Remember the riddle which one came first the chicken or the egg? Let's put this to a rest once and for all, it was the chicken. God created all the animals and then the animals pro-created. Riddle solved. Stop losing sleep over it.
Due to a series of unfortunate (and fortunate) events that we will refer to as my life I've come to the place where any given situation has begged the question; which came first Truth or Grace?
I think some in the Christian community have a misguided notion that truth means you're being a Pharisee and grace equals permissiveness. We have diluted Scripture! If that statement is too strong for you, just think about it. How many times do you hear in the Church that "I don't believe in "insert sin here" (homosexuality, abortion, sex before marriage) but I'm not going to judge." If that isn't bad enough we also fail to confront sin inside the walls of the church by saying we must give "grace." An example is, "Sally/John is "insert sin here" but they're one of us and therefore we have to offer grace." We've lost our salt people! God is going to spit our lukewarm attitude, salt-less testimony, and self-righteousness right out of His mouth!
A couple years ago, we did the study, "The Truth Project" and we learned why Jesus came and no it wasn't to save you, that was the end result of the why He came. Jesus stated plainly that He had come to the world "to testify to the truth" (John 18:37) He came to testify to the truth because He is the TRUTH. Grace is what He had to give us because we don't measure up. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 states, "God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the spirit and the belief in truth (Jesus)."
I used to get accused of being "too harsh" and not offering grace, I needed to speak "truth in love." I agree that there is merit in that. This has been an area that God has and is continually growing me in. With that said, Truth was here first. (John 1:1) and woe to those of us who compromise the truth at the expense of grace.
Christians want to ooze grace and spread it like peanut butter forgetting (and/or ignoring) that truth matters; that is why He died! As a result of His sacrifice we are able to receive grace. We are guilty of being "wishy-washy" when it comes to confronting sin. We want to cover it with grace (as if it was our gift to give). God already did that, we simply need to speak truth. God's grace has covered all of our sin. We need to stop being afraid of speaking out against sin. The 1st century church didn't have an issue with that. Why do you think they were being stoned, hung and crucified? They were boldly and unapologetically speaking truth and with it they preached the message of grace; but truth was always at the forefront.
We are sinners, we are doomed to fail but for God's grace. When we accept His gift we know that we are covered in His grace. In our daily walk we must face the truth about our sin nature and any particular sin that we happen to be caught up in on any given day. Likewise, we must not be afraid to confront sin and deal with it, no matter how uncomfortable that may be.
Grace without Truth is an insult to the One who sacrificed it all.
Due to a series of unfortunate (and fortunate) events that we will refer to as my life I've come to the place where any given situation has begged the question; which came first Truth or Grace?
I think some in the Christian community have a misguided notion that truth means you're being a Pharisee and grace equals permissiveness. We have diluted Scripture! If that statement is too strong for you, just think about it. How many times do you hear in the Church that "I don't believe in "insert sin here" (homosexuality, abortion, sex before marriage) but I'm not going to judge." If that isn't bad enough we also fail to confront sin inside the walls of the church by saying we must give "grace." An example is, "Sally/John is "insert sin here" but they're one of us and therefore we have to offer grace." We've lost our salt people! God is going to spit our lukewarm attitude, salt-less testimony, and self-righteousness right out of His mouth!
A couple years ago, we did the study, "The Truth Project" and we learned why Jesus came and no it wasn't to save you, that was the end result of the why He came. Jesus stated plainly that He had come to the world "to testify to the truth" (John 18:37) He came to testify to the truth because He is the TRUTH. Grace is what He had to give us because we don't measure up. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 states, "God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the spirit and the belief in truth (Jesus)."
I used to get accused of being "too harsh" and not offering grace, I needed to speak "truth in love." I agree that there is merit in that. This has been an area that God has and is continually growing me in. With that said, Truth was here first. (John 1:1) and woe to those of us who compromise the truth at the expense of grace.
Christians want to ooze grace and spread it like peanut butter forgetting (and/or ignoring) that truth matters; that is why He died! As a result of His sacrifice we are able to receive grace. We are guilty of being "wishy-washy" when it comes to confronting sin. We want to cover it with grace (as if it was our gift to give). God already did that, we simply need to speak truth. God's grace has covered all of our sin. We need to stop being afraid of speaking out against sin. The 1st century church didn't have an issue with that. Why do you think they were being stoned, hung and crucified? They were boldly and unapologetically speaking truth and with it they preached the message of grace; but truth was always at the forefront.
We are sinners, we are doomed to fail but for God's grace. When we accept His gift we know that we are covered in His grace. In our daily walk we must face the truth about our sin nature and any particular sin that we happen to be caught up in on any given day. Likewise, we must not be afraid to confront sin and deal with it, no matter how uncomfortable that may be.
Grace without Truth is an insult to the One who sacrificed it all.
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