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“What does it mean to receive the grace of God in vain?”

Today’s question comes from 2 Corinthians 6:1, where Paul writes to the believers in Corinth, “Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” When you appeal to somebody not to do something, it’s evident there is a less desirable outcome you are trying to avoid.

So then, what does receiving the grace of God in vain look like?

Looking Back a Few Lines

When we are trying to understand the meaning of an expression like this, it’s always necessary to look at it in context. Our sentence begins with the phrase “Working together with him [God, see previous verse], then …” The word “then” in English translates a Greek conjunction that refers us back to the previous chapter. We are reading part of an argument the apostle began a few paragraphs earlier in his letter. If we scan backwards, we will quickly come across this pivotal statement in verse 15:

“He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

This is the object of Paul’s “ministry of reconciliation”, to carry the message of salvation through faith in Christ to men and women, thus inviting them into eternal fellowship with God.

No Longer Live for Themselves

But note that there is a further objective here. In giving life to the dead, Christ intended to effect a permanent transformation. When salvation is doing its job as God planned, we no longer live for ourselves, but rather with God’s plans and purposes in view. The contrast is not between doing good or evil so much as it is between living for ourselves or living for Christ.

It’s quite possible for me to live a respectable, moral life that is almost completely useless to God if I insist on making my own plans, goals and desires its object. I don’t need to be wallowing in sin to frustrate Christ’s purposes for me. It is sufficient that I simply never grow to maturity in the faith because I remain self-occupied; that I fail to produce the fruit God intended because my interests predominate, and I continue doing all the same things as those around me for all the same reasons.

Living for Myself

What does that look like? Again, not necessarily obviously sinful. It just means I make choices without the kingdom of God as my primary objective. Living for myself may mean I choose to work at a job that I think I will find fulfilling rather than one in which I have greater witnessing opportunity, or greater freedom to serve the Lord with my spare time, or greater income to give away, or greater insulation from the temptation to compromise my faith.

Living for myself may mean I prioritize my mortgage or my retirement savings over meeting the current needs right in front of me. Living for myself may mean I never get around to taking anyone from church home for lunch because there’s a football game I really want to watch. Living for myself may mean I gravitate to Christians who can do something for me rather than Christians who look like they could use some help.

Living for myself may mean I choose furniture, appliances and vehicles for the impression they make on others rather than for their functionality in a home devoted to Christian service.

Priorities and Purpose

For a wife, living for herself may mean prioritizing her personal development and career goals over maintaining a home that frees up her husband to devote himself to the service of God.

For a husband, living for himself may manifest in spending more time at the gym, on the couch, out with the boys, or playing video games than making sure his wife’s emotional and spiritual needs are met.

For a teen, living for herself may mean continuing a romantic relationship she knows is going nowhere until something better comes along without regard for the poor guy’s time or feelings. Living for himself may mean prioritizing entertainment over Bible study, or friends who are popular over Christians who might challenge him to grow in the faith.

Living for yourself may result in marrying an unbeliever. To an immature Christian, the unsaved may seem more like him or her than the folks at church, as Paul will go on to warn against later in the same chapter.

Receiving the Grace of God in Vain

The Greek word translated “in vain” is often translated “empty”. Emptiness is the fate of people who live for themselves. Empty hands, empty hearts, empty lives.

Are people who live for themselves saved? Word studies won’t help us much with that: the word translated “receive” is used of both full and temporary acceptance. Paul speaks of those who will be saved as if by fire, their works burned up at the judgment seat of Christ. So it is certainly possible for a believer to enter eternity with empty hands and no reward. 

People who still live for themselves can certainly look saved to those who measure commitment by whether someone shows up and fills a pew on Sunday. We must remember every Christian we observe is a work in progress. In some, that work takes longer than in others. What we can say with confidence is that any version of Christianity that leaves decent, moral people pretty much the way they were before they professed faith in Christ falls drastically short of God’s objectives for believers.

Receiving the grace of God in vain means hearing the message of salvation and failing to present your body a living sacrifice. It means living a life empty of fruit and devoid of spiritual purpose. It means neglecting the development of spiritual gift or using it in a way that self-promotes rather than builds up others. It means failing to enter into real fellowship with God, missing out on the confidence, hope and joy of salvation that come from walking daily with the Lord.