In session 8 of Anchored in Truth’s “True Church Conference” Barry King preached on The graces of the doctrines of Grace from Ephesians 4:32.
Barry King began the message by making it clear that he believes in the doctrines of grace. One by one he affirmed total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. He went on to explain:
“I don’t look for the doctrines of grace under every rock of Scripture…. [mainly] because he finds them on the top of most of the rocks.” ~Barry King
From there Barry King went on to explain his deep concern among Calvinist believers:
“Many believe the doctrines of grace, but do not behave in accordance to the graces of the doctrines.” ~Barry King
He then proceeded to describe what the graces of the doctrines are. The first, from Ephesians 4:32, is kindness. He explained that
“Meanness is not a spiritual gift.” ~Barry King
Barry King then called on those who believe in the doctrines of grace to make every effort to practice kindness towards those who may not believe like we do on these matters. One major reason, if not simply because we have been partakers of the knowledge of grace, is that many of these men fought side by side so that to lay the foundation for these theological debates:
“Remember that you are only able to debate reformed theology today, because good Arminian theologians fought against the rise of liberal theology.” ~Barry King
“We ought to be kind in our treatment towards men who laid the foundation for us… We are not enemies, we are brothers.” ~Barry King
Finally, as it pertains to kindness, he pointed out that we who believe in the doctrines of grace ought to lead the way in practicing the graces of the doctrines toward difficult brothers and sisters.
The second grace of the doctrines was tenderheartedness. Having spent a majority of his time on kindness, Barry King quickly explained that
“The doctrines are not to puff us up with pride but to humble us.” ~Barry King
We of all people should recognize our weakness and the necessity of the power of God in our lives. We should not be prideful in our knowledge but lowly. We should be most humble, knowing our total depravity and knowing that we have received, not earned, all that we have.
The third, and final, grace of the doctrines was forgiveness. On this point he simply made clear, in a few simple words:
“Forgive as Christ forgave.” ~Barry King
This is a very timely message. With “reformed theology” becoming more and more popular there seems to be less and less grace being extended from reformed communities towards those who disagree. There certainly is a place for disagreement within the company of saints, but that disagreement should not hinder the kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness that all brothers in Christ are called to show one another.
