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
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!
This would be a better conversation than blog post because this is a topic that can be talked in circles. My VERY {NOT} 'READ UP, PRAYED UP' opinion is that:
ReplyDeletea)Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
Gods Grace is extended toward those who ask and recieve it regardless of his/her works. I don't have to run and jump pews in order to show that I have repented for my sins and have recieved His grace.
b)1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
Christians are Satans main target. We are going to fail. God's Grace is perfect and that should not be confused with thinking WE should be perfect. Do I think that some abuse His grace...I don't think TRULY CONVERTED Christians abuse His Grace. We sin but with that alcholic who may slip up and have a drink there is going to be some sort of conviction. I believe we are all convicted over different things at different points. If God would have convicted me over every sin the moment I was saved I would have ran for the hills. My convictions came slowly and are still coming. For instance...speeding...it is a law of the land and alot of truly converted Christians speed everytime they get in a car but Gods Grace is still extended. Now WE as humans see a degree of sin but God does not. So my husbands speeding is no worse than John Doe's alcholism but WE see a world of difference between the two. God's Grace is there for those who seek it and when we sin His Grace does not leave us.
Now with all of that rambling I want to say that those 'christians' who say a prayer and then continue to live life with no convictions were probably never truly saved. Not for me to judge BUT thats my opinion. So the Grace they are abusing really isn't theirs to begin with YET....well it is theirs but they haven't recieved it.
Like I said...this is something that is a better conversation because I'm sure there are things a discussion would better clarify.
Disclaimer:
These are only my opinions and I reserve the right to change those opinions upon discussion of the topic :-)
Makia, well said and I couldnt agree more! Thanks for sharing those scriptures.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said about how God slowly convicts you. This is so true, and you know God waits to convict us of things as we grow, because as a kid we may of ran from God if he would have convicted us of something but as an adult we are wiser and he can speak to us more clearly sometimes.
I have also noticed how God usually convicts me of one thing at a time and I work and pray on that one thing even though I know I have so much more to work on, he takes it one step at a time. We constantly grow, in our walk, faith, convictions. And everyone grows at different rates.
Very good post! I know this would be a good conversation, and I'm hoping that's what will happen on this blog. I feel like sometimes in conversation important points become lost, or you may be interrupted during a thought. This way, you can just say it and its there and if anyone wants to respond they can!
Thanks again for your response!