PREFACE
I grew up in a church that preached legalism. As a result, my relationship with God was always very tentative, because it was related to my faithfulness, performance, and devotions. My faithfulness, performance, and devotions were never as good as the preacher declared they should be.
I was going forward almost every week to renew my commitment to the Lord. It was not until I had been in the ministry for several years and decided to teach the book of Romans to my congregation that I discovered what the Bible really says about the grace of God. This in turn revolutionized my whole life and relationship with God. As result, I truly began to enjoy God's love and grace.
Our relationship with God is not based on our performance, which, at best, is flawed, but on His grace, which is certain. We need to be reminded over and over that it is in the grace of God we stand.
Even in the first century the biblical doctrines of grace were attacked by the enemies of the cross of Christ and those confused about the meaning and implications of grace (Gal.3: 1-5).
It is very disturbing when we consider that often serious opposition to what the Bible says about grace comes from well-meaning but very misguided believers. Some have (however unwittingly) replaced the biblical doctrines of grace with the so-called Reformed doctrines of grace. These spurious doctrines exclude many who desperately need the saving and sustaining grace of God.
Some seem to be afraid that believing in a salvation that is by pure grace will lead to notions of cheap grace, easy believism or loose living. Nothing could be further from the truth (Eph. 2: 8-10). Others apparently fail to recognize that the grace that saves the lost, also empowers the saved so that they can live dynamic and fruitful lives to honor, please and glorify God (Titus 2: 11-14, 1 Cor. 15: 10, Rom. 6: 14-15).
In page after page GRACE-What We Should Believe reminds the young pastors of a new generation (and perhaps a few older pastors as well) of two essential and complementary biblical truths. 1.Eternal life is a free gift to the believer at precisely the time he believes in Jesus Christ for salvation. 2. It is the grace of God that saves without works that leads the believer to a working-faith that actually glorifies God between justification and glorification. We do not need to hold these two truths about grace in tension, but in tandem.
I have known George since before he was a Christian. I knew him when he was an itinerant youth minister and a very enthusiastic evangelist to the counter-culture in the late 1960's. I knew George as a young senior pastor of a Calvary Chapel in the 1970's.
I had the opportunity to listen to and be a guest on his sometimes controversial and always challenging radio program (Scripturally Speaking) in the 1980's. I was able to witness first-hand the wonderful work God has privileged him (with the help of a lot of others) to do in Russia for more than 20 years through the ministry of Calvary Chapel Church Planting Mission.
Given the challenges and opposition to the biblical doctrines of grace today, this book may represent George's most important book to date, as well as his most important contribution to a biblically-based Evangelicalism in general and for the Calvary Chapel movement in particular.
Get your Bible and give GRACE-What We Should Believe a fair reading in the light of Scripture. All believers should agree that it would be impossible to overemphasize the importance of grace in the salvation of the lost or in the sustaining of the saved. George is not introducing new or novel doctrines about grace to the 21st century church of Jesus Christ. Rather, he is contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1: 3).
In Him,
Pastor Chuck Smith, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa and author of Why Grace Changes Everything.