Sandy
You know I think a lot of Christians know that you’re saved by grace. You’re saved by grace but then what happens is you have to start gaining God’s love as you grow rather than keeping in grace. A lot of Christians feel that way. I think there is more freedom here in the United States than many, many cultures but the freedom in American Christianity you might say, it’s limited. Like Christians say there are so many rules in Judaism but there are so many rules in Christianity and so many Christians will reject you if you have certain things that are different about you than where they’re at. And that’s not God’s love. The grace of God accepts you no matter who you are. And accepts you even after you have accepted Him. I really believe that the Kingdom will come when get it in our brains that He really does love me. Because your brain is the thing that tells you that you have done something wrong or you are not qualified for this or you have been rejected by this. And if you just realize the unconditional love of God, no matter where you’re at. I think that’s going to be the thing that really gets us into a new level.
Dale:
Well Sandy what you said I really love because you threw in the word love. And I would say this, it is very hard to separate the word love from grace. You might even say that grace is evidence of love. Grace is working in your heart. That’s how you face everybody. You can’t be offended, do not take into account a wrong suffered. That’s evidence of grace. Grace is the proof of His nature living and growing in you.
Sandy:
Grace is the proof that you are believing deeper and deeper that you’re really loved by God and by others. It is a knowledge, you’re really accepting the love of God. When you really realize that no matter what you do, you’re not rejected.
Dale:
What’s alive and living in you, the love of God. Grace is proof that there is His nature in you. And it is living and growing in you because we grow in grace. God in His wisdom will not put us into a place that we can’t handle. He will put us into a place that causes us to grow. Now you can say, God put Job in a place where he could grow. He came out the other side and look what he got, a double portion of everything. What are we going to get as we grow in grace, or we grow in love? Grace flowing through us. As I have been looking at this thing of grace, I am so impressed how love and grace are so interwoven. And actually, grace is dependent on love. And love is dependent on grace. They are so intertwined. And here comes in another thing, joy. There is joy in grace. If you’re extending grace to somebody and it is not making you or not giving you joy or at least making you happy. You’re not extending grace. I will not judge you, I’m not your judge. I’m the agency of grace for you. I am the agency of love for you in spite of what you do. I won’t take into account a wrong suffered.
Sandy:
I was reading a book on grace just this afternoon. I was reading a part of it. He was talking about the joy that a new Christian has because they have just been accepted into a love that they have never experienced before. But then you look at an older Christian and for some reason you don’t see that joy quite as much. He is saying that it’s because all of a sudden you have to act like a Christian. And you have to be careful of your swear words and suddenly there are rules. That’s where I was coming from is yes, I agree love and grace cannot be separated but it is a thing of love means you’re not judging. And grace means you’re not judging too. I keep thinking were all the scum in the bottom of the tidepool or something. That’s who we really are without the Lord, is we’re just scum. So it doesn’t matter what you look like, but the idea of grace is you accept that, and you accept the joy in the Lord because you are no longer scum because you have Him in you. And you actually feel love for the first time then you can have all the grace in the world for anybody because you know your loved, you know they’re loved and it doesn’t matter what we look like.
Ron:
Sounds to me like you have to come to the place either at your initial salvation or somewhere in your walk or maybe both. And maybe many times to know that your nothing. That like you said, for better word scum you have no good thing in you. Unless you have a revelation of the depravity of the human nature that everyone has, then you don’t have the appreciation of the grace. I think that’s where human arrogance comes in, self-reliance comes in, all those things because you’re not recognizing God’s blessing resting on your life and you’re saying this is me. I did this with my own abilities, I live my life with my own abilities, I succeeded in my own abilities and you’re not recognizing well that scripture says, He pours out His blessing on the what? On the just and unjust. They cannot believe that God can love them. Because they look at themselves and they really don’t love themselves.
I just met a man like that a couple days ago. He was very boisterous and just right out there, but I could feel when I was with him that God loved the guy just the way he was. You have to believe that God’s grace and His love is a greater power of transformation than laws and rules.
Sandy:
It’s back to relationships if you can not feel the love of God and you know that He loves you no matter what. Then all of a sudden you want the relationship and you want Him to love you back. It’s just like when a young man finds a girl that he wants her affection. He will do anything for her. And that is the only way that you can get somebody to really function as a Christian in a real live sense is if there is a relationship there and they want to do the will of the Lord because they found His love.
