Ours is a world of compromise. That is because ours is a world in which no human being (outside of the God-man Jesus Christ) can claim absolute authority, absolute knowledge, or to be honest—any kind of absolute anything. Thus we have to compromise with one another on things—trying to not take an extreme position—but finding “middle ground” upon which to work. The interesting thing though is that with God and the issues of salvation and grace—there is no middle ground—only extremes. Let me explain this statement further this week.
Charles Simeon, a preacher from the 1800’s wrote the following. “The truth is not in the middle and not in one extreme, but in both extremes.” In making this comment he was referring to Romans 11:22. This verse says, “Behold then, the kindness and the severity of God. . . .”
When it comes to the matters of salvation—sin and its consequences—grace and the manifestation of God’s grace—God’s response is extreme wrath and extreme kindness. His response to our sin is not something somewhere between wrath and kindness. His response to sin is wrath. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ALL ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That is not a compromised position—it is an extreme one. This is not to say God is acting wrongly—for He is not—truly we deserve the fullness of His wrath. But when God grants to us salvation through Jesus Christ—again there is not a managed compromise—He offers complete forgiveness and grants to us the very righteousness of His Son. When He had to remedy sin, He did not make any compromise. He had to have His Son bear the full punishment for sin—and had to pour out the full measure of His wrath.
Grace is not about compromise—it is about the extremes of what HAD to happen for God’s wrath to be satisfied—and for us to be made righteous. It is about understanding the very nature of salvation itself. We infinitely cheapen grace when we do not note and grasp these extremes. We try to make God infinitely less than Who He truly is when we try to take the “edges” off of the gospel. The gospel, dear saints, is an extreme thing. It was an extreme act by an infinite God to redeem absolutely ruined mankind from an infinite fall into ultimate rebellion. It is love without bounds reaching down wickedness without measure and choosing to absolutely redeem it by paying a price beyond our imagination. Oh saints of God, do not cheapen grace by compromising the extremes of this magnificent act of God that brings us the glory of our salvation!
Charles Simeon, a preacher from the 1800’s wrote the following. “The truth is not in the middle and not in one extreme, but in both extremes.” In making this comment he was referring to Romans 11:22. This verse says, “Behold then, the kindness and the severity of God. . . .”
When it comes to the matters of salvation—sin and its consequences—grace and the manifestation of God’s grace—God’s response is extreme wrath and extreme kindness. His response to our sin is not something somewhere between wrath and kindness. His response to sin is wrath. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ALL ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That is not a compromised position—it is an extreme one. This is not to say God is acting wrongly—for He is not—truly we deserve the fullness of His wrath. But when God grants to us salvation through Jesus Christ—again there is not a managed compromise—He offers complete forgiveness and grants to us the very righteousness of His Son. When He had to remedy sin, He did not make any compromise. He had to have His Son bear the full punishment for sin—and had to pour out the full measure of His wrath.
Grace is not about compromise—it is about the extremes of what HAD to happen for God’s wrath to be satisfied—and for us to be made righteous. It is about understanding the very nature of salvation itself. We infinitely cheapen grace when we do not note and grasp these extremes. We try to make God infinitely less than Who He truly is when we try to take the “edges” off of the gospel. The gospel, dear saints, is an extreme thing. It was an extreme act by an infinite God to redeem absolutely ruined mankind from an infinite fall into ultimate rebellion. It is love without bounds reaching down wickedness without measure and choosing to absolutely redeem it by paying a price beyond our imagination. Oh saints of God, do not cheapen grace by compromising the extremes of this magnificent act of God that brings us the glory of our salvation!
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