Hypo-Grace: Agreeing with God?

 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 modern culture, we have seen excesses and extremes. Look at a random college campus. We can see excess and extreme, binge drinking or caffeine overload to get more study time. We can see that those are unhealthy. When it comes to our relationship with our Good Father, is there such a thing as too much Grace?

 The critics seem to think so. They label the Gospel of Grace as "Hyper-grace." I counter this argument with the fact they, the religious tradition minded believers are "Hypo-Grace." They don't go far enough with His Grace.

 Most churches and ministries will readily agree salvation is received by Grace through Faith. But afterwards, they introduce religious rules, denominational doctrines, and codified creeds the new believer must adhere to, to prove their Faith was genuine.  In essence they start with Grace but continue with works.

 This is the exact charge Paul made against the church at Galatia. He reintroduced the Gospel in its fullness and simplicity. Bottom line what Jesus accomplished for us was enough.

 Hypo-grace though rejects this notion and says we still must add our works, our performance and our obedience to complete Redemption. Imagine a Michelin starred chef placing their prize dish, perfectly cooked and seasoned in front of someone and then immediately they throw their own seasoning on it, slap it on a grill, or throw it back in the oven to "perfect" it or "finish" it. 

 This is what Hypo-Grace does with Jesus' Finished Work of Redemption. Jesus completed the work, but religion says no you started it but I must finish it. In other words, what Jesus did was an incomplete and unfinished work, and needs man's efforts to perfect it.

 Recently, I saw a famous minister on a podcast proclaiming their key to a good life; agreeing with God. I perked up, was attentive, because I concur, agreeing with God is a key to a good life. Then, they began to define their understanding of what agreeing with God is.

 The minister proclaimed that agreeing with God was when, they do something then God will do something. That if they do this, then God will do that. They labeled this as agreement. I was astounded. No, my friend, that is not agreement. That is rebranding Old Covenant thinking and camouflaging it as agreement. 

 Look at the Old Covenant in Deuteronomy 28. The Old Covenant way is if they first did something then God would correspond and respond and act. We see this mentality prevalent in modern Christianity. 

 If we forgive others, then God will forgive us. If we confess our sins, then and only then will God forgive us of our sins. If we perform well enough then God will hear and answer our prayers. This is the Old Covenant and not the New Covenant way.

 Grace purchased our forgiveness and eternal salvation. Do we need to complete the transaction by doing something? Grace redeemed us from the curse, but do we need special rituals to be free from "generational curses?" Grace supplies our needs but must we first satisfy a certain condition for God to meet the need? Grace procured healing and wholeness, bearing sickness and disease on the cross, but must we convince God by our diligence and faithfulness and good behavior to become willing to heal us?

 This is the plague of Hypo-Grace corrupting our thinking. Shifting us into a place of earning, and achieving versus just believing and receiving. Jesus is enough. He purchased and procured our salvation, our once for all forgiveness of sins, our supply of provision and prosperity, and our health and wholeness. If He paid for it, then there is nothing owed, and nothing left for us to do but believe.

 Reject Hypo-Grace, the not enough Grace, message, and take the limits off this Loving Savior and Good Father who loved us enough to give us His Son. Too far with Grace? Grace is too good to be true but true Good News that does us good and makes us glad. Jesus is more than enough, too much Grace? No, never a limit to His Love and Grace.