there are certain things coming up that really make me question if a common understanding of grace is really a blaspheming God's name. that can be a little unsettling, but this is what ive come to ask myself...
are christians looking at their lives and seeing God's grace because it benefits them?
is God more gracious when our lives are made more comfortable, or when our future becomes more promising?
is God's grace being treated as a good luck charm?
are christians simply putting a christian label to something in order to find peace with God?
i've actually been thinking quite a bit about God's grace and also just recently just read romans...
ReplyDeleteromans 6:1-4
romans 6:15 - what then? should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?
rom. 11:6 - but if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
and as always, eph 2:8-10
those are really good questions. i think that God's grace is always good, simply b/c it can only come from God, so it would always benefit us. let's say you are going through a tough time or a trial or a temptation. when God extends his grace to you, doesn't it have to become better? so then like...it's sort of a deliverance, i suppose, and in that sense, whatever condition you were in, it becomes good, because we're able to look past the discipline at that time to see His love and purpose for us. and then yeah, the future does become more promising, because it's made clear time and time again that He is our future!
i disagree about the more comfortable part though - for me, like, I feel that God has extended His grace to me in how He's allowed me to grow spiritually this yr - that definitely doesn't make my life "more comfortable," if anything it's more uncomfortable, because now i see the extent of my own sin and the vastness of his glory.
"good luck charm" also seems like it's marginalizing God's grace to some sort of tiny package that we can tote around and wield by our own wills in hopes that it will come through for us - i don't think that's what God's grace is. in rom 11:16 it says that it's not longer on the basis of works; to me, seems like, good luck charms are used to promote works, like, i want to get a good grade on this test, or i want to go out and save 400 lives - those all have "i" at the center of them and that in itself is not God-centered. I don't think grace is something we ourselves can just...whip out, it's what He's gotta give to us, by HIS grace.
as for the labeling question...mmmm. that's a toughie also. I'm not sure about the finding peace with God thing, if anything, I attribute my whole life to God's grace, like 1 Cor. 15:10 says. Is it wrong to find peace with God by asking for Him to bestow His grace on us?
anyway i tried to address some questions, hope this helps? that was interesting and I reasoned out some thoughts about grace that I wouldn't have otherwise if i hadn't of answered your questions. thanks sean!
also I forgot to mention, I believe that God's ultimate act of grace was giving us Jesus as our Savior who conquered death, correct?
ReplyDeleteso on the same line of thought, God's grace...is perfect, it's always good, yea? so yeah, it must always benefit us. but at that point in time when we realize that, i don't think we'd be putting it in terms of benefiting "us" anyway, once we realize that, it's not longer about "us" - it's about Him, and so His grace being extended to us is ultimately like, internalized in us and we become reflections of His glory. So he gives us this amazing gift of grace, and because of it, He is glorified all the more.
i'm not sure if i'm addressing your question, but i just wanted to make that clear - that THE grace of God is the sacrifice of Jesus. amen.