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(March 5, 2014 at 5:40 am)JesusLover1 Wrote: Amazing post I read online:
Simply put, GRACE can be defined as unearned favor. Specifically, God's grace is something God does for the benefit of His people just because He loves them, not because of something they have done to earn it. Grace is a gift and can never be earned. It's always totally free. ("Cheap Grace" is a counterfiet of God's amazing free grace. God's grace is free, but it was not cheap. It cost the life of our Creator and that is why it is now a free gift. Jesus wants you to have it, FREE.)
God's justice, mercy and grace can be compared to the pardon that a governor of a state can give to a guilty prisoner who is facing execution (the punishment of death) for something that he or she actually did. JUSTICE will be served and they will be killed unless the governor has MERCY and pardons (forgives) the prisoner. But if the governor goes on and gives that prisoner not only a pardon, but also total freedom, a huge mansion to live in, and unlimited resources then he has given that guilty prisoner both MERCY & GRACE.
If we only received JUSTICE from God we all would be dead because all of us have sinned Romans 3:23, and the "wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23, yet we have been given a “stay of execution” for now.
Right now though, God offers us a pardon (MERCY). He wants to forgive us and set us free from the results of sin. And He has the legal right to do this because our Creator, Jesus, came and died so that we would not have to. Jesus died for us so that we could live, but His death can only be our salvation if we accept it. Just like the prisoner above, we can turn it down or we can accept this pardon that God offers. John 3:16.
If we accept the pardon that God offers us, not only will we not die, He then gives us a life that will never end. He continues by giving us an awesome room in His own home to live in, unlimited resources, and total freedom. That is God's AMAZING GRACE!
The Bible gives us a beautiful example of what grace is and does. When Moses took the Children of Israel out of Egypt and into the desert the people soon became thirsty, but there wasn't any water to be found, especially not for 2,000,000 people, plus their herds of animals. God told Moses to strike a specific rock and He (God) would give the people water.
The water that came out of that rock demonstrates the grace of God flowing out to all who would drink. It also caused the parched and barren land to blossom which in turn gave the people and animals something to eat. Without this water, without God's grace supplying the needs of the people, the people would have died. Christ is the Rock; He is also the Living Water.
Without God's mercy and grace, without the pardon that God gives us and all the blessings we receive every minute, we would die. Everyday God supplies us with the light of the sun, air to breath, and something to eat and drink. In fact, when you stop to think about it, without the materials that God has provided for us we cannot even create electricity on our own to make light, or create oxygen, or even create food. God supplies all we need, but we must choose to accept His gifts, or to reject them. We have the option of refusing to eat or drink. We have the option of closing ourselves up in an air tight, waterproof and darkened room, but it will kill us. We need God’s mercy and grace just to live.
And God's grace does not stop with just our physical needs either. He has supplied what is needed for our spiritual well-being too. If we will only read and hide it in our hearts, God's Holy Word, the Bible contains all that we need to be happy, gain total freedom and have eternal life. The Bible tells us who God is and what He is like.
In addition to the Bible, the Father allowed His Son, Jesus, to come and show us who He (the Father) is and what He is like. Jesus gave His life so that you and I do not have to die. God's justice, mercy and grace are all wrapped up in Jesus.
God's grace is all around us. He wants us to live forever and be happy, but we have a choice to make. We can accept some of His grace during this “stay of execution” period and live here on earth for a few years, or we can accept ALL His grace and live forever with Him!
The CHOICE is up to you.That's another example of God's grace-His gift of free will that allows us to make our own choices. He is not a dictator.He will not force you to believe in Him. Nor will He force you to accept the gifts He freely gives to us. God bless
Wow. How could you argue against that.
Still presupposing there's a god, right?
Well, don't presuppose it and you can argue against that quite easily!
If there is no god, there is no grace, no justice, no mercy, no choice... much like there's no heaven, no hell, no soul, no ghosts...
But if God exists, he can very clearly be all powerful and all loving despite our current world's state.
(March 5, 2014 at 5:50 am)pocaracas Wrote: Still presupposing there's a god, right?
Well, don't presuppose it and you can argue against that quite easily!
If there is no god, there is no grace, no justice, no mercy, no choice... much like there's no heaven, no hell, no soul, no ghosts...
But if God exists, he can very clearly be all powerful and all loving despite our current world's state.
If god exists, the guy has been quite efficient at clearing his tracks and making it look like it doesn't exist.
(March 5, 2014 at 6:17 am)pocaracas Wrote: If god exists, the guy has been quite efficient at clearing his tracks and making it look like it doesn't exist.
Yeah, so we can have faith in him, if he just appeared it wouldn't be our free will to believe in him.
Bullshit. You actually fall for that crap? Oh, easily deceived one.
(March 5, 2014 at 6:19 am)JesusLover1 Wrote: Yeah, so we can have faith in him, if he just appeared it wouldn't be our free will to believe in him.
As I've said, what's the use in faith? And you're just dead wrong about the second thing: after all, Satan knows that god exists, he's been in the same room as god, and yet he still rejects god. The flat earth society exists despite the fact that we have photos of the roundness of the earth.
Simply put, evidence of a thing in no way interferes with our free will to deny it.
"YOU take the hard look in the mirror. You are everything that is wrong with this world. The only thing important to you, is you." - ronedee
Want to see more of my writing? Check out my (safe for work!) site, Unprotected Sects!
(March 5, 2014 at 6:17 am)pocaracas Wrote: If god exists, the guy has been quite efficient at clearing his tracks and making it look like it doesn't exist.
Yeah, so we can have faith in him, if he just appeared it wouldn't be our free will to believe in him.
That's not how it works...
But it's how you've been led to think about it...
Because there's nothing tangible hinting that it exists, you have to have faith, or else... you become a non-believer.
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