Fire Mountain Publishing

Aren't you just teaching hyper-grace?

No, I am not, if "hyper-grace" is defined as a new, extra-biblical heresy.  Yes, I am, if "hyper-grace" is a human attempt to describe the richness and power of God's grace that is beyond what some of us imagine.  We love to create labels for those with whom we disagree. When we create names for others, we feel we do not need to support our views with only facts. "Hyper-grace" is a label applied to any teaching that supposedly places an extreme emphasis on grace. The accusation says proponents of hyper-grace neglect repentance, confession, and holiness, even to the point of saying those things are unnecessary for our salvation and relationship with God. So-called critics of hyper-grace accuse their opponents of saying people or Christians are not responsible for our sins.

Without trying to step into the debate over hyper-grace, let me say the book is primarily on forgiveness so there is an admitted focus on grace as intimately connected to God's love and forgiveness. However, I am clear that repentance and confession are huge and necessary parts of our choice of God. Absolutely, people are responsible for their own choices, including the choice of turning from sin and accepting God or staying in sin and choosing Not God.

I claim to be neither a defender nor opponent of the so-called hyper-grace teaching. I certainly do not wish to take sides in the labelling and accusations. There are a couple of things that are attributed to "hyper-grace" teachings that I do touch upon in the book and might make me seem to be an advocate, which I am not.

One charge made is that hyper-grace teachers erroneously say God forgives one’s future sins the same way he forgives one’s past sins. I believe that the Lord can and does forgive past and future sins. All forgiveness of our sins comes about because of God sending the Son to die for our sins. There are not two kinds of forgiveness from God, because all forgiveness is complete. The Lord Jesus Christ only had to die once and did not need to keep dying over and over. His was a one-time sacrifice that covers all our sins. That must apply to more than just past sins.

A second accusation is that hyper-grace theory denies progressive sanctification—that believers, with the help of the Holy Spirit, go through a process that gradually separates them from the evil of the world to be more and more like Christ. Again, I must say that salvation is complete and is not gradual. We are not partially saved upon our faith and repentance, with the hope or expectation of becoming more saved later. One is as saved upon arising from baptism as he or she will be at death. Christians are not in varying degrees of being saved, you more than me or vice versa.