The title of this blog is taken from a song by one of my favorite ministries/bands of all time, The Crabb Family. Here is the song in its entirety:
I've been to some places, where I did not belong.
I've been through some valleys where I almost lost my song.
I stood in an unholy place.
But through my triumph or failures, I couldn't get away from His grace.
His love is amazing, He won't let me go.
Unmerited favor, He loves me so.
When I falter and fail and feel like giving in,
He says lay your burden on me, I'll bear it again.
The only thing I know to say is,
I can't get enough of His grace
His grace is still amazing after all this time.
Still nothing separates us from His passion so divine.
Neither life, death, nor ages, or principalities
Could ever come between the love that Jesus has for me
When I think about Grace, this song inevitably comes to mind somewhere in my thought process. The line "I cant get enough of his grace" echos in my mind throughout the day when I think of how good my God is!
Today I was in conversation with someone and the subject of Gods grace came up. Two sides were represented in the topic.
The First Side: God is full of grace and mercy, and preachers/christians/singers/ need not sing/preach/or speak in a negative manner about how God will punish you for sins or actions.
The other side: Yes, God is full of grace and mercy, but that doesnt give you a get out of jail free card.
Which leads me to this blog. I want to know your opinions, scriptures, thought on this subject:
There is a fine line between RECEIVING Gods grace and ABUSING Gods grace....where is that line?
When I think about this, I am so torn. I was raised in a church that pretty much taught what you cant and shouldnt do and for the longest time I was terrified that if I didn't shout and run the isles, pray for hours, cry my eyes out in such abandoned pursuit of God that I was not a "true" christian, and that I was in danger of hell. In my opinion, grace was not taught to me as a child. Yes, I knew Jesus loved me, and yes I knew he would forgive my sins, but only if I asked, and my asking had to be a heart wrenching emotional experience. If I didnt read my bible every day then I didnt have it....
Today, I do not believe that God is like this. I have read the bible, and when I read it I feel like God is the exact opposite of this, yet because of the culture here the questions arise in my heart and I feel like I doubt my beliefs, or that I have misread or misinterpreted the bible.
For example: An alcoholic. Alcoholism is a disease, a generational curse, a form of bondage. Say a person gets saved. They dont want to drink anymore, but their body still craves it. They have a drink.
Can God not have grace on this person because he knows their heart? Is Gods grace only ok to be given if it applies to your sins and not anothers? Just because you dont do a certain "sin" and God doesnt have to use his grace on you for that particular "sin" doesnt mean that he cant or wont use it on someone else who does struggle with something you dont. Its so easy to judge others and say... well how can they do that and then expect to get into heaven? Im sure that same person wonders how you can call yourself a christian and yet sit back and judge and not help them through prayer and support and faith that God can help them through.
Now, just to clarify myself. I am on neither side of this, I have questions about it and I would like to know scripture to clarify this for me. Grace or no grace? And if there is grace, then how can it only be applied to certain things and not others? Who decides? Who gets it? Why are somethings okay and not others?
Okay, let loose!
