One of the major ideals I've noticed taken on by Christians lately, is this idea of
" saved by grace." It isn't so much that this is a false statement, because it's not, we are indeed saved by God's grace, however, a lot of people have totally misinterpreted what this really means, and it has become a justification for Christians leading non - Christian lives, as well as excusing themselves from following any of God's commandments regulated by the New Covenant, because they wholesomely believe there are no commandments to follow, because they are automatically guaranteed salvation by God's grace.
Do you even know what God's grace was?
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Romans 6: 23
" For the wages of sin is death..."
Everyone on earth, has been placed here due to grievous sins / original sins as it is known. The wages of these original sins is death; thus those who do not come to be forgiven of these sins, face the wages which is the destruction of their souls - the 2nd death as the bible calls it.
According to this regulation God has in place, all men on the earth were to have died for the original sins committed. God cannot lie, nor can he betray his own commandment. This means that God cannot simply have just forgiven sins and brought the children back to heaven, or else it would have violated his own regulations about sin and death, which were established from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and God told them they would die for it.
Having chosen sin, the rule is death.
Earth is a death sentence.
This is why the bible says that if one does not repent for sins and gain forgiveness, they die.
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It was not until Jesus Christ came, that the forgiveness of sins could be had through his body and blood -
Ephesians 1:7
" In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins..."
This was the regulation of the New Covenant, and the only way those born under it ( our modern generation,) could receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life:
John 6:53
" Jesus said to them, " I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life..."
Pretty straight forward yes?
Ephesians 1: 7
"...in accordance with the riches of God's grace."
God's grace was the gift of
the reality of gaining the forgiveness of sins; as in making that even a choice for us to choose.
It in turn, was not that Jesus died on the cross and suddenly all sins of everyone who says they believe were wiped clean, and it is a " get in free pass," to heaven. There is work to be done to even have this gift of grace bestowed on one.
Just looking at what " grace " is - it's a free gift someone gave out of the kindness of their heart;
God did not have to do this. Think about it;
God stepped off his glorious heavenly throne, made himself lower than the angels, was beaten, bloodied, spat on, mocked - by the very people he came down to save, and then was nailed to a cross.
Who in the heck would go through all that? Especially the King of the universe? What are we to him but disobedient sinners deserving of death?
This was God's grace.
His free gift was conquering death so that we may have life, which he 100% didn't have to do.
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As far as grace being bestowed on one - Jesus Christ left a Covenant - the New Covenant.
A covenant is a sacred promise between God and his people; a promise however,
is not a one way deal. When you promise someone, its on terms. Whether it's, " I promise to pay you back IF you loan me this money." or " I promise to love and cherish you forever IF we are to be married."
There are terms.
The New Covenant has a law; except this law will be written on the hearts of God's people.
Any Christian whom says there is no law under the new covenant, that it was abolished, or there are no regulations to follow - clearly does not have the law written in their hearts.
For the New Covenant to not have any law,
is to violate the workings of faith and order God established from the very beginning for his people.
Recognizing this law is also what
ultimately separates God's people from everyone else; because only they will come to harbor it in their hearts.
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Lets look at the world around us; no one even really knows what the commandments of the New Covenant is - even blowing off the biggest commandment that grants eternal life - the breaking of bread and sharing of wine -
the Passover.
As God gave the commandments to Moses in the OT, God also gave the commandments as Jesus in the NT.
Jesus's own words:
John 14:15
" If you love me, you will obey what I command."
John 14: 21
" Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me."
The New Covenant was a regulation to God's people;
if you believe in the New Covenant promise, then you must also believe in Jesus Christ; and if Jesus Christ says that one who loves God truly is to follow his commands...then why do some believe there are not commands to be followed?
I've seen people on here ridiculed for expressing that there are indeed commands to be followed, by people responding with a " so long as you believe Jesus Christ is you savior..."
If you believe Jesus Christ is your savior,
you'll do what your savior told you to do.
Keep his commands and honor his covenant.
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Father is a very loving spirit, but Father is also
just and almighty. If his word is law, and you ignore aspects such as these of his word, then you will receive according to Father's justice. This is why the bible talks about
the Christians who honor God with their lips but not with their hearts; because they fail to keep God's commandments which lead to idolatry, sin, and following the traditions of man, and not those of God.
You can see this quite obviously in the world these days - for a lot of " Christian" traditions, are not Christian at all, and were in fact, put in place by Popes and church authorities. Mere men.
Some Christians for some reason believe they are just guranteed heaven, yet when put on the spot, they can't give you a straight answer about God's commands;
how can one know they are justified before God, if they don't even know where they really stand with God?
Cherry picking their bible verses to suit their daily lives, yet ignoring anything and everything in the bible that will hold them accountable.
I guess.
But God's word is law, and if you're breaking it, by his law you will be punished.
This is why I stress about what is truly God's law for us, and what is but the laws given by false prophets?
Because those who follow that of false prophets, will be condemned along with the false prophets.
(There is a passage in the bible in which men are instructed to kill all those who didn't have a mark placed on them; this was in reference to those who fail to receive the mark of God which is given by honoring the New Covenant; even the men who believed in God were killed because they did not keep his regulations.)
If you truly don't know the answer of your faith, the truth to your grace - I would start praying because our very souls are at stake.
The devil is quite the deceptive spirit, and this is why the bible constantly tells believers to push for understanding of God, for this is what will reveal falsehood...