Church thoughts to chew on for January 17th, 2010: Understanding God’s Grace and Love

Posted By Hup | January 17, 2010

thoughtstochewon It’s been a while since we’ve posting some of our church thoughts and we’re happy to get started on getting them out to all of you on a weekly basis. It’s no excuse, really, but the holidays threw us off a bit, but we promise that you’ll be seeing them on every week from here on out. Of course, you still need to keep us in check so we don’t slack off and as always, please be sure to leave any comments/questions that you have in the comment section below.

This week is all about God’s grace and love.To kick off this post, here is a great passage from Romans (Romans 3:22-26) that talks about how we all have sinned and there is nothing that we could ever do to earn God’s forgiveness, but through faith in Jesus Christ and His grace we can all freely accept His gift of love and forgiveness.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

To fully understand God’s grace and love we all need to first have an accurate picture of who God actually is:

- God is King: God is our Lord, our Savior and our King and all things that we do for/against others we do for Him.

- God is Judge: Motives, not just actions are judged by God. He is a very justified judge and we will all be judged by Him.

James 2:10 - for the person who keeps all laws except one is just as guilty as one who breaks them all.

Proverbs 17:15 - acquitting the guilty and condeming the innocent — both are detestable to the lord.

- God is Compassionate Father: God wants to forgive, not condemn.

Now that we have an accurate picture of God, we can now look at how He justifies His grace and love for us:

- By Grace Alone (Romans 5:16-17) — You can not pay off your sins, they can only be forgiven through God’s grace (that was paid through Jesus, His son, on the cross)

- Through Faith Alone (Romans 5:1) — You can not earn God’s forgiveness. The good works that we all do (things that we think God will love us for) don’t earn us grace, they should only be the result of our overabundance of faith. Jesus paid the penalty of our sin so that we can experience this grace.

- Because of Jesus Christ Alone (Galations 2:15-16) — None of us are justified by only observing the law, but by Faith in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s all about your faith.

To quickly summarize, here are some things that we took from this week’s message:

You can’t earn God’s grace and love by ‘doing stuff’ that you think He would want you to do
God not only judges you by your actions, but also by your motives. There will be no secrets withheld from Him during your judgment.
Eternal life in heaven is not reserved for good people, but people who have faith and believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God, and that He took our sin upon Himself on the cross.

Thanks for listening and please leave comments if you feel like chatting!

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If you’ve read through this and you’re questioning how exactly you accept God’s free gift of grace and forgiveness and are ready to make that commitment, then please read on! There is no “magic prayer” or exact wording that you need to pray. It’s as simple as admitting to God that you are a sinner, and there is nothing that you will ever be able to do to merit forgiveness. Believe that Christ, God’s son, came to earth to die on the cross and take our sin upon Himself. Believe that He rose again on the 3rd day, and is alive today. Dedicate your life to God and invite His spirit into your life.

If you have dedicated your life to Christ after reading this, then please don’t stay silent. Contact us or someone that you feel comfortable with and tell them! It’s a long road ahead but it’s a wonderful one, filled with hope, love, and new beginnings.

Filed Under you gotta have faith