Articles
Do Not Cross the Plumb Line
After Israel sinned by worshiping a golden calf idol, Moses interceded and begged God to forgive Israel's sin. Moses, moved by God's graciousness, asked to see His glory. Moses was allowed to see God's back, and as He passed by, God said, “'The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Exodus 33:19 ESV) God is gracious and forgiving; failing to recognize this is to miss His essence.
Today, there is a concern that in the past, preachers and teachers may have stressed obedience over grace in response to false doctrines that did the opposite. Since the church's foundation, balancing grace and obedience has been challenging. Paul said of God's grace, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20 ESV). Some people, hearing this statement, thought, “And why not do evil that good may come?” (Rom. 3:8 ESV) Paul's response to this scurrilous charge is, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1 ESV) The obedience of faith is the answer to balancing grace and obedience, but is there a limit to God's grace?
Paul warned Christians against presuming upon God's grace. The Jews were sure that God's judgment would fall upon the Gentiles for their gross immorality and idolatry. Paul warned, “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:3-4 ESV) The purpose of God's grace is to lead us to repentance. Reading Israel's history confirms Paul's point.
When the kingdom of Israel divided, the northern kingdom immediately worshipped idols and never repented. Judah had an on-and-off relationship with idols. Eventually, their hearts and minds were corrupted, and they became idolaters. God's gracious response to their sin was: “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.” (2 Chron. 36:15-16 ESV) God through Amos told of his judgments sent against them to bring them to repentance, at the end of each reminder the refrain was repeated, "yet you did not return to Me, declares the Lord" (cf. Amos 4). Finally, God sent this vision to Amos: “This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” (Amos 7:7-9 ESV)
The plumb line symbolized that God's grace had reached a limit beyond which He would not go. Sinners must repent or bear the punishment for ignoring God's grace. King Manasseh reached this limit when he practiced human sacrifice. God said, “And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.” (2 Kgs. 21:13 ESV) Judah had reached the limits of God's grace, and God punished them through the Babylonians.
Paul understood the limits of God's grace and warned us not to presume on God's grace. "Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works:” (Rom. 2:4-6 ESV) At some point, people do reach the limit of God's grace. Paul knew this and said, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (2 Cor. 5:11 ESV)
We cannot know when we have reached the plumb line. It is imperative that we respond to God's grace and repent. Again, Paul says, “Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, 'In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:1-2 ESV)
Do not cross the plumb line!
