“With outstanding scholarship and insightful exegetical and theological reflection, Dr. Anderson shows that God’s way of relating to children has always been in terms of relationship and fellowship. Our relationship with God can never be lost but our fellowship varies with our faith and obedience. He demonstrates that the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants are paralleled by other Ancient Near Eastern covenants between the monarch and his servants. Abraham began an eternal relationship with God in the Abrahamic Covenant. However, in the Mosaic Covenant He provided the conditions for fellowship with God for those who are in relationship with Him, that is, are saved. The implications on our daily walk with Christ are significant.”
– Dr. Joseph Dillow (President Emeritus of BEE World & author of Final Destiny)

Living by Grace attempts to make the case for grace in every corner of our lives. It makes sense that since we were saved by grace, we should live by grace. Since God is grace, we should not only experience His grace, but also live within it and give it to others.

While nearly all branches of Christianity would lay claim to grace as the primary foundation for our future in heaven, there is wide divergence of opinion on just what that means. The understanding of grace among different factions within Christianity depends heavily on one’s understanding of justification, regeneration, sanctification, repentance, faith, and other biblical topics presented in this textbook.

The author holds that grace is free, not in the sense of being cheap or easy, but as a free gift (Eph 2:9) with no strings attached, in contrast to Arminian or Calvinistic soteriology which add requirements on the “front end” or “back end” of salvation. The Free Grace position is a biblical alternative to these systems of soteriology and is presented as a corollary of dispensationalism, affirming that God’s “so great salvation” is absolutely free.

Martin Luther was the first since Paul to express it: simul iustus et peccator—simultaneously just and a sinner. It seems like a paradox. How can we be both just and sinful? Both claims are true of a believer in Jesus Christ. We are just or justified in our Position but still sinful in our Condition. Our Position deals with our current place seated at the right hand of God the Father in Christ. But our Condition on earth right now certainly does not conform to our Position in heaven. We still struggle with a sinful nature and do things we know are not Christ-like, to say the least.

Nothing in our Condition can ever change our Position, but a focus on our Position can radically improve our Condition. That’s what Ephesians is all about. For anyone who has wondered how he can be one of God’s children and still be so far from being like Jesus, this is the book for you. As you read it, may your changing Condition come into even closer conformity to your unchanging Position.