Grace is Not a Checklist

Christianity often begins with joy and hope, but somewhere along the way, many of us exchange joy for anxiety, freedom for pressure, and faith for performance. Instead of resting in God’s promises, some began measuring their worth by spiritual checklists. Did I pray enough? Read enough? Serve enough? Confess enough? 

This is the burden of performance-based religion. It is a subtle-but-real prison that affects believers who sincerely want to please God. Within the Restoration Movement, we’ve long sought to return to the ideals of New Testament Christianity. We’ve challenged manmade doctrines and called for biblical fidelity, but, in the process, some of us have embraced a form of faith that feels more like striving than resting. 

I’ve looked back on my early ministry and wondered whether my motives were as pure as I believed them to be. I preached about freedom in Christ, yet I was living in a kind of spiritual prison, one shaped by performance, pressure, and fear. Sadly, there were times I wanted others to join me in the very cell I longed to escape. Thankfully grace has reshaped my approach. 

The New Testament is clear: salvation is by grace through faith. However, even after receiving that grace, we often live as if we’re still trying to earn it. This article is a call to restore not only the practices of the early church but the grace that empowered them. 

We are saved, sustained, and shaped by grace, not by performance. Grace is not merely the starting point of our faith; it is the very foundation upon which we stand and grow. Embracing this truth means holding to three convictions: first, that we are saved and sustained by grace, not by our own spiritual effort; second, that grace is what transforms how we live and mature in Christ; and third, that if we are serious about restoring New Testament Christianity, we must also restore the centrality of grace that gave it life. 

Grace Saves and Sustains 

From the garden of Eden to the cross of Christ, grace has always been God’s plan. In Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve sinned, God did not destroy them; instead, He clothed them. That first act of mercy pointed forward to the greater covering found in Christ. Later, God revealed Himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).i 

King David, a man after God’s own heart, was guilty of terrible sin, yet God did not reject him. David’s confession in Psalm 51 is raw, humble, and met with mercy. This is grace: God’s commitment to redeem sinners and renew hearts. 

Paul puts it plainly in Ephesians 2:8–9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation is a gift, not a reward. Yet, we often live as if our spiritual success secures our place with God. We fear if we’re not good enough, faithful enough, or repentant enough, we’ll lose our standing. 

This mindset often extends to baptism and repentance. Within our movement, we rightly uphold baptism as essential, but we must be cautious not to present it as a work that earns salvation. Colossians 2:12 reminds us that baptism is a work of God, not man. It is the moment we are united with Christ by faith and not a ritual to prove ourselves worthy. 

Perhaps at times we have veered toward an overemphasis on baptism, to the point of being accused of teaching that regeneration occurs by the act itself, rather than by faith in Christ’s work. Other times, reacting to Reformation doctrines of “faith alone,” we have feared speaking too freely about grace—but grace and baptism are not enemies. They are inseparably linked in the New Testament. Baptism is the response of a person that desires grace. 

Legalism, though rarely acknowledged, is present in many churches. It’s not the same as sincere obedience. It’s the belief we can earn God’s approval through our actions. Often driven by a desire for control or assurance, legalism reduces faith to a set of behaviors. Those unsure of God’s love may rigidly perform spiritual routines, hoping to secure His favor, but grace cannot be earned. When we rely on our performance instead of Christ, we end up burdened, uncertain, and spiritually exhausted. True obedience flows from grace, not fear.  

Grace Transforms 

From the very beginning, God’s grace has always been the driving force behind transformation. Consider Noah, who “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8), not because of his perfection but because of God’s choice to extend grace in the midst of judgment. Jonah, the reluctant prophet, became a vessel of God’s mercy to Nineveh, despite his disobedience. Hosea’s faithfulness to his unfaithful wife, as instructed by God, served as a living picture of divine grace extended to wayward people. These stories remind us that grace not only forgives, but it also invites us into deep relationship with the Lord and lasting change in our lives. 

Grace doesn’t end at salvation. It marks the beginning of transformation. Romans 6:14 declares, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Living under grace does not lead to indifference; it leads to intimacy. 

James 2:17 warns, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” But those works flow from life in Christ, not from fear of losing salvation. In John 15:5, Jesus describes the life of a disciple as abiding in the vine: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” The fruit of the Spirit are not goals we reach by effort alone. They are evidence of walking with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16–23). 

Spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, study, and service are not divine performance reviews. They are habits of communion with God. They deepen our dependence and strengthen our faith. They do not make us more saved, but they do help us become more like Jesus. 

Grace also changes our motives. Instead of obeying to avoid punishment, we obey because we love the One who first loved us. Ezekiel 36:26 describes the miracle of grace this way: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you." 

Restoring Grace 

Throughout church history, the pendulum has swung between extremes of grace and works.  

On the one hand, an unrestrained view of grace allows for sin. Jude wrote of people who “pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). Some in Paul’s audience misunderstood the beauty of grace, seeing it as a license to sin, thinking that more sin would only magnify God’s mercy. Paul’s response was unequivocal: “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2). 

On the other hand, legalism denies the gospel. Acts 15 tells of a debate over whether Galatian Gentiles should obey the Law of Moses. Peter responds, “Why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples? … But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 15:10–11). The apostle Paul wrote, “If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21).  

The historic Catholic Church introduced layers of tradition and sacraments. The Reformers responded by proclaiming salvation by faith alone, eventually minimizing Christian baptism as the appropriate response to grace. 

Our own movement, born out of a desire to unify and return to the Bible, sometimes overcorrected. In rightly resisting Calvinism and denominationalism, have we turned faith into a system of works we call “faithfulness” which centers around church attendance? Have we put “God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples?” 

In our fear of “faith alone,” have we neglected to teach that faith expresses itself through love? In Galatians 5:6, Paul reminds us what truly matters in Christ is not external rituals or religious status but “faith working through love.”  

Grace doesn’t lead to passivity or performance. It activates a living, loving faith that expresses itself in how we treat others and walk with God. 

Alexander Campbell’s 1816 “Sermon on the Law” was a turning point in church history and a foundational moment in the Restoration Movement. Campbell challenged the prevailing view that the Old Testament law remained binding on Christians and insisted on a clear distinction between the old covenant and the new. His sermon helped liberate believers from a burdensome, rule-centered view of Christianity and redirected focus onto the grace of Christ. In calling for the Bible alone to be our guide and for the gospel, not law, to define our faith, Campbell laid the groundwork for a more Christ-centered approach to doctrine and practice that continues to shape our movement today. In it, he stated, “We shall never succeed in effecting a religious reformation until we make the Bible the standard of preaching and teaching, and until we distinguish between the law and the gospel.” His words called for a gospel-centered faith, free from the burdens of legalism. 

Carl Ketcherside, in The Death of the Custodian, wrote, “To form a new written code from the letters the apostles wrote … would be to forge anew the fetters that would bring us once again into captivity to law.” Both men recognized the danger of making New Testament patterns into new testaments of legalism. 

A phrase often used to express our ongoing pursuit is “we are not 'restored churches' we are restoring churches.” Restoration must remain an ongoing pursuit of truth and grace. As we seek to live out the faith of New Testament Christianity, we must not neglect the grace that gave it life. 

Living Out Grace 

Walking with the Lord can be compared to driving near a police car. When the officer is driving in front of me, I feel calm and confident. No need to panic, because I’m simply following his lead. But when he’s behind me, I start to sweat. My hands grip the wheel tighter. I check and recheck my speed, even if I’m going exactly the limit. Even a small steering correction or drifting slightly over the speed limit can trigger anxiety. That kind of fear mirrors how many of us feel spiritually.  

When we view God as trailing behind us, waiting for us to slip up, we live in anxiety. But grace invites us to follow Jesus, not to live in fear of His presence, but to walk confidently in it. As Romans 8:1 reminds us, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” 

A Christian woman once shared that during a conversation about her health and eternity, she was asked, “Are you ready for heaven?” Her response was telling, “I hope so.” This simple answer wasn’t an expression of confident hope. Rather, it revealed a deep uncertainty rooted in a lifetime of performance-based faith. She had trusted Christ, been baptized for the “right reasons,” sought to live faithfully, and loved God; but still doubted her standing before Him. 

This is the tragic fruit of legalism. It undermines the very assurance that grace is meant to bring. Yet Scripture says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Faith in Jesus is not a guessing game. When we stand on grace, we don’t merely hope for salvation, we live in the confidence of it. 

Are we placing burdens on others that Christ never placed on us? Have our attempts to “get things right” ever overshadowed the joy of what Christ has already done? These are the kinds of questions grace encourages us to ask. Not to lower the bar, but to refocus on the One who fulfilled the law on our behalf. 

Grace doesn’t just change our theology. It changes our relationships. It affects how we speak, how we worship, how we serve, and how we respond to weakness. 

In one congregation, a member told me he hadn’t taken the Lord’s Supper in months. He believed in Jesus but felt too unworthy to participate. After studying grace, he came to understand that communion isn’t a reward for the righteous, it’s a table for the redeemed. We are unworthy, and that’s precisely why we need Jesus. 

That conversation struck a deep chord. I realized he wasn’t just burdened by guilt; he was missing the freedom grace is meant to give. I had to ask myself, “Am I living in that freedom?” I had spent years preaching Christ while still carrying the weight of performance. As Jack Cottrell writes, “Salvation is not based on human merit but on divine mercy. It is God’s work from beginning to end,” (The Faith Once for All). That truth finally began to reshape my own faith. 

I thought of Paul and Silas in prison. Despite being in chains at midnight, they sang hymns because they were free in Christ. That’s the kind of freedom I long for, not just to preach about grace, but to experience it with that same peace and confidence. 

Before dismissing these struggles as merely emotional, we must recognize how easily even personal devotion can turn into a legalistic checklist. I once believed Hebrews 10:25 meant that missing the Sunday assembly, unless ill, was sinful. But I’ve come to see that mindset fosters guilt more than growth. Now, I encourage regular gathering not out of obligation, but as a grace-shaped commitment to worship and community. Grace doesn’t dismiss the value of assembling; it transforms our reason for doing so. 

Sometimes, the most faithful Christians can live in quiet fear of falling short. When we miss a church event, a day of prayer, or personal Bible reading, we may feel God’s favor hinges on whether we’ve checked all the right boxes. But grace is not a checklist, it’s an invitation. It doesn’t condemn us when we fall short; it calls us back with mercy. As Hebrews 4:16 reminds us, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.” 

This is why grace shapes not only how we live, but how we grow. Paul’s words in Philippians 2:12 are sometimes misunderstood as a call to earn salvation through effort: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” But read in context, they offer something far richer. Paul isn’t saying we work for our salvation—he’s describing our humble response to the grace we’ve already received. The Christian life is marked by obedience that flows from awe, not anxiety. As the next verse explains, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).  

Our role is not to achieve salvation, but to reflect it, empowered by the Spirit working within us. And perhaps most powerfully, grace helps us avoid reactionary extremes. We’ve all seen the pendulum swing from rigid legalism to careless license. Grace is not a license to sin, just as rules alone cannot produce righteousness. In resisting faith-only teaching, we must not promote works-based security. 

The gospel is a balanced truth that declares we are saved by grace, through faith, expressed in love and obedience. 

Grace Fully Restored 

In my ongoing journey, grace is reshaping not only how I live, but how I preach. I once invited others into my jail cell of performance-based Christianity. I now attempt to invite people into the freedom that grace brings and the assurance of God’s unwavering love. 

As a common phrase expresses it, “Jesus did not save us from the prison of sin to place us in the prison of performance.” He sets captives free. Let us continue to restore not only the practices of the early church but the power of its gospel. Let us be people who teach and live grace. And let that grace continue shaping how we love, how we serve, how we forgive, and how we grow as a response to the freedom we have received. 

In Christ, we no longer strive to prove ourselves. Because of His grace, we can finally rest in what He has already accomplished. The questions that once worried us, “Did I pray enough? Read enough? Do enough?” are silenced by a greater truth: Jesus is enough. He checks every box. We don’t need a checklist to measure our worth.

We have a cross that declares it.