A Tale of Two Extremes: Hyper-Grace
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23 - 24)
There are many false doctrines that have permeated the modern church. Whether one qualifies them as minor or major is inconsequential, as all false doctrines lead us away from Yahweh. There are teachings that divide believers across the world in a tale of two extremes: hyper-grace and legalism. But to understand the divide between the two groups, one must understand grace: what does it mean, what’s the context and what the Bible has to say.
In biblical context, grace is an undeserved kind favor of God to men for their salvation (Ephesians 2:8 - 9). It was given to man by Yahweh to forgive them of their transgressions and their sins. It’s a gift given by love, as presented in Ephesians 2:4 - 5:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved
- Ephesians 2:4 - 5
The theology of hyper-grace can be summarized as being a new age movement that supposes that God’s grace is so abundant, that one doesn’t need to repent or confess. They are already forgiven and holy, as all sin has already been forgiven. Anyone who isn’t in accordance with this is considered as being a hyper legalist. The verse that is mainly used to support this is Romans 6:4, which says: “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace”.
However, there are serious logical fallacies in the theology of hyper grace that destroy the entire premise. Firstly, in legal sense, for someone to receive grace, there must be a law to follow. It’s like a cop who pulls someone over for going faster than the speed limit posted. If they let you go with a simple warning, that means they gave you grace, not that the speed limit and the law has been abolished. John 1:17 states that “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”: it doesn’t mean that grace replaces the law, but is added to it, so that salvation can be found.
The second serious theological issue that presents itself when discussing hyper grace is the ever present reality of the final judgement. Matthew 25:31 - 46 tells us what Yeshua will do once He returns for the final judgement. He will separate the righteous from the unrighteous like sheep from goats; the sheep will have eternal life and the goats eternal punishment (Matthew 25:32, 45). This account is reiterated in Second Corinthians 5:10. But if there is judgement, there must also be a law to be base said judgement on. Therefore, we must still follow the laws and what Yeshua said so that we may be sheep and not goats.
What stands as the final impediment in the hyper grace theology is the concept of repentance. In hyper grace, the belief stands that there is no need to ask for forgiveness, for grace abounds. However, when studied, repentance is the first and part of the main message brought by both John the Baptist and Yeshua himself. John says “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2). In Revelations, Yeshua would call five of the seven churches to repentance (Revelation 2:5, 14–16, 20; 3:3, 15–16). In truth, repentance and confession is capital for all believers, because all have sinned (Romans 3:23, James 5:16).
After all, the concept of hyper-grace is very important to understand so as to not fall to this doctrine. The writings and laws of the Lord are meant to be followed, not completely erased and replaced with grace (Matthew 5:17, Romans 3:31). What stands at a complete opposite of hyper grace is hyper legalism. Both aspects in the tale of two extremes lead to perdition and eternal punishment, when a true believer of Yahweh should be searching for Him and His kingdom with all that they have (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 8:17).