God's grace

I feel this impending need to re-explain the concept of God's grace.. I was browsing through my previous blog entries and I realised that my earliest blog entries are no longer assessable on this blog... It is thus essential that I re-explain this concept of God's grace which is central to everything else written on this blog... Central to what defines denise thong...

God's grace is the unearned and undeserved favour from God... A result of his love... A result of his sacrifise (of Jesus)...

It is one thing to work hard to lead a sin-free life... then run to your heavenly father for nods of approval and affirmation... Yes, you will still feel loved... but you feel the constant pressure to live up to that sin-free expectation... and when you do sin, you feel so condemned and estranged from the love of God that you become afraid to run to the LORD for help...

But my friend.. this is when the ironic and beautiful part comes in... God's love is nothing like the above... It is not based on merit or ability... It is not about impressing God... It is based only on one thing being you... No matter how horrible you are... or how badly you've behaved... you can never escape from God's love for you... In fact, God's love is really a source of provision, not a source of condemnation... It is when you fail to lead a sin-free life... that you must turn to God for help... And yes, he will answer and will bless you with what you lack... to lead the life he intended for you to live... He will definitely not punish you and critisize you...

As such, the church is not the house of saints... it is a hospital for sinners...