But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ––Romans 5:20-21
This thought hit me recently when I caught myself—once again—slipping into a transactional mindset regarding God: the moment we die, we will experience a fullness of grace like we’ve never experienced before. Think about it: we struggle, strain, and strive in this life, fighting to remember that our faith is all about grace. That as God’s redeemed, there’s absolutely zero that we bring to the table that can increase God’s grace toward us and His love for us.
Look at it from a slightly different angle: the little sliver of eternity that is “our life” pales in comparison to the vast chunk of our existence that we will experience after we die. So why waste this sliver of time worrying, striving, and allowing Satan to convince us that we deserve condemnation rather than grace, and shame rather than peace?
I’m always gobsmacked to read the statistics on how many Americans no longer believe in a being called Satan as described in the Bible. Even among American Christians, detailed demographic studies from the Barna Group revealed that about 59% of Christians agree that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.”[1] This in spite of the fact that the Bible is full of evidence that the devil is real, including multiple times where Jesus talks about Satan. In Luke 10:18, Jesus alludes to Satan’s fall, saying, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” In other words, Jesus has seen Satan (when he rebelled with a third of the angels and was cast out of heaven), has been tempted by Satan (the Three Temptations in the Desert in Matthew 4:1-11), and predicts Satan’s defeat via His Resurrection. In John 12:31, as Jesus approaches the cross, He declares, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”
There’s overwhelming biblical evidence that Satan is real. It’s the converse that has no evidence: That Satan is not real. (I mean, just look around at the state of the world.)
So what does this have to do with living this short flicker of a life in grace rather than guilt? It has everything to do with our need to fight for grace, because we have an adversary who knows that our key to victory in this short dress rehearsal for heaven is to follow the script; to read and believe what the Bible says about our identity, about grace, and about the enemy’s relentless attempts to make us forget all of it.
Grace does indeed trump everything. However, living under His grace is a battle, and we must be aware that the enemy wants to distract and discourage us. It’s possible to be saved by grace positionally, but mired in guilt and shame situationally by forgetting who and Whose we are. It’s the equivalent of inheriting a fortune but never stepping forward to claim the treasure. Sure, we are still wealthy, but what good does it do us in the day-to-day if we don’t access the wealth?
Our fight is not for our faith, it’s for our ability to remain present in the knowledge and power of the gift of grace, and to walk in that knowledge every day.
Father, thank You that I don’t have to live a guilt-filled existence outside of Your grace. Help me to put on Your full armor each day to combat the attacks of the enemy.
[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/508886/belief-five-spiritual-entities-edges-down-new-lows.aspx
