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#Post#: 1514--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace be there for us
DIR By: Kerry
Date: April 26, 2015, 4:10 pm
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I think grace considers the future. What will produce the best
outcome? It considers the past but is not enslaved by it.
If you had a child who wanted a car so he could have a job, you
might agree to so-sign a loan so he can get one. He doesn't
deserve it, but you do it believing he wants to have a better
future. Then he goes and buys booze with his first paycheck and
wrecks the car but doesn't get caught by the police. He can't
work so you're stuck paying the loan. What do you do? Do you
take the car and sell it? That would be "fair" in a way; but it
could make things worse. You as the parent would have to try to
decide if he had learned a lesson from the experience. You
could be discouraging him from wanting a job and trying to make
his own way in the world.
If he says he learned his lesson and is concerned about not
being able to earn money, not being able to pay off the loan,
etc., if he realizes he's caused you trouble and expresses
regret, mercy tells you to take a chance. If he did really
learn something from it, he won't make the same mistake again.
What he did wrong will have made him a stronger person in the
future, so why get hung up over the past? You may fix the car
so he can still go to work but then insist he be home at a
certain time. You may have conditions.
Judges often are not as severe with convicted criminals, but
they also often impose conditions. Putting someone on parole is
meant to encourage him not to get into more trouble or the judge
can send him to jail for the first offense.
Take scholarships. Students aren't earning them. No one owes
them a scholarship; but people give scholarships to students for
a variety of reasons, all of which are meant to create a better
future. A good student is apt to use that scholarship well.
If he couldn't afford the education on his own, that
scholarship is really doing something. While he's not earning
it, there are still conditions.
We get things for free quite often but they aren't
unconditional.
Do we understand the grace of God? If we do, surely we would
extend the same grace to others. If we understand why God
wants to forgive us, we want to forgive others. God's grace
is there to make the world a better place in the future. Mercy
and grace look forward to what can be. Harsh judgment is
looking at the past only and being a slave to it.
The grace of God is not Him looking at us as filthy scum who
will always remain filthy scum. God sees what we can become in
the future; and His grace is meant to encourage a better future.
Okay, okay, so we've all messed up in the past. Get over it.
If God's willing to get over it, why shouldn't we? We should
stop messing up again when we know better. That is what God
wants. If we don't repent and want to keep messing up, we
won't get over it; and I don't think God is over it yet either.
Along comes Satan to condemn and accuse, whispering how
unworthy we are -- and he might be right too! The easy
solution is to stop doing the things that make us feel that
way. If we fall down, get up. If we keep falling down, keep
getting up.
#Post#: 1517--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace be there for us
DIR By: Kerry
Date: April 26, 2015, 5:45 pm
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1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the
elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed
with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to
the humble.
#Post#: 1521--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace be there for us
DIR By: Colin Feener
Date: April 26, 2015, 8:36 pm
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I need to say that I am happy to see how you all received this
tread and Kerry, must say n for this time I liked just about
everything you had to say and Helen too, you made my day with
the start and all you had to say. Thank you all and i believe we
all agree on just how blessed we are because of grace and thank
Jesus we have it.
#Post#: 1529--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace be there for us
DIR By: Poppy
Date: April 27, 2015, 4:56 am
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--- Quote from: Kerry link ---
>
> Do you think people can be saved if they do not repent of
their sins?
>
--- End Quote ---
I believe God has it in his heart to forgive everybody who has
sinned, that is why he sent Jesus. But we can’t receive the
benefits of that forgiveness until we recognise we need it and
ask. Once we ask we then receive his saving grace.
#Post#: 1539--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace be there for us
DIR By: Kerry
Date: April 27, 2015, 7:12 am
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--- Quote from: Colin Feener link ---
>
> I need to say that I am happy to see how you all received this
tread and Kerry, must say n for this time I liked just about
everything you had to say and Helen too, you made my day with
the start and all you had to say. Thank you all and i believe we
all agree on just how blessed we are because of grace and thank
Jesus we have it.
>
--- End Quote ---
And thanks to you too for starting this thread.
--- Quote from: Poppy link ---
>
> I believe God has it in his heart to forgive everybody who has
sinned, that is why he sent Jesus. But we can’t receive the
benefits of that forgiveness until we recognise we need it and
ask. Once we ask we then receive his saving grace.
>
--- End Quote ---
Do we agree then that we are not forgiven unless we repent?
I'm not sure about how some people look at this. Some people
seem to think we can ask for forgiveness without repenting. I
don't think that works.
#Post#: 1548--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace be there for us
DIR By: Helen
Date: April 27, 2015, 10:13 am
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If the covenant was cut between us and God it would be
so...thankfully 'the better covenant' was cut between God and
His Son, ...on our behalf.
That is how I see, read, understand and believe it to be.
#Post#: 1555--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace be there for us
DIR By: Kerry
Date: April 27, 2015, 1:46 pm
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--- Quote from: Helen link ---
>
> If the covenant was cut between us and God it would be
so...thankfully 'the better covenant' was cut between God and
His Son, ...on our behalf.
>
> That is how I see, read, understand and believe it to be.
>
>
--- End Quote ---
Let me start another thread on this since now we are leaving the
topic of grace.
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