Are Grace Lifers Deists? Part Four

Grace Lifers Are Not Deists

Now that we have explored the basic beliefs of Grace Lifers and Deists, we are ready to answer the central question possessed by the series of postings — are Grace Lifers Deists? Simply stated, Grace Lifers are not Deists. There are many reasons why those who hold the principles of the Pure Grace position are not Deistic in their theology.

First, Grace Lifers as they have been defined in this series of articles, believe in the concept of divine revelation. In addition to God's general revelation through creation,(1) Grace Lifers adhere to the belief that God inspired(2) and preserved(3) every word of Scripture. By holding this position, supporters of the Grace Alternatives are in direct opposition to one of the fundamental tenets of Deism, which asserts that any belief in divine revelation is spurious.

Second, because the Bible is God's revelation to humanity, Grace Lifers believe every single miracle recorded in Scripture. To the author's knowledge, there is not one Pure Grace teacher who doubts or questions the veracity of any miraculous event record in the Bible. In fact, Grace Lifers are emphatic that one must believe in the greatest miracle of all, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, to receive justification, redemption, and the forgiveness of sins. Once again, the facts demonstrate that the Pure Grace principles stand in direct contrast with the beliefs of Deists.

Third, unlike Deists, Grace Lifers maintain the orthodox belief in the Deity of Jesus Christ. Supports of the Pure Grace position hold that Jesus Christ was the second member of the Godhead incarnate in human flesh.(4) Logically, it follows then that Grace Lifers would also hold a Trinitarian view of the Godhead unlike the Unitarian view typically espoused by Deists.

The results of our investigation are clear. It is impossible to rightly call Grace Lifers Deists since they are at odds with the fundamental beliefs of a Deistic worldview. Despite this clear testimony, Grace Lifers maintain positions on how God is working in time that may appear Deistic to those who are unfamiliar with them or have chosen not to give the Pure Grace position a fair hearing. Unfortunately, this writer believes one contributing factor is that teachers of the Grace Alternatives have not always articulated their views clearly.

Grace Life Position on God's Working in Time

Scripture is clear that God created an orderly universe that functions according to natural laws. For example, universal gravitation is responsible for the movement of the planetary bodies through the cosmos. The tilting of the earth on its axis combined with these gravitational relationships has resulted in seasonal changes upon the earth. Genesis 1:14-19 reports these facts:

14) And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15) And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16) And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18) And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19) And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Please note that when God garnished the heavens with the sun, moon, and stars, he placed them in such as fashion to communicate information to the inhabitants of the earth. Specifically, it is by the earth's rotation on its axis that days are counted. Likewise, not only is one revolution of the earth around the sun how we account for years, but it is this earth-sun relationship that also brings about the passing of the seasons. For the Bible believer there can be no doubt that God created an orderly universe that functions in accordance with natural laws that God established.

Grace Lifers, along with the rest of orthodox Christianity, assert that the same God who created the laws upon which creation functions is capable of intervening within them. As stated earlier, supporters of the Grace Alternatives believe every miraculous account of God's intervention recorded in Scripture. The question is not whether God has intervened physically in the past, or even could God intervene miraculously during the dispensation of grace, because the Bible is clear that God has done so in the past. Rather, the real question is whether God works in this fashion today during the church age.

Above all, Grace Lifers believe that God has complete integrity to his word. In this sense God places limits upon his own actions. For example, God certainly still possesses the power to destroy the world again through a flood. However, God promised humanity through the Noahic Covenant that he would not do so.(5) Titus 1:2 states, "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." If God exercised his omnipotence to destroy the world through a flood after promising he would not, God would violate his own word thereby making him a liar. Since Hebrews 6:18 tells us that God cannot lie, a second global flood is clearly not an option for God even though his power to do so has not subsided. Consequently, despite traditional claims to the contrary, God cannot do whatever he wants whenever he wants since he has complete integrity to his word.

As we saw in the second posting in this series, the Pure Grace position holds that God deals with humanity in accordance with the nature of the dispensation that is in effect. During the current dispensation of grace, God is forming a spiritual body of believers in which all physical divisions have been removed.(6) Hence, all the blessings that the body of Christ receives are spiritual in nature according to Ephesians 1:3, "blessed be the God and Father or our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." According to Ephesians 1:4-9, believers received the following spiritual blessings the moment they trusted Christ: predestination unto the adoption of children, acceptance in the beloved, redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, wisdom and prudence in abundance, and knowledge of the mystery of his will. Moreover, believers are said to be spiritually seated with Christ in the heavenly places as we wait for the Lord's return to catch away the church.(7) In short, the salvation and blessings of the body are all spiritual in nature, and our destiny is heavenly in location.

In accordance with the nature of this spiritual body that God is forming in his Son, Paul describes Christ's relationship with the members is body in II Corinthians 5:16-17. He writes, "wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Paul teaches that as new creatures in Christ our relationship with Christ is not based upon the flesh. Believers are placed into a living spiritual unity and relationship with the head of the body of Christ. As a result, God's entire relationship with believers today is based upon their spiritual union with Christ.

Just as God cannot destroy the world again through a flood and maintain his integrity, he also cannot deal with his spiritual body in a fleshly way. It is paramount to realize that when Grace Lifers teach that God does not intervene physically during the dispensation of Grace we are not limiting God's potential power to work in this fashion. Rather, we are recognizing that God has chosen to work with the body of Christ differently from how he worked with Israel in time past. In short, it is not a question of whether God could work in this fashion but whether He is.

As stated earlier, Grace Lifers are not Deists because they believe every miracle recorded in Scripture. Herein lies the difficulties for those who believe God is still working in a miraculous physical fashion. First, it is not in line with everything Paul teaches about the nature of the body of Christ's relationship with its head. Second, upon what authority are we to conclude which events can be attributed to God? Without an objective standard outside of ourselves how is one to judge which events in human affairs stem from the hand of God, which from mankind's own stupidity, and which from the lying wonders of the adversary?

Ultimately, one is left to rely upon human experience and stories rather than upon divine authority. Even the Apostle Peter who was an eyewitness to the events of Christ's earthly ministry said that he had more confidence in "the sure word of prophecy"(8) than what he saw with his own eyes. Mid-Acts dispensationalists chide the Pentecostal movement for its insistence that divine revelation continues today through the functioning of the sign gifts. This scolding is based upon the notion that none of these so-called "words from God" can be substantiated by the testimony of scripture. Yet, the same people who chide the charismtics practice the same type of unscriptural thinking when it comes to attributing human events to the sovereign will of God for which they have no scriptural proof.

On the surface this author can see why Grace Lifers have been accused of being Deists. The insistence of the Pure Grace position that God does not intervene physically within creation during the present dispensation does appear to be Deistic. However, such a conclusion fails to understand how God is working in the world today. To be clear, Grace Lifers do believe God cares about his saints and is actively working in the world during the dispensation of Grace. In accordance with the spiritual nature of the body of Christ, God is working today in the inner man of believers as we are conformed to the image of Christ through the written word of God.

The moment a lost sinner places faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead as the only complete payment for sin, God the Holy Spirit baptizes that individual into the body of Christ(9) and seals them unto the day of redemption.(10) In Galatians 3:27 Paul writes, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Having put on Christ, the believer is instructed to let Christ be formed in them. Again, writing to the Galatians Paul states, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." It was with great travail and spiritual pain that Paul desired that the Galatians recover themselves from legalistic bondage and allow Christ to be formed in them. This process of spiritual transformation whereby Christ is formed in the believer is one of the reasons why God revealed the mystery of the church age to begin with. Consider Colossians 1:25-27:

25) Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26) Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27) To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The riches of the mystery is Christ's desire to be formed in the believer and live his life out through the believer. This is precisely Paul's point in II Corinthians 4:11, "For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh."

Since our relationship with Christ is not based upon the flesh and since Christ's desire is to manifest his life through our mortal flesh, it logically follows that God's working in time would also be spiritual in nature. Notice what Paul teaches about where and how God is working during the dispensation of Grace:

• Ephesians 3:16-20—That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
  
• Philippians 2:13--For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
  
• I Thessalonians 2:13—For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
  

The testimony of the preceding verses is clear about where God is working. God is at work on the inner man of the saint to conform him into the image of Christ so that Christ's life can be lived out through the saint's mortal flesh. I Thessalonians 2:13 is equally clear about how this work is being accomplished. The same Holy Spirit that inspired every word of Scripture seals and indwells the believer. When the believer, by faith applies God's written word to the details of his life, the power of the Holy Spirit is released in his inner man.

Today, humanity man does not witness the power of God through miraculous physical interventions. Rather, the power and life of God is demonstrated to the world through the transforming power of the gospel of grace and the working of God's word in the lives of believers. As God's word edifies and changes believers from the inside out, the power of God is on display to a lost and dying world. Remember that God chose to work using signs and wonders with Israel in time past because they required them.(11) How unfortunate it is when mid-Acts dispensationalists who understand the difference between Israel and the body of Christ insist that God is still in practice operating as if Israel's program were still in effect.

In time past Israel was physically very close to the presence of God. The glory of God dwelt between the cherubims on the top of the mercy seat in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Yet, spiritually Israel was far from God. The high priest was only allowed into the presence of God in the holy of holies once a year under penalty of death for violating priestly protocol. How much closer to God are members of the body of Christ to God compared to Israel under the law! Rather than living in the holy of holies, God has chosen the saints as his habitation during the church age. Paul clearly teaches that believers are God's habitation through the spirit:

• I Corinthians 3:16-17—Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17) If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
  
• I Corinthians 6:19—What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
  
• II Corinthians 6:16--And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  
• Ephesians 2:20-22—And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21) In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22) In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
  

Instead of believing in a God of no concern as the critics of the Pure Grace position have insinuated, Grace Lifers maintain an intimate view of God's relationship and care for his children. Not only has God established a residence within his saints, but he has adopted us and placed us as full adult sons into the family God.(12)

Having been fully justified, redeemed, forgiven, chosen, predestined, sealed, seated, abounded toward in wisdom and prudence, accepted in the beloved, adopted, inhabited, given an inheritance, and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places what else must God do to demonstrate his intimate love and care for the body of Christ? Grace Lifers do not believe in a Deistic God of no concern. Rather, we believe in a God who established the most intimate relationship possible with his children and actively works in their lives through to power of his written word.

While the body of Christ has received all of the spiritual blessings that Israel is still waiting for, God has asked believers today to wait for the physical redemption of our bodies. Ephesians 1:14 makes clear that the redeemed of God will experience a yet future redemption for which the Holy Spirit has been given as a down payment. Paul writes the following regarding this redemption in Romans 8:22-25:

22) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24) For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?25) But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

In exchange for the exalted spiritual position we have been given in Christ, God asks us to wait for the redemption of our bodies. Here in lies our hope. As we groan and travail in this life under the bondage of corruption we have a future assured hope that one day "this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."(13) The real problem with desiring God's direct physical intervention now is that we are being impatient. After all if God were to grant us our physical redemption now what would we have to hope for?

Conclusion

Grace Lifers are not Deists. We do not believe in a God no concern. On the contrary, we believe in a God who has placed us into a loving, living, and active union within himself based on merits of the cross work of Christ. Consequently, we maintain that Christ deals with us not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Therefore, God works today in the believer through the word of God as it is by faith applied to the details of life. God's work is accomplished today as the life of Christ is made manifest in the mortal flesh of the believer. It is the prayer of this author that all believers will learn to appreciate the riches of God's grace that have already been extended toward us.

Endnotes

1. Romans 1:20
   
2. II Timothy 3:16, II Peter 1:21
   
3. Psalm 12:6-7
   
4. John 1:1-3, 14, Philippians 2:5-8
   
5. Genesis 9:11-15
   
6. Galatians 3:28
   
7. Ephesians 2:6
   
8. II Peter 1:16-19
   
9. I Corinthians 12:13
   
10. Ephesians 4:30
    
11. I Corinthians 1:22
    
12. Galatians 4:6-7, Romans 8:15-17
    
13. I Corinthians 15:53