What is free grace theology?

[Runningman]

Free grace theology, also known as easy believism, is a view of soteriology that posits that the only condition of salvation is initial faith. Full stop. This means that the free grace doctrine holds that good works and repentance from sin play no role in salvation.

An extreme example of someone who believes in free grace is that they can believe in the gospel for a bit, whether that be 1 hour or 30 years, and then abandon their faith, commit every sin imaginable, crimes against humanity and God, never repent of sin, and then ride to heaven on the coat tails of unlimited grace. That's the free grace doctrine in summary.

Free grace theology typically encourages the rejection of sinning while advocating for holy and righteous living, at least on the surface. However, the bottom line of the free grace theology is that it actually gives permission to sin in unlimited frequency and intensity.

So let me ask the forum their perspective.

Does free grace, or easy believism, sound like anything that God, Jesus, Peter, Paul, or any of the other prophets wrote about?

Matthew 7
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Romans 2
5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.

 

[Artios1]

Free grace or easy believism …and hyper-grace.... these are words made up by man....it's garbled crosstalk of the Bible.

If you continue with Romans 2 into chapter 3 to verse 21 you will see the resolution to what this is referring to…. and that Paul was directing this to the Jews and the Gentiles in reference to the law. (Romans 9-11 also is in reference to the Jews and Gentiles)

As for Matthew 7 this was directed to Israel prior to the new covenant.

Are we saved by grace ….yes….. Is it free? for us yes….but it cost God everything.

Since there is nothing we did to earn salvation what could you do to un-earn it.

Lets pretend you signed up for a drawing at a car dealership and your name was selected. Your prize is a 2023 SIERRA HD DENALI (black diamond edition)….Everything is included…. Taxes, title, and plates ….you pay nothing, it’s a gift and it’s free. For the first year you keep that baby polished an maintained …but as time goes on the novelty wears off and you let get dirty and let oil changes slide a couple times.

Then the check engine light comes on and you take it back to the dealer to have it looked at …..probably should have washed it and removed the McDonald wrappers and other trash from the cab …but …what the heck. …..
When you call to check on you vehicle they inform you that …they are taking it back because you have not been maintaining it ….. but it’s a free gift …the title is in your name …they can’t take it...

Sometimes the world (devil) beats us down and we let things slide…but sooner or later the check engine light will come on…and it’s time to wake up….they can’t take the truck any more than God is going to pull our salvation…. the title of son or daughter is permanent…. that is our sonship..... Our fellowship is our walk…. and that can get filled with trash and McDonald wrappers, but it does not change our statis as sons. SEED is SEED it can’t be changed any more than the seed of you earthly father can be removed

 

[Runningman]

Free grace or easy believism …and hyper-grace.... these are words made up by man....it's garbled crosstalk of the Bible.

If you continue with Romans 2 into chapter 3 to verse 21 you will see the resolution to what this is referring to…. and that Paul was directing this to the Jews and the Gentiles in reference to the law. (Romans 9-11 also is in reference to the Jews and Gentiles)

As for Matthew 7 this was directed to Israel prior to the new covenant.

Are we saved by grace ….yes….. Is it free? for us yes….but it cost God everything.

Since there is nothing we did to earn salvation what could you do to un-earn it.

Lets pretend you signed up for a drawing at a car dealership and your name was selected. Your prize is a 2023 SIERRA HD DENALI (black diamond edition)….Everything is included…. Taxes, title, and plates ….you pay nothing, it’s a gift and it’s free. For the first year you keep that baby polished an maintained …but as time goes on the novelty wears off and you let get dirty and let oil changes slide a couple times.

Then the check engine light comes on and you take it back to the dealer to have it looked at …..probably should have washed it and removed the McDonald wrappers and other trash from the cab …but …what the heck. …..
When you call to check on you vehicle they inform you that …they are taking it back because you have not been maintaining it ….. but it’s a free gift …the title is in your name …they can’t take it...

Sometimes the world (devil) beats us down and we let things slide…but sooner or later the check engine light will come on…and it’s time to wake up….they can’t take the truck any more than God is going to pull our salvation…. the title of son or daughter is permanent…. that is our sonship..... Our fellowship is our walk…. and that can get filled with trash and McDonald wrappers, but it does not change our statis as sons. SEED is SEED it can’t be changed any more than the seed of you earthly father can be removed

Are you allowed to sin as much as you want now?

 

[notonmywatch]

Free grace theology is totally antibiblical, as is Dispensationalism or the belief that God has a different set of rules for Jews and Gentiles.

Here is what true biblical grace is:

Titus 2

11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

And here as well:

Hebrews 12

28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29For our God is a consuming fire.

 

[Runningman]

Free grace theology is totally antibiblical, as is Dispensationalism or the belief that God has a different set of rules for Jews and Gentiles.

Here is what true biblical grace is:

Titus 2

11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

And here as well:

Hebrews 12

28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29For our God is a consuming fire.

I agree. Grace isn't about getting to sin as much as you want. Grace is about being able to make mistakes and return to serving the living God in genuine repentance.

This is what is different about the New Covenant; whereas in the Old Covenant sins were guaranteed to result in a loss of salvation, possibly permanently.

This is the difference between being under law and under grace:

Being under the law leads to death because violating the law is worthy of death.

Being under grace leads to life because with grace repentance is possible.

 

[notonmywatch]

I agree. Grace isn't about getting to sin as much as you want. Grace is about being able to make mistakes and return to serving the living God in genuine repentance.

This is what is different about the New Covenant; whereas in the Old Covenant sins were guaranteed to result in a loss of salvation, possibly permanently.

This is the difference between being under law and under grace:

Being under the law leads to death because violating the law is worthy of death.

Being under grace leads to life because with grace repentance is possible.

I understand what you're saying, but I have to slightly disagree with you. In other words, even those who were under the law had the options of repenting and believing or exercising faith in the coming Messiah. If not, then nobody under the Old Covenant or before it would have or could have been saved. Scripture makes it quite clear that people like Abel and David, for example, one pre-law and one post-law, were saved via faith in Christ. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you were seeking to convey, but I felt it necessary to mention these things either way.

 

[Runningman]

I understand what you're saying, but I have to slightly disagree with you. In other words, even those who were under the law had the options of repenting and believing or exercising faith in the coming Messiah. If not, then nobody under the Old Covenant or before it would have or could have been saved. Scripture makes it quite clear that people like Abel and David, for example, one pre-law and one post-law, were saved via faith in Christ. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you were seeking to convey, but I felt it necessary to mention these things either way.

If God forgives them, yes. They didn't have Jesus as their atoning sacrifice for sin under the Old Covenant and their sin sacrifices were wholly impotent. They didn't have any such guarantees of sins being taken away like in the New Covenant.

Hebrews 10
4It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Habitual sinning would have been guaranteed death in the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, the sacrifice of Jesus is accessed via faith and with our repentance we can continue in God's grace. Guaranteed.

Anyway, I don't want to go too far off from the main point.

I want to know why people think they can sin as much as they want and still be saved and is it accurate?

 

[ResidentAlien]

Does free grace, or easy believism, sound like anything that God, Jesus, Peter, Paul, or any of the other prophets wrote about?

No, what you're describing sounds more like Gnosticism; that is, the idea that once a person attains to gnosis nothing done in the body matters any longer.

 

[Evmur]

Free grace theology, also known as easy believism, is a view of soteriology that posits that the only condition of salvation is initial faith. Full stop. This means that the free grace doctrine holds that good works and repentance from sin play no role in salvation.

An extreme example of someone who believes in free grace is that they can believe in the gospel for a bit, whether that be 1 hour or 30 years, and then abandon their faith, commit every sin imaginable, crimes against humanity and God, never repent of sin, and then ride to heaven on the coat tails of unlimited grace. That's the free grace doctrine in summary.

Free grace theology typically encourages the rejection of sinning while advocating for holy and righteous living, at least on the surface. However, the bottom line of the free grace theology is that it actually gives permission to sin in unlimited frequency and intensity.

So let me ask the forum their perspective.

Does free grace, or easy believism, sound like anything that God, Jesus, Peter, Paul, or any of the other prophets wrote about?

Matthew 7
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Romans 2
5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.

If Free Grace were easy believism why do you not believe?

You have painted an horrible caricature of what free gracers believe, you present a Frankenstein and declare "this is the man"

We know nothing of "initial" faith ... I've read your posts, YOU are the wobbler, saved today but tomorrow who knows? planted and pulled up, tossed to and fro like the restless waves of the sea.

We are SAVED, we were sheep going astray but now we have entrusted our souls to the Good Shepherd ... nobody shall snatch us out of His hands.

 

[Locoponydirtman]

These posts always make me sad. Those terms are demonic attacks on the Christian conscience, and Christians are not trained well enough to recognize it. It is an attempt to shift your faith from Christ to works. And we discuss it all the time because we dont understand the faith and works economy. It is simple faith produces works, works dont out side of this is nothing and serves nothing. Work is a by product. When Paul said with out works faith is dead. He means faith produces work and that if your faith isnt producing it is dead. This is not a mandate to go do works. Works are a natural product. Stop trying to do works and cultivate your faith. The works will naturally follow.

 

[HeIsHere]

These posts always make me sad.

I can agree with this, so many attacks on this message board on the simple Gospel.

 

[John146]

Are you allowed to sin as much as you want now?

You do sin as much as you want. Nothing ever stops us from sinning. We need a righteousness greater than what we can provide, and that righteousness is provided by the faith of Jesus Christ. The faith of Christ is imputed to those who believe.

 

[HeIsHere]

Are you allowed to sin as much as you want now?

Wrong question.

Paul didn't like it when the Grace maligners asked this very question many years ago

Take note:

Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!
Romans 3:8

 

[ResidentAlien]

These posts always make me sad. Those terms are demonic attacks on the Christian conscience, and Christians are not trained well enough to recognize it. It is an attempt to shift your faith from Christ to works. And we discuss it all the time because we dont understand the faith and works economy. It is simple faith produces works, works dont out side of this is nothing and serves nothing. Work is a by product. When Paul said with out works faith is dead. He means faith produces work and that if your faith isnt producing it is dead. This is not a mandate to go do works. Works are a natural product. Stop trying to do works and cultivate your faith. The works will naturally follow.

I've noticed people tend to paint with a large brush. For example the eternal security folks say anyone who doesn't believe in eternal security is necessarily working for salvation. And those who say salvation can be lost accuse the eternal security people of only being interested in fire insurance. Truth is, you can never know who is producing good fruit that comes from faith and who is working to earn salvation. Only God knows the heart.

 

[Locoponydirtman]

I've noticed people tend to paint with a large brush. For example the eternal security folks say anyone who doesn't believe in eternal security is necessarily working for salvation. And those who say salvation can be lost accuse the eternal security people of only being interested in fire insurance. Truth is, you can never know who is producing good fruit that comes from faith and who is working to earn salvation. Only God knows the heart.

For some reason christians are as divisive as the world. Amd willing to accept any and every sensational teaxher that makes them have feels of some kind.

 

[Runningman]

Wrong question.

Paul didn't like it when the Grace maligners asked this very question many years ago

Take note:

Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!
Romans 3:8

Are you allowed to sin as much as you want now?

 

[Locoponydirtman]

Are you allowed to sin as much as you want now?

Why would you want to?
As a person who loves God, i hate sin, especially my own.

 

[Locoponydirtman]

Thats the problem with finneyism. One begins to thing salvation is asking Jesus into your heart.

 

[Runningman]

Why would you want to?
As a person who loves God, i hate sin, especially my own.

Theoretically, can you sin as much as you want to, regardless of severity or frequency, and you’re saved?

 

[ResidentAlien]

Thats the problem with finneyism. One begins to thing salvation is asking Jesus into your heart.

That's part of it; He wants to dwell in our hearts. But it doesn't stop there.

"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' " Galatians 4:6