I was quoting the following verses from Psalm 109 in conversation with a Christian the other day, concerning those who are usurping our Constitution:
(v. 8): "Let his days be few and another take his office"
(v. 7) "When he is tried, let him be found guilty."
(v. 9): "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."
I was taken aback when this person said to me, "That is from the Enemy!"
I said, "Those aren't my words; they are from the Bible."
He said, "That's the Old Testament. We're in the age of grace."
Why do I address this here? Because this doctrine is a CANCER in the Church. First of all, "God is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8), and salvation has always been about grace and faith ("Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness": Romans 4:3, Genesis 15:6).
Further, was Jesus under the influence "of the Enemy" when He drove the money changers from the temple? When He called the POLITICAL LEADERS of his day "sons of hell", "hypocrites", "brood of vipers", "blind guides", "fools and blind", "whitewashed tombs...full of dead men's bones", unable to "escape the condemnation of hell" (from Matthew 23)? Does this NEW TESTAMENT passage fit the "age of grace" theory, as applied by my rebuker?
Returning again to Psalm 109 (v. 8), it was quoted by Luke in Acts 1:20 concerning Judas. I guess someone forgot to tell Luke that he was "in the age of grace" and couldn't quote that passage anymore.
Maybe Paul didn't know he was in "the age of grace" when he expressed the wish that the Judiazers would "go the whole way and castrate themselves" (Galatians 5:12). Maybe Paul's sentiments were "of the Enemy". Or maybe someone forgot to tell Peter that he was in the "age of grace" when he declared Sapphira dead for lying to God in Acts 5:9.
It's a good thing our Christian forebears didn't apply this "age of grace" doctrine, or the Declaration of Independence would never have been written, and the War for Independence never fought.
It's a good thing Martin Luther didn't believe in this "age of grace" theory or he would never have nailed his 95 theses to a Church door. As he said, "WHERE THE BATTLE RAGES, THERE THE SOLDIER IS PROVED."
