What is Grace?

“Grace is that which “covers” me in blatant compromise, i.e. Sin, Right? I’m “Saved” and the Lord loves me and forgives me. So what if I mess up a *little*. Grace, Grace right?”- The tragically mislead majority of Christians

Grace has been wrongly interpreted and applied by the “Christian” church since the 1st century, listen to Paul (Rom 6). Let us first look at basic definitions of Grace and Mercy.

Mercy = IS God extending His forgiveness. Mercy is when we don’t receive that which we do deserve, I.E., God’s Wrath.

Grace = IS God extending us His Strength, Joy, Peace, Love, Etc…  Grace is when we do receive that which we don’t deserve, I.E., God’s Love.

So, with these basic definitions we can begin to extrapolate a “true” meaning of Grace.

Mercy takes and Grace gives. Mercy takes away our sin. Grace gives us strength to stay out of sin, not stay in sin.

“Grace is content to find us where we are but not content to leave us as we are” – N.T. Wright

Many popular pastors teach that we can live in blatant compromise and walk in God’s Favor at the same time. We are told we have been forgiven, and if He has forgiven us once He’ll do it again, 70 x 7 a day. This is a completely misinterpretation of scripture.

One fact that is always overlooked or forgotten when it comes to forgiveness and mercy is that they are unavailable to those who have not repented and shown fruits of repentance. Really being born again into a life of relational rightness (Righteousness) with God.

You must repent to be forgiven!!! We have example of people who did not repent and were not forgiven, Esau, Saul, Cain… To get God’s mercy we must repent!!! We must declare war on sin and all of it’s devices and means.

FACT SHEET

FACT #1 God loves Unbelievers. God loves the unbelieving world, period. (Jn. 3:16).

FACT #2 God is more Patient than we can imagine. God has tender patience with those who do not repent. They are not to confuse this with His approval or favor in their life. God gives rain and sunshine to both the righteous and wicked. Why? Because He is Love and love gives. Jesus even gave Jezebel time to repent (Rev. 2:21, Rom 2:4).

FACT #3 God WILL NOT Forgive the Unrepentant. Jesus refuses to forgive those who ask for it if they refuse to repent (Matt 7:22-23).

FACT #4 God delights in the immature but willing believer. We can have the assurance that God enjoys us even in our weakness but only after we sincerely repent. Our repentance, obedience and love for God can be sincere while it is still weak and fragile. Grace gives us confidence that we can have a new beginning with God after we repent. Know that God disciplines His immature children that He enjoys (Heb. 12:5-12, Pro. 3:12).

FACT #5 God DOES NOT enjoy the rebellious. God cannot delight in those whose hearts are in opposition to him. (Heb. 3:7-9)

FACT #6 God is Angry at rebellion. God is always angry about sin and the rebellious. (Ps. 7:11, Ezk. 33:11, Heb. 3:7-11)

You might say, “Nathan, your from IHOP, the Bridal Paradigm place. They talk about how much God loves us like a Bride. Mike even say’s when we sin to just ‘Press Delete.’” To this I say, Pushing Delete is our knowing what we have done wrong and turning from this sin and cutting off all means (People, Places or Things) to sin again.

What is Grace?

“Grace is God’s divine strength in our inner man to resist sin. I show my Love to God by resisting sin with this given grace. I do not belittle sin, but take it as a serious hinderance and deadly enemy to my ability to be loved and love in return.” - The Mature Christian

P.s. I don’t mind stepping on toes. XOXO

*By the way a little usually means a lot. Even so, a little is a lot in the eyes of God. A little bite is what got us into this mess. The bite was not the problem itself, it was that the bite was a small yet blatant defiance and disobedience to God and His command.

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