Recall back in Acts chapter 10, Peter witnessed a vision and then a physical realization that the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles when Cornelius was converted.  The message of the vision was to not call anything unclean that God had declared clean.  The clear interpretation is the presence of the indwelt Holy Spirit declares one clean, not any sacred ritual.  Peter recalls this lesson to the council. 

After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.  God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.  Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:7-11)

The text makes no bones, this added requirement of the Law of Moses to Gentile belivers is the yoke of slavery to the law.  Something that goes against the purpose of the Law (read Romans).  The Pharisees, Leagalists, Judiasers wanted to place another group of people into slavery by adding to the requirements of salvation.  They wanted further outward proof that people were serious about following God, before they’d accept those people as clean.  They wanted to make sure new converts would follow their rules as they set them down.  This isn’t about pleasing God, this was about pleasing people.  The biggest slap in the face was these people were saying that God was wrong.  He had called them clean (giving them the Holy Spirit) now men were rebelling (again...) and saying that they couldn’t be clean until they did one more thing… (which was the beginning of a laundry list of things).

Peter clearly claims tht the only requirement of salvation is outside of people, “through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are“ Equality, through grace.

What is grace?  It is the free expression of God’s loving kindness to men to demonstrate His incomparable chaarcter and intended to meet the needs and the cares of those He loves.  Grace is God’s unearned and unmerited favor to people.  Unearned.  Unmerited.  The balance sheet on our side is Zero.  All of the transactions, all of the costs are on the side of Jesus.  Through his work on the cross, the debt is paid.  Salvation is the unearned, unmerited declaration of a person as righteous based solely on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  It lies hand in hand with Justification.  Justification is the soverign act of God, where God declares a believing sinner righteous, while that person is still in a sinning condition.

Simply put, Salvation isn’t a merit badge. 

Some people state that justification, “cleans us of sin, just as if I’d never sinnned at all.” That is misleading, because it implies that justified people are merited a state that they do not yet posses.  A state of believing that we are now in a state where we have committed no sin allows us to be misled into thinking that we merited it.

Grace is about God and not about me.

Salvation is 100% Christ’s work.  Not 99.9, not 99.999, not 99.99999… 100% totally and fully Christ’s work.

The push back of those of James, or those of the parties of the Pharisees, isn’t unexpected.  Such a radical idea of grace is always opposed.  Why?  Because such grace eliminates the possibility of some man made code of conduct. This radical Grace prevents the control of individuals by others.  This simple fact refutes all of the cults and sects.  The gosple of Jamestown Guyana was a false gospel, because it enslaved people.  The gosple of David Koresh was a false gospel because it enslaved people.

Grace is freedom from guilt, and freedom from the ability to be manipulated by guilt.

Grace removes the east evaluation (judgement) tool of unaminity (everyone being the same) and replaces it with unity through variety.  Where trust isn’t placed on a set of guidelines, rules, code of conduct, but on the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Grace releases all control to the Holy Spirit, and trusts that the Holy Spirit will finish the good work that He has started.  Grace allows us to join with the Holy Spirit and administer His work to those in need of it.

Where is the limit?  Isn’t it risky to allow people to have access to this ‘free pass’ called Grace?

Yes.  That is the point.  If grace isn’t risky, if it doesn’t call into question that people might continue to sin, then that grace isn’t true Grace.  The fact that some might take it too far is proof that the true gospel of grace is being taught.  The scandal of grace is that it is security in Christ alone, and absolutely nothing we do.