God as the lawgiver and judge is the God of “works” that Paul and Luther and the Protestant Reformation in general rejected. Instead, they affirmed radical grace: God’s acceptance of us is unconditional, not dependent upon something we believe or do. But radical grace has most often been too radical for most Christians. We most often put conditions on God’s grace: God accepts you if . . . And whenever an “if” clause is added, grace becomes conditional and ceases to be grace.
