What Grace? What movement?

Let not your good be evil spoken of

Romans 14:16–19 — “Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”

I recently had an interesting phone conversation with a dear fellow grace believer. He is one of a number of saints I would typically think of as “isolated.” By isolated, I mean that where he lives there is no existing, functioning assembly of believers who identify with what we might call a mid-Acts understanding of Scripture.

That kind of isolation is difficult. It leaves a believer feeling the lack of regular fellowship around shared biblical convictions. Like many in these days, he has reluctantly turned to social media to bridge that gap. By his own account, he has joined several groups labeled as “Grace” in an effort to find positive fellowship and encouragement.

What he encountered shocked him.

I understood.

That conversation brought back a question that has returned to my mind many times over the years: What grace? What movement?

If the grace message does not produce gracious speech, patient correction, and edifying fellowship, then we may preserve the terminology of grace while contradicting the spirit of the doctrine we claim to defend.

Discovering Right Division

Some personal history may be helpful.

I trusted Christ at the age of twelve. My church life during those years was distinctly independent Baptist. To this day, I remain grateful for those early years, because it was there that I first understood the gospel and experienced the support and love of a local church assembly.

Not long after I was saved, I encountered what has often been called the “Grace Movement.” I obtained reading resources that challenged my biblical hermeneutic. I also connected with believers established in a mid-Acts understanding of Scripture who were patient and gentle in helping me grow.

Right division resonated with me immediately, both intellectually and spiritually. Though young, I was already dissatisfied with the doctrinal confusion I had been receiving in a denominational setting. Right division satisfied my thirst to understand God’s word. It brought clarity, and it fostered deep comfort from the Scriptures as many things began to make sense.

Throughout my teenage and young adult years, I continued to grow in my understanding. I developed not only an appreciation for what I was learning, but also a strong desire to invest my life in sharing the wonderful truth of God’s word.

Yet my first baby steps in doing so also brought painful lessons. I learned that the truth of right division is not always received well. Over time, I became accustomed to hostility in denominational circles and eventually had to leave my denomination because of bitter rejection from those with whom I had once enjoyed sweet fellowship.

When Grace Circles Become Ungracious

That is when my experiences with the “Grace Movement” began in earnest: Bible conferences, visits to grace churches in other cities and states, correspondence with brothers and sisters in Christ, and increasing exposure to the movement as a whole.

Eventually, however, I was forced to acknowledge a reality that first disappointed me and later deeply disturbed me. The question formed in my thinking and ultimately became something of a mantra:

What grace? What movement?

Denominationalism has long been marked by sectarian rancor. Other theological circles I encountered could also be sharply contentious, sometimes even predatory or vindictive in their treatment of disagreement. I expected that, rightly or wrongly, from certain quarters.

What surprised me was discovering that much of what I encountered in “grace” circles could be just as severe. In some cases, it seemed even more so.

Really?

Really.

Confrontation or Edification?

1 Corinthians 15:33–34 — “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.”

Is it just and proper for believers to attack other believers over differences in biblical understanding?

To be clear, I am not suggesting that error should never be addressed. Correction is sometimes necessary. There are times when confrontation is justified. Truth matters. Doctrine matters. Right division matters.

But correction must never become an excuse for fleshly conduct.

The real question is not simply, May I confront? The better question is, Am I seeking to edify?

Is the other brother or sister simply weak in the faith and in need of time, patience, and instruction? Where are they in their journey of faith? Have I invested prayer, effort, preparation, and personal care into this person? Am I aiming to restore, or merely to win? Is my desire to help them grow, or to prove that I am right?

Confrontation asks, “How do I expose this error?”

Edification asks, “How do I help this brother or sister grow in truth?”

That distinction matters.

The Problem Is Not Technology

It would be easy to blame social media for the sharp and acerbic atmosphere that often exists in grace circles. I would be delighted if the problem were that simple.

But it is not.

This dynamic existed fifty years ago. I had never seen a computer. I had not conceived of a cell phone, much less owned one. No, technology is not the root issue.

The issue was, and still is, character.

Christlike character.

The reality of Romans 6–8 ought to so inhabit the members of the body of Christ that we are known not for contentiousness, but for light.

Philippians 2:14–16 — “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”

Why is it that believers in Christ so often seem bent on confrontation rather than edification?

What is ambiguous about Paul’s instruction?

Speaking the Truth in Love

Ephesians 4:15–17 — “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind.”

Is there anything difficult about this model? Is the problem really a lack of comprehension, or is it a refusal to submit our conduct to the doctrine we profess?

Too often, these confrontations quickly descend into character assassination. Rather than assuming that another person may be sincere, even if sincerely mistaken, it has become common to question that person’s motives, sincerity, and character.

Even more troubling, the one doing the confronting often never seriously addresses the doctrinal issue itself. Instead, the assumption seems to be that doctrinal error or disagreement must be evidence of a character flaw.

That is dangerous.

It is also un-Pauline.

Ephesians 4:29–32 — “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Before We Correct

I know the objections.

I know someone may say, “You do not understand what the other person said.” Or, “You do not know what they did.” Or, “You are cherry-picking verses to soften our responsibility to stand for truth.” Or perhaps, “This is not confrontation; this is care-frontation.”

I understand the objections.

But the objections must be weighed against Pauline truth. How we manifest truth matters. How we edify the body matters. How we correct error in speech and conduct matters.

It matters.

It really does.

Before correcting another believer, perhaps we should ask ourselves a few questions:

· Have I understood this person fairly?

· Have I prayed for them?

· Have I considered where they are in their growth?

· Am I trying to restore them or defeat them?

· Is my speech likely to minister grace to the hearer?

· Would I say this the same way if I were sitting across from them in person?

· Am I more concerned with defending my reputation than edifying Christ’s body?

These questions do not weaken our stand for truth. They test whether our stand for truth is being carried out in the Spirit or in the flesh.

An Inconvenient Truth

Romans 14:15–17 — “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

1 Corinthians 8:11–12 — “And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.”

Knowledge can be handled sinfully.

Truth can be spoken without charity.

Doctrine can be defended in a manner that harms the very brethren Christ died for.

That should sober every one of us.

The issue is not whether truth matters. Truth matters deeply. Doctrine matters. Right division matters. But the manner in which we contend for truth also matters.

If our speech wounds the brethren, if our knowledge destroys rather than edifies, if our manner contradicts the grace we profess, then we have not defended grace well.

We have contradicted it.

May we be known not merely for precision in doctrine, but for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. May we follow after the things that make for peace and the things wherewith one may edify another. May isolated saints looking for fellowship find, among grace believers, not only rightly divided truth, but also patience, kindness, humility, and speech that ministers grace to the hearers.

Only then will the question “What grace? What movement?” find an answer worthy of the name.