Angela, I find it confusing and odd that you think we are divided up into opposing teams or sides. But it's particularly confusing that you are now aligning with those who hold hyper grace views, whereas in the past you have openly opposed it. I can't imagine that you now embrace this doctrine, but you openly support those who promote it.
If this thread is not divided into opposing sides, I will eat my hat! LOL
No, I do not think I am "hyper-grace" having read a few definitions of what is means. I fully believe that full repentance, confession of sins, and walking after Christ are part of the gospel, and necessary to our journey with Christ. And not just once, but till we meet Christ face to face.
But I do agree when people post about grace. If it was not for the amazing grace of God, I know I would not be saved. And God truly uses everything to bring us to Christ - before I was saved, I used to sing "Amazing Grace" in bars and pubs. I had no idea what it meant, just that everyone seemed to like it.
Those words, many of them directly from the Bible, were part of what ate at my heart, and drove me to find the truth of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus spoke to me, my heart was prepared to receive the truth of his saving grace. (Yes, he did and still continues to speak to me, although I am not charismatic or Pentecostal! - Sorry ember!)
So grace is important. And works do not save us (I believe you have agreed with this in posts, HRFTD) and neither do they maintain our salvation.
So my biggest objection to all these threads which threaten us with losing our salvation if we do not follow Christ, which seems to mean - do good works or flee from sin- are what I am posting about. I don't know how many times I have said this, I feel like a broken record! I was just reading about these in Greek again this morning, and how important the verb tenses are to support the fact that God is the one working in us, but I am not going into the Greek again.
Justification - God has justified us - in the past by his grace (Romans 5:1, Eph. 2:8-9)
Sanctification - The Holy Spirit leads and guides us - he is the one who changes us, and transforms us into the image of Christ (Romans 12:2, 2 Cor. 3:18) Since the goal of our total Christian walk is to be transformed into the image of Christ, and since we cannot possibly do this on our own, it is the Spirit that makes us holy. And if we are in the process of becoming more like Christ, that would automatically mean that we are bearing fruit, developing the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and generally becoming more like Jesus, both on the inside and the outside!)
Glorification - the day we see Christ face to face, and are freed from sin and death. (1 Cor. 13:12, 1 John 3:2, Romans 8:29-30) I can hardly wait for that day!
So my objection is to the lack of understanding of the journey of salvation, and how God intiates, maintains and completes it in our life. Another objection is thinking that if God chooses you, he might have made a mistake, and accidentally picked someone who couldn't persevere to the end. God is sovereign, and whomever he has chosen, will make it to glorification. No ifs, ands or buts!
Finally, if someone that is in a different "camp" or of a different opinion than me posts something that is true, and Biblical, I will "like" it. Because hopefully, if someone is reading the Bible, they will come across some truth, right?
Besides, I would rather read an edifying post any day, over verses which not only are pulled out of context, but are judgemental and condemning. Although there is no doubt God can and will, and often does use the verses of judgement, that is not where God has me at this point in my walk with him.