we have already received in Jesus.—In other words, as we discover about the holiness we have in Jesus, it manifests more and more in and through our lives.

Let me put it another way:
Complete holiness is received in Jesus, and it manifests in our lives over time, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

To clarify further:
God made Jesus our sanctification—that is, our holiness:
1 Corinthians 1:30 (AMP)
But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin],

  1. Notice: God made Jesus our sanctification! Our holiness!
  2. So if we are going to have any claim of holiness, it can only be in Jesus!
  3. Meaning that our merit and performance or personal striving cannot and will not make us holy! — God made us holy in Jesus! Period!
  4. If holiness could be achieved by us, then redemption in Jesus would not be necessary!—Think about that for a moment!

In and of ourselves, we could never be acceptably holy to God!
Romans 7:18 (AMP)
For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not.

  1. Nothing means nothing! Absolutely nothing!
  2. Our inherent human nature is fallen, unholy, and therefore can never achieve a form of holiness acceptable to God!

This is why God’s Word encourages us not to put our confidence in our fallen nature for holiness!
Philippians 3:3 (AMP)
for we [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, set apart for His purpose and] are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory and take pride and exult in Christ Jesus and place no confidence [in what we have or who we are] in the flesh—

Thinking that holiness can be achieved by our own human effort, merit or performance, is non biblical and pointless!

We were made holy by one offering: Jesus!

Now, let’s clarify a portion of Scripture that is often misunderstood and thus the erroneous conclusion is made that holiness can and should be achieved:
Hebrews 10:14 (AMP)
For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity].

  1. Because Jesus sacrificed Himself to redeem us from our fallen state inherited from fallen Adam, His sacrifice is what perfects and completely cleanses us, thus makes us holy!
  2. And because we were made holy by the sacrifice of Jesus, that holy identity begins to manifest more and more in and out of us as we enjoy a relationship with God and discover more about the identity and inheritance we have in Jesus!

So in Jesus, God sees you as holy and blameless, without a single fault!…
Colossians 1:22 (AMP)
yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

So progressive holiness is the outward manifestation of an inward reality!
In other words, you strive to be holy in conduct and behavior, not because you are trying to be holy but because you are already holy, in Jesus!…
2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMP)
And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.

We can also put it this way:
Progressive holiness or practical holiness, happens as the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him.

Scripture also tells us that God sees the believer as holy and blameless and without a single fault:
Colossians 1:22 (AMP)
yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

In contrast, the old covenant law never made anything perfect!
Hebrews 7:19 (AMP)
(for the Law never made anything perfect); while on the other hand a better hope is introduced through which we now continually draw near to God.

  1. Why would anyone choose to relate to God by law, when it will never cause them to be holy or acceptable enough to God?
  2. In Jesus, and through new covenant grace, we have our solution and are completely and totally made holy and thus unconditionally accepted by God!

As you can see, according to scripture, for the believer, holiness is a settled matter in Jesus!

Believers are to simply put on the new nature God has given to us in Jesus, and we do that simply by believing:
Ephesians 4:24 (AMP)
and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation].

In conclusion, believers are encouraged to live by, and stand in, the holiness God provides for us in Jesus—And not the “holiness” they think they can produce through their own merit or performance! That is the Gospel Truth!

False Accusation #3:

“Those who preach grace, are simply preaching ‘hyper-grace’.”

Hyper means: over, beyond, above, exceeding, excessive.

So if the charge implies that we believe that God’s unmerited favor goes far beyond what we can earn or deserve, and that it super-exceeds our every expectation.—Then they are right!
We are guilty as charged! Because those are all true, biblical facts about God’s grace!

I mean, would you rather have:
Hyper-condemnation, hyper-judgment, hyper-wrath, and hyper-rejection
Or:
Hyper-acceptance, hyper-forgiveness, hyper-blessing, hyper-favor, and hyper-love?

I am certain you would choose the latter!—And that is what God’s grace is! What it “looks” like!

Just as God was “hyper” with His Old Covenant Law, He is “hyper” with His New Covenant Grace!
—Case in point:

Romans 5:8 (AMP)
But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 3:20 (AMP)
Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,

John 10:10 (AMP)
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].

1 Timothy 1:14 (AMP)
The grace of our Lord [His amazing, unmerited favor and blessing] flowed out in superabundance [for me, together] with the faith and love which are [realized] in Christ Jesus.

John 1:16 (AMP)
For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].

God’s grace is certainly hyper, and we praise Him for that, for without it we would be without hope facing eternal doom!

I think where the issue comes in for some, is that they confuse licentiousness for grace, or they assume that when the purity of grace is taught, that license to sin is being preached. —And nothing could be further from the truth!— Grace does not give us a license to sin, instead it gives us a license to live free from the damnation and bondage to sin, and that, because it so hyper!

False Accusation #4

“Those who preach grace, say that we no longer need to obey God’s Law!”

Thus implying that we are antinomians!
An Antinomian is someone who opposes God’s Law!—So let me be clear:
We are not antinomians! We do not hate, reject or oppose God’s Law!

Those who accuse us of teaching a disregard for God’s law, also accuse us of encouraging believers to live however they want, without concern for sin, for holiness, or repentance, since there are no constraints without God’s law!
They basically accuse us of “giving people a license to sin” because they are now law-less, or without law!
—Nothing could be further from the truth!—Let me clarify:

The apostle Paul and early church believers faced the exact same accusation:

Romans 3:8 (AMP)
And why not say, (as some slanderously report and claim that we teach) “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? Their condemnation [by God] is just.

Let’s read the same verse from The Passion Translation:

Romans 3:8 (TPT)
Is it proper for us to sin, just so we can be forgiven? May it never be! Yet there are some who slander us and claim that is what we teach. They deserve to be condemned for even saying it!

The Gospel is so good and freeing, so different to the old covenant way of relating to God, that legalists could not but confuse grace for licentiousness and permissiveness!

Here is another example:

Acts 6:11 (AMP)
Then [to attack him another way] they secretly instructed men to say, “We have heard this man [Stephen] speak blasphemous (slanderous, sacrilegious, abusive) words against Moses and against God.”

In other words, the Gospel message of grace was so radical, that the legalists could not but accuse Stephen of preaching against God’s law! They falsely portrayed him as an antinomian!

Let’s look at a few more times when Paul, the apostle, was falsely accused of preaching against God’s law:

Acts 6:13 (AMP)
They presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the Law [of Moses];

Acts 21:21 (AMP)
Now they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are living among the Gentiles to turn away from [the Law of] Moses, advising them not to circumcise their children or to live according to the [Mosaic] customs.

Acts 21:28 (AMP)
shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

We preach the very same Gospel of Grace Paul preached, and look how they leveled the very same false accusation against him!—Accusing him of preaching against God’s law and supposedly telling people that they no longer needed to obey God’s law!

Is that what he was doing? No! But he certainly was making a clear distinction between relating to God by law and relating to God by grace!—Just like we do!

We have to realize and understand, that if believers, ministries and churches today, are not facing similar false accusations—they are probably not preaching Gospel Truth!
They must not be preaching the same Gospel Paul and the early church believers, such as Stephen preached!

We are most definitely not antinomians, nor do we encourage anyone to disregard or ignore God’s law—What we do do, is explain the rightful place of God’s law in the new covenant believer’s life and make sure they understand that, as such, they are to relate to God by grace, not law, or by a mixture of law and grace!

We love and honor God’s, for the reason He gave His law!—Let’s take a quick look at that:

Galatians 3:1-3 (AMP)
1 O you foolish and thoughtless and superficial Galatians, who has bewitched you [that you would act like this], to whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [in the gospel message]? 2 This is all I want to ask of you: did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying [the requirements of] the Law, or was it the result of hearing [the message of salvation and] with faith [believing it]? 3 Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?

The law deals with human effort, merit and performance—relating to God by law, this is what the people of the old covenant had to do!–Clearly, something new covenant believers are not meant to do! Just look at the terms Paul used to describe anyone trying to do that!

Trying to earn and deserve God’s blessing and favor is something that can never be done successfully, since no imperfect being, which we all are inherently, can ever live up to or fulfill God’s perfect standard!
Here Paul makes it absolutely clear that one cannot relate to God by law as a new covenant believer, and even worse, by a mixture of the two!

Notice again, the terms he uses to describe someone who tries to relate to God by a mixture of law and grace, or even worse, tries to go back to relating to God by law after having received the revelation and understanding of grace!—He refers to them as “foolish, thoughtless, superficial, bewitched, senseless”!

Why does Paul do that?
Because the law was never designed to make anyone holy or righteous! If it could, there would be no need for redemption in Jesus!—Look at:

Galatians 2:21 (AMP)
I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”

In other words, if righteousness could be achieved through law-keeping, then there would be no need for Jesus!

Romans 9:31 (AMP)
whereas Israel, [though always] pursuing the law of righteousness, did not succeed in fulfilling the law.

Again, it is impossible for imperfect, fallen human beings to live up to and satisfy God’s perfect standard!

Romans 5:20 (AMP)
But the Law came to increase and expand [the awareness of] the trespass [by defining and unmasking sin]. But where sin increased, [God’s remarkable, gracious gift of] grace [His unmerited favor] has surpassed it and increased all the more,

The law is designed to show and make our imperfection as clear as daylight, for it is only then, that we come to the end of ourselves and realize our absolute need for God’s grace!

And once we receive salvation in Jesus—He becomes our righteousness, holiness and redemption!

The Law was given so mankind would realize the only way to be saved and maintain relationship with God is by grace and grace alone!

Law-keeping is not of faith. You don’t need faith to keep the law–You just do what it says and hope for the best!
But that is not how God wants us relating to Him!–Look at:

Galatians 3:10-12 (AMP)
10 For all who depend on the Law [seeking justification and salvation by obedience to the Law and the observance of rituals] are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED (condemned to destruction) IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, SO AS TO PRACTICE THEM.” 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing] before God by the Law, for “THE RIGHTEOUS (the just, the upright) SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12 But the Law does not rest on or require faith [it has nothing to do with faith], but [instead, the Law] says, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM [the things prescribed by the Law] SHALL LIVE BY THEM [instead of faith].”

In other words, you either receive and live by grace, or by law! Period!
The reason why the law does not require faith, is because it depends on human effort, merit and performance to “succeed”, if it were possible, which is not!

Look at:

Romans 3:31 (AMP)
Do we then nullify the Law by this faith [making the Law of no effect, overthrowing it]? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law [since it convicts us all of sin, pointing to the need for salvation].

Let’s read the same portion from The Passion Translation:

Romans 3:31 (TPT)
Does emphasizing our faith invalidate the law? Absolutely not. Instead, our faith establishes the role the law should rightfully have.

Faith God’s grace does not invalidate God’s law, instead it makes its purpose clear when we truly relate to God by faith in His grace!–The law’s purpose for the new covenant believer is to point us to Jesus and the grace of God!

We cannot become holy through law-keeping!
The law simply shows us how we do not measure up in and of ourselves!

True holiness is reached when we break free from the bondage to the Law and realize that Jesus has already made us holy:

1 Corinthians 1:30 (AMP)
But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin],

We don’t become righteous or holy through our “law-keeping”!–We become righteous and holy by receiving redemption in Jesus, and that by the grace of God!

Hopefully you see that we are not against God’s Law, rather, we are for God’s law and embrace God’s law, for the reason God gave the law, which is to point us to Jesus!

The Gospel of Grace does not produce careless living. It produces sons and daughters who live from the inside out because of who they have discovered that they already are in Jesus!