A Grace Relationship
In grace a person doesn't go around making people aware of their negative qualities. It doesn't try to push, prod or manipulate their behavior. Instead, grace relates to the person in love, which is not pushy or controlling. That does not mean that they don't have values or fail to stand for anything. What it means is that the law, right and wrong, is modeled rather than prodded or enforced. It is the qualities of grace that draw a person to the right and allows them to grow in a healthy manner, at their own pace. This is why a relationship with God is so important. Without it there is no healthy change.
You can’t legislate or command real change, that must come from the heart and takes place as one is won to the qualities of goodness by one who practices them comfortably and naturally, without making them the issue. The issue is the nature of the gracious person one is relating to. If you stay connected to that person you will change.
The use of the term obedience confuses many for it wears many hats. It can also distort the nature of the grace relationship if one does not understand some of what is going on with its use. That is why we need to understand the use of the two covenants. In the authoritarian sense obedience is used to constrain bad behavior (I Tim 1:9). It also points to the standard of right and wrong. Grace is not about doing your own thing.
Obedience prepares the way for grace by bringing us insight into our need for grace. You can’t receive grace unless you NEED it. The Bible presents a standard higher than we can comfortably attain. This creates a sense of having fallen short. It is these people, who have discovered that they aren't cutting it, that are prepared for grace.
It takes time to learn how to relate to God along the lines of grace. We are therefore given a guardian to keep us in line as we go through the learning process.
Copyright, Patrick Fagenstrom, 10/2014
In grace a person doesn't go around making people aware of their negative qualities. It doesn't try to push, prod or manipulate their behavior. Instead, grace relates to the person in love, which is not pushy or controlling. That does not mean that they don't have values or fail to stand for anything. What it means is that the law, right and wrong, is modeled rather than prodded or enforced. It is the qualities of grace that draw a person to the right and allows them to grow in a healthy manner, at their own pace. This is why a relationship with God is so important. Without it there is no healthy change.
You can’t legislate or command real change, that must come from the heart and takes place as one is won to the qualities of goodness by one who practices them comfortably and naturally, without making them the issue. The issue is the nature of the gracious person one is relating to. If you stay connected to that person you will change.
The use of the term obedience confuses many for it wears many hats. It can also distort the nature of the grace relationship if one does not understand some of what is going on with its use. That is why we need to understand the use of the two covenants. In the authoritarian sense obedience is used to constrain bad behavior (I Tim 1:9). It also points to the standard of right and wrong. Grace is not about doing your own thing.
Obedience prepares the way for grace by bringing us insight into our need for grace. You can’t receive grace unless you NEED it. The Bible presents a standard higher than we can comfortably attain. This creates a sense of having fallen short. It is these people, who have discovered that they aren't cutting it, that are prepared for grace.
It takes time to learn how to relate to God along the lines of grace. We are therefore given a guardian to keep us in line as we go through the learning process.
Copyright, Patrick Fagenstrom, 10/2014