The Deep, Dark Secret of Grace

Living in the shelter of our religious institutions most of us never would even imagine that there is a secret about grace which we’ve never been told. Sure, some might feel that living under the heavy hand of atonement theology, replacement theology, or even prosperity and kingdom theology, when grace enters our consciousness, it appears somehow that an ancient mystery, a secret of mystical proportions has suddenly burst upon our mind illuminating dogma and doctrine handed down from by-gone eras. Happily, we skip through life now encouraged and uplifted in the love of the Father having left behind the stigma of our wretched, miserable Adamic nature which pastors assailed from their pulpits every sabbath.

If you’ve been around grace for any amount of time the first discovery to its impetus in our lives comes from the second page of Paul’s letter to the people of Ephesus where he boldly proclaims that we are saved by grace, not by our works, but as a gift of God. From this injunction we now live a life perfectly in the will of the Father, whether we know it or not. This is the fount of the entire grace message, Paul’s capstone to a life committed to spreading the good news of the works of God in Jesus.

From this passage we have assembled those from far and wide extolling them with the news that distinction of their affiliations, ethnicity, gender or social status has no favorable standing before the gift offered in Jesus. Grace applies to all, works in all, and exceeds the expectations of all. Paul said it; that’s good news to me.

So, let me ask a few questions: Does grace cover lying and cheating? How about fraud and manipulation? Are heretics also saved by grace? If none of these conditions were not covered by grace, then it wouldn’t be grace, would it?

Therein, lies the deep, dark secret of grace. To put it as plainly as I can, Paul never said to the people of Ephesus that they were saved by grace! Subsequently, in reading this letter, Paul never said that to you! Selah.

Have you been lied to, cheated, defrauded and manipulated all this time? Am I a heretic for claiming such blasphemous filth? Is it grace or not?

I can honestly claim what I stated is based on historical evidence. The letter written to the people of Ephesus was penned after the death of Paul, possibly as much as 10 years, by someone who was potentially one of his disciples, and used his name in publishing this letter. Scholarly study has confirmed this repeatedly for many years now and yet we’re still living under the belief of a doctrine which ascribed these words directly from Paul. So why does this matter?

Is it grace or not? Is ignorance covered by grace? Is wisdom and new revelation covered by grace? Are these writings, whether attributed to Paul or actually written by Paul, covered by grace? If it doesn’t matter, is it covered by grace? If it does matter, is it covered by grace?

Grace does not operate from an either/or sense of logic. Its logic is both/and. That is too a secret none will tell you. Its not grace if it doesn’t apply to all – period.