8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, 9 not of works, so that no one should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 MEV
20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace *abounded all the more, Romans 5:20 NASB
*ὑπερπερισσεύω (hyperperisseuō)
Strong: G5248
GK: G5668
to superabound; to abound still more, Rom. 5:20; mid. to be abundantly filled, overflow, 2 Cor. 7:4
In the field of medicine there is a physical condition called hypertension. Many are very familiar with this term. In plain terms this is known as high blood pressure. What many may not be as familiar with is another condition similar to hypertension. It is called hypotension.
What is this condition? It is the opposite condition of hypertension. It is low blood pressure. Making it elementary, these conditions, hypertension and hypotension, too much pressure and too little blood pressure.
Now taking this into the realm of the New Covenant and the Finished Work of Christ, there is a similar condition pervasive throughout many quarters of the Body of Christ. You may be bewildered asking yourself what are you talking about? What has high blood pressure or low blood pressure got to do with our Christianity?
Glad I got your attention. You see in many churches and ministries there is a claim that those who have received the amazing truth of the Gospel of Grace, His Radical Grace, that we are going too far with Grace. Like the physical condition of hypertension, they are "diagnosing" us as being "Hyper Grace". Meaning we have too much Grace.
Too much Grace is dangerous apparently. We are going too far with this Grace stuff. We are over emphasizing Grace. Like hypertension is too much blood pressure, we have Hyper Grace, too much Grace.
Those who make such claims write books, preach sermons, make podcasts, and post social media content "calling out" this Hyper Grace. We are preaching and teaching a "greasy grace," a"'sloppy agape." So is this Radical Grace a Hyper Grace? A too much Grace?
Grace is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the personification of Grace. Grace and Faith are the foundational pillars of the entire New Covenant. How do you go too far with the Good News of Jesus and His Redemptive work paying the price for all our transgressions and sins in full?
Too much Good News? Too much Redemption? Too much of Jesus? Too much of our focusing on Christ, and putting Him at the center of it all? Too much trusting completely in Jesus, for salvation, eternal life, Righteousness, holiness and total Redemption? Too much relying on Jesus' Finished Work and not on our works, performance or behavior?
In truth there is never enough Grace. Grace is abounding or hyper, not too much, but rather more than enough! Grace is the Gospel, we can't exchange it for works plus Faith.
The hard-to-accept truth is that, for many, hyper Grace isn't the issue. It is the Hypo Grace that is the real disconnect. So many have fought for and promoted a partial Grace Gospel. A Gospel that is no Gospel at all.
A message of a mixture of Grace plus works and performance. The Grace Gospel shows us Jesus paid the price in full. The Hypo Grace "gospel" though reimagines the Gospel into a partial payment or a down payment made.
Jesus laid down a huge price, but it was just the beginning. It was a down payment. Hypo Grace says we must continue the payment by our faithfulness, our obedience, and our performance. Under Hypo Grace, Jesus and our behavior become our saviors.
Grace is not an insufficient price paid. Grace is not a barely enough payment made. Grace is not a layaway payment. Grace reveals a price that was paid in full for all humanity, the undeserving, the guilty, and the enemies of God in their actions and thinking.
Grace is the person of Jesus and His Finished Work. We can never have enough of this unearned, undeserved favor. We can however create a Hypo Grace mentality where we have too little Grace. Jesus is at the center of it all. Embrace the Finished Work, and cease living as though Jesus only made a down payment.
