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Saturday, December 23, 2017

Faith and Grace

In everything related to faith, there is no open door to do wrong.  Grace - Unmerited favor, forgiveness of sin through Jesus and relationship with God the Father through Jesus' death-is not a license to sin.  As a redeemed child of God, you are to make every effort to do right, to reflect His nature, power, and presence.

When you do fail (sin), grace gives you ample room to live before God without punishment (although there are natural consequences).  Part of God's grace at the time of your sin is to give you knowledge of right and wrong and the desire, and ultimately the power, to do what is right.

Because God is PERFECT, His acceptance of you outside of Jesus would only be possible if you always did right 100% of the time.  One wrongful "hiccup" (sin) would make you unacceptable.  Yikes!  Aren't you glad God made a way?  (The way is grace.)

The truth is, you and I break God's rules every day.  We frequently do wrong.  From God's perspective, no one is a "good person"  He certainly doesn't weigh our good and bad on a scale and let us connect with Him and go to heaven only if the good outweighs the bad.  That's a big relief;  no one could ever get there otherwise!

The Bible contains many passages about humankind's duties.  The Ten Commandments set the standards: Do no murders, do not steal etc.  Other commandments include the duty to love; see Romans 12:1 & 2 and 9-12, see also 13:8.  The duty to submit to governing authorities (but not as an excuse to reject Christ) is mentioned in Romans 13:1-7.  Homosexuality is condemned int he Old and New testaments (see Romans 1:26-27), as are bestiality and other sins.  Sexual immorality is dealt with in many places in the Bible and mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:8.

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