The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 3: Positional Grace)

Start this post series from the beginning, here.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 3: Positional Grace)

Before we get into ‘grace’, it is worth reminding you that righteousness and grace illuminate each other. So, to really appreciate what we will learn regarding God’s grace, it is important to keep in mind that God is absolutely righteous, and that men are guilty sinners, far off the mark of earning or achieving a righteousness that meets His standards. Our only hope of salvation is by the grace of God because His righteousness demanded a price that was beyond our means to pay.

God’s grace exists because of a sacrifice that was nailed to a cross to appease His righteousness. It is this one act that allowed God to preserve His justness, but also enable Him to justify the ungodly. The cross is arguably the greatest paradox as it showcases God’s grace for us but reveals the wrath of God for the sins that were placed upon Christ. God shows His love towards us, which contradicts with the hatred for our rebellion, displayed in the cross. The cross contrasts God’s forgiveness to us by punishing His Son. Through the cross, we have life because Christ died, and by the cross we are saved, because Christ was sacrificed to purchase that grace.

Paul therefore sums up grace in a short, but clear statement in Romans 4:5 when he eloquently writes,

Rom.4:5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 

We do not deserve God’s grace, we cannot earn God’s grace, and we certainly cannot do anything to achieve His grace. It is already paid for and accomplished by the cross work of Christ. God’s grace is a free gift, and it is given to a person when they believe in Christ.

Part 2 of this study informs us that grace is multi-layered. It is critical to understand each one of these layers to fully comprehend the majesty and power of God’s grace. If you do not have insights into all of grace, your view of this gift will be skewed, and will lead to ignorance and corrupt doctrine.

Positional Grace

Positional grace can also be understood as ‘Justification’. I can describe justification as the fact that God has saved us from the penalty of sins, the moment we believe in Jesus Christ. This justification is set in place by events that occur, quite literally, in heaven, hence the name, ‘positional’ grace.

I will provide you with scriptural proof shortly but in my own words, I see positional grace as a form of contract that is signed and sealed in heaven. When you get saved, God imputes Christ’s righteousness upon you, and this event is sealed by the Word of God. You are declared righteous and fully justified by God. This status is approved and permanent. Once these events have occurred there is nothing you can do to change it. If God has approved you to salvation, that approval will stand eternal. Can I remind you again that the reason why it is permanent and unchangeable is because your justification is based on Christ’s work and righteousness, not yours. If justification was based on your works and righteousness, it would be fickle and worthless.

Justification is God’s work, not ours. We receive this status by grace, through faith in the work of Christ on our behalf. Since our works did not earn for us this status, our works or lack of works cannot negate it either.

In the next part of this post series, we will continue with ‘Positional Grace’, as there is an additional view to discuss that Paul provides us in Romans chapter 7. However, at this point I would like to provide scriptural proof that positional grace is a permanent and unchanging status declared over you by God. It is based in the death and resurrection of Christ, and it is the highest form of God’s incomprehensible and free gift, called grace.

Scriptural Proof of Permanent Justification

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

God provided us reconciliation through His Son while we were still enemies with Him. MUCH MORE then…being reconciled shall we be saved by His life. It is by Christ’s resurrection that the contract of your justification is fully settled and secured (Rom 4:25).

What does ‘the atonement’ mean? It refers to the reconciliation itself between God and man; it is not the means by which reconciliation is affected. It’s not that we have received a ransom, or an offering by which reconciliation might be realized; but rather that we have become reconciled / reunited with God.

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you believe in the cross work of Christ and the list above does not provide you with some settled understanding that your life is permanently enveloped in God’s love, then I am not sure how you reason things out. If NOTHING can separate you from God’s love, then your life is permanently secure, in Christ, and by God’s standards.

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

If God seals something, how in the world can you unseal it?

Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

As the key verse in the image uploaded into this post indicates, there is nothing we can do to earn or achieve justification. The work is not ours, but God’s. It is He who started the work of grace and salvation in you, and it is He who will bring it to completion. I have NEVER known God to fail at anything!

1Cor 3:13-15  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

If the previous verses have not sold you on knowing that justification, by your faith in Christ, is a permanent work of God, then this verse will pull it through. The verse refers to the judgement seat of Christ, in which every believer will stand before Christ one day and account for their faithfulness in their knowledge and application of Paul’s gospel (Rom 2:16), which is laid out in detail in these foundational cornerstones of Romans. The verse tells us that our works will be judged by fire and that that which endures will determine reward, but if nothing endures, that person will suffer loss of reward, BUT, he himself will be saved.

So, even if a believer refuses to study and apply the Word of God in their lives, nor allows grace to continue its work in maturing them and forming Christ within them, they will still be saved, due to justification, but will suffer loss of things that could have been to their reward. Justification is a permanent status. It is God’s work, it is God’s declaration of righteousness upon you by the work of Christ, not by what you have done, but simply because you chose to believe in Christ and His work to save you.

Conclusion

The salvation that Jesus Christ offers can be seen as either conditional or unconditional. All the scriptures above indicate clearly that salvation is unconditional. In this case there is nothing we can do to lose it.

When God give you justification by His grace, do you think that you can destroy it? You can destroy your own righteousness by one sin and then have your mind condemn you about it, but God’s justification of you is based on Christ’s righteousness, not your own righteousness!

This ‘positional stance’ of justification that we have with God should SETTLE OUR FAITH, SETTLE OUR FUTURE, and SETTLE OUR RELATIONSHIP with God once and for all.

Do we leave it there? Do we stop learning about God’s grace and jump straight back into the world and live it up? As Paul would say, “God forbid!”. Positional grace is only the start of God’s grace. Grace continues into deeper revelation. It is a believer’s reasonable service (Rom 12:1) to open themselves up to further learning, gaining knowledge into God’s grace and allowing it to permeate their lives, and transform them into ever increasing vessels of grace, honour, and perfection.

This study will continue with Part 4 soon…