If you missed part one, go HERE.
So, what’s the second thing God has showed me about His special grace?
God’s word makes it clear that His amazing Grace does not set into motion a game of “give and take.”
With human nature it is commonplace to want to “repay” a kind gesture, special invite, or gift of any kind. By doing so the idea is that we have somehow stepped up to the plate and balanced the scales. You know, earned it somehow.
But God’s grace cannot be repaid. And those who constantly attempt to do so whether with right living…
- Better church attendance
- Putting more money in the offering basket
- Working at some sort of volunteer organization
Etc. etc. etc…only show that they do not understand the grace of God at all. In fact, they’ve devalued it by trying to pull it down to the cheaper level sometimes even exhibited in a secular, godless society.
The very definition of biblical grace is, “unmerited favor.” Look at that first word, “unmerited.” Isn’t that saying that God’s amazing grace cannot be bought?
- Or earned
- Or justified
- Or rationalized
- Or warranted
- Or deserved
- Or…
attained with any human effort at all. Grace is simply freely given to those who believe.
Period.
Now, before someone writes a comment pointing out the supposed contradictions between this post and the previous one, let me preempt.
In part one I made the argument that one of the ways you can tell someone has truly been the recipient of God’s amazing grace is that they return grace to others. And now I can almost hear the masses yelling, “But that’s the same thing as repayment and you just said that’s wrong!”
No, I didn’t.
What I said is that ‘repayment as a way of earning said grace is wrong.’ However, returning grace to others out of a heart of gratitude is evidence that someone has actually been in contact with the real thing!
Don’t think too hard about it. Just remember this basic rule of thumb…
much of what we learn about true Christianity in God’s Word is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
And I’ll leave you with that until next time. 🙂