It didn’t end well.

I wish they had talked to us first, because around 2013, at one of the churches I walked away from, a group of us was eventually branded as “hyper grace people” by those who stayed and (ironically) later left too.

Photo credit: Ayebare Kagina

What happened was that my friends and I (convinced by the testimony of scripture) insisted that the deliverance doctrine of chasing demons out of known Christians was incompatible with the New Testament teaching.

As always is the case where false teaching is opposed, some opposing factions we left behind claimed that “we,” the dissenting, were (instead) the people who propagated a ‘false’ gospel of grace only.

The question in the room persisted (and I have seen it persist in Christian circles ever since): how do you communicate and emphasize the finished work of Christ as our only remedy to sin, without ever making anyone think, “Those are hyper-grace people,” or “You are against obedience”? The quick answer is you can’t.

First because free grace is offensive to our naturally legalistic hearts; second, because we are individually and corporately disobedient people born of Adam always eager to save ourselves through “self” rather than Christ.

What Dr. Michael did this Thursday in Kampala was demonstrate to us from scripture how union with Christ is the undeserved, unmerited position in Christ we only receive, having been converted through the work of the triune God through the Spirit expressed in the cross. This then is what causes us to behold the glory of God in Christ in ways that enable, sustain, and empower even our good works.

And to this, Union President Dr Micheal Reeves asked a question to those in the room.

Why are so many Christians often joyless and defeated by sin? It’s because many of them often treat Christianity as a DIY (do-it-yourself) project.

You “pursue your deliverance,” you obey harder, and you “confess at prayer mountain or wake up to 3am prayer gates” (Dr. Byamukama’s words)—just with “a little bit of God’s help.”

You pray more, fast more, not to enjoy or draw near to God, who saved you, but so that God can ‘accept’ you. The order matters. It has always mattered.

And that’s most likely the reason anyone is branded “hyper grace,” “grace only,” or “always saved”.

As we walked back that evening, my friend Joshua said of his current church he’s considering transitioning from it (because of related doctrinal reasons).

”Our current Bible studies at church (in this case) would ask, ‘How can you improve your union with Christ?’ instead of ‘Who are you in Christ?'”

What you ask first matters.

Because when many hear Christians emphasize the finished work of Christ that calls for a Spirit-powered response, reflected in the continual gazing at glory that transforms us, many of them instead begin to think that the Christian life is instead a pile of good works you put together to get accepted by Christ.

Dr. Michael helped me clarify this seeming tension, which some people have also read in the teachings of James, who says, “Abraham was justified by works” (James 2:21), and yet Paul says he was justified by faith alone. (Romans 4:2)

Which is which, uh?

I guess that was the battle of our 2013 “accusers” too. They seemed to think those who elevated grace had abandoned the necessity of bearing Christian fruit. No, we had actually discovered (although we perhaps struggled to explain at the time) that Christianity is not a life improvement project but a Spirit’s work in causing us to behold Christ.

Dr Michael took us to Genesis 15 to illustrate this: Abraham was given a call before he was asked to sacrifice (Gen 22), (in fact like someone else once said elsewhere, God himself preached the gospel to Abram before he even changed his name to Abraham, let alone call him from his native Ur.

In Gen 22, Abraham is then commanded to sacrifice his son, “but only to demonstrate and evidence his faith,” as Dr Reeves clarified. Salvation produces good works, not the other way round.

Sometimes it feels like these old Christian tensions keep reflecting back in every generation, in yours today, in mine of 2013, and in Martin Luther’s, who contested the similar legalistic understanding of salvation by Roman Catholicism in the 16th century.

Thank you, Dr. Michael Reeves, Veracity Fount, and the Ssenge Baptist team, for clarifying a beautifully urgent difference between enjoying God and performing for God, Union with Christ, and communion with Christ!

Lord keep us beholding glory. Lord, keep transforming us. Lord, keep getting the glory!