Skip to main content

The Problem With Grace

I'm sure you're all looking at the title of this blog post and wondering how "grace" could be a problem. You're right to wonder. The fact of the matter is that grace in its truest form is not the problem. It's what we do with grace that is the problem.

There is a mentality amongst those of us in Christendom (myself included) that the God that we serve is so wonderful and loving and patient that He will forgive us our trespasses and sins whenever we call on Him. While this is true, the onus is still on us to live according to the Scriptures in this present world.

Paul says it all in Romans chapter 6. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.

And John talks about God's love in 1 John 1 begins 1 John 2 by saying that all that he had written was so that we would NOT sin...but if we sin we have an advocate with the Father which is Jesus Christ.

The sad part is that sin can be fun; it can feel good. It can be so enticing that we almost feel powerless to combat it. So we stop trying and then rely on God's grace to save us. That is not what grace is for.



Look at Ruth. She was a Moabitess. There is nothing about her history or ancestry that would lead any of us to believe that she would have acted the way she did towards Naomi and her God. Moab, the country of Ruth's birth, descended from the incestuous union of Lot and his oldest daughter. Furthermore, in Deut. 23:4, Moabites were excluded from the congregation of the children of Israel out to the 10th generation. In other words, if your only connexion to Moab was your great great great great great great great great grandparent, you were still excluded. Despite all of this, God's gift of grace allowed Ruth to be numbered among the children of Israel and even allowed her to be one of only 5 women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ (see Mattherw 1).

But the important thing to note is what Ruth did with the grace that she was given. She vowed a very touching vow and lived out the rest of her days keeping her oath. She did not abuse the grace that she was shown.

So then...shall we continue in sin that grace should abound? God forbid.
Labels:

Comments

  1. JourneyAugust 25, 2012 at 9:48 PM

    I love the story of Ruth. One perfect story of love, loyalty, faith, patience and obedience.. And yes she was one of those women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Josie JamesSeptember 3, 2012 at 10:58 PM

      i love ruth's story as well. how awesome is God!

      Delete
  2. HisWarriorAugust 26, 2012 at 1:55 AM

    Well stated Sis.
    Peace to you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 15, 2012 at 10:30 PM

    Your writings are beautiful. I have a facebook ministry...two pages, and you posted this on one of them. I didn't see any writings on your fb page. How can I repost your writings to my pages? Pages are "Walk in The Light" and "Thirsting for My God" Thanks---Blessings. Betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Josie JamesSeptember 15, 2012 at 10:40 PM

      hi betty...thank you for your kind words. i give all glory and honour to God. as for reposting, you should be able to copy the link and post it on your page(s). feel free to do that for any of the posts you find here. blessing to you as well!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ride or Die

I love this phrase. There are quite a few subtle variations on the meaning, but it is an urban colloquialism that means loyalty, no matter what. I thank God that I have been blessed with a few people that have that kind of loyalty to me and I to them. It's a rich blessing that have true friends. They are with me and in my corner no matter what (or "regardless of what" as one of them would say). This week we had Vacation Bible School at my church and I was privileged to be a teacher. The first lesson was taken from Daniel chapter three. The very well known story of the three Hebrew boys: Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego. It is a wonderful story of faith, but something jumped out at me so profoundly that it almost knocked me over. We always focus on the deliverance. But the Hebrew boys did not. Their focus was on God and Him alone. They were ride or die for the Lord. Literally. If you read the story, they never once pray for deliverance. They talk about God's a
2 comments
Read more

Rocks, Gravel, Sand and Water

Let me first start by saying that I cannot take credit for the following example, as I did not originate it. In fact, I was listening to Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah and I was so touched by what he shared that I thought I would share it with all of you. Let's say I have a large, empty 5-gallon jar. If I place fist sized rocks into the jar until no more can fit, is it full? Before you answer, let me say that after I place the rocks in the jar, I pick up a bag of gravel and begin to pour that into the jar. Where does the gravel go? In between the spaces left by the rocks. After I fill the jar to the brim with gravel, is it full? Before you answer, consider this: I pour a bag of sand into the jar. Where does the sand go? Into the spaces left by the gravel, of course. After filling the jar to the brim with sand, is it full? Before you answer, consider this: I pour a pitcher of water into the same jar. Where does the water go? Into the spaces between the grains of sa
2 comments
Read more

Missed Opportunities

*So....I'm going to be asking for a little audience participation on this one. Please, please oblige me (just this once...lol). Have you ever been in a situation with no clue of what to do? In the moment your mind is reeling and you're desperately trying to figure out how to act or what to say. Of course, later on when you're far removed from the stress of the situation, a million things pop into your head as to what you should have said or what you should have done?  Well, that happened to me yesterday, except I am still unclear as to what I should have said or done. I just kept thinking, " Come on, Josie! Think! What would Jesus do? " But to my chagrin, I came up woefully and hopelessly blank. Here's the scenario:  I am currently doing contract, project-driven work. It's not steady, but for the time being it is my Brook Cherith (see 1 Kings 17:2-6), so I'm not complaining (out loud). I started a new project last week and found out t
6 comments
Read more