Comments on Grace Roots: Love and Grace, the foundation and essence of Life...

Great post and conversation!! I agree Joel, I too ...

2009-11-16T07:44:42.995-06:00

Great post and conversation!! I agree Joel, I too no longer think that we need to use the law to lead individuals to Christ - like the Alpha course does. I think we were all born with an innate need to be loved - so sharing the love of God through what Jesus has done indeed should be enough!

Yep, Jul, I agree... I think most people get that ...

2009-11-15T13:58:16.911-06:00

Yep, Jul, I agree... I think most people get that they are sinners, and they will never need the law as a means of bringing them to Christ. A few religious/self-righteous people, who don't quite get it, may indeed understand their need for Christ as their deeds are held up to the standard of the law.

I've thought through this during the past few years, and I basically don't believe the law was ever intended to 'convict' individual people of their sins. Yep, it does show what sin is ("by the law is the knowledge of sin"), but it's not by realizing our guilt that we come to Jesus. It's by realizing, whether we 'get' the extent of our sin or not, the good news that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men's sins against them. Essentially, the law's purpose was to convict "the world" of sin - that is, to make everyone in the whole world guilty, again, whether or not they realized their guilt, and whether or not they were actually Jews who were under the law. The law made everyone guilty, since everyone falls short of it. And so I don't really see the law as being useful in actually leading individuals to Christ. As I said, it's only been in the last few years that I've worked through this thought process. Well, not I'M rambling... LOL :)

Daveda, indeed, when the true gospel really grips us (Jesus Plus Nothing), we find that we can never go back to a law- or rules-based lifestyle!

Great post, Joel. I agree completely! I have found...

2009-11-15T09:33:32.574-06:00

Great post, Joel. I agree completely! I have found that once you realize how much freedom there is in the Gospel of Grace, the Gospel of Peace...the true Gospel, Jesus and His love, power and grace at work in our lives and hearts, plus...nothing, you never want to go back to being under the law!!

Lydia and I were just chatting about God's wrath, ...

2009-11-15T07:10:07.684-06:00

Lydia and I were just chatting about God's wrath, judgement, hell etc... along these same lines. While some would rather believe that hell and judgement will not come to anyone ever because of Jesus, I don't believe you can support this with Scripture. There is a DAY of judgement coming for those who refuse to believe in Jesus...HOWEVER, that day is not today! And people will never be saved out of fear (heard Joseph Prince make a good point the other day, that whoever we fear we will eventually hate).

Romans 1:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

It is hearing the good news that will cause people to believe and be saved! People don't need to hear about hell and God's wrath, they need to hear about how wonderful Jesus and his love for them is! We are in a time of grace, of reconciliation, of God's mercy toward the world. And it is his powerful love that will win the hearts of sinners, not fear of his judgement.

I think you could make a case for saying that preaching law is sometimes useful when you are dealing with a self-righteous religious person who thinks that they will be able to please God by their 'good' (dead) works. In order to show them they are not able to meet God's perfect standards and they need Jesus. But generally, most people instictively know they are not perfect and the gospel comes naturally to them as very very good news!

Just babbling on here, very thought provoking post...

{smiles} :D

2009-11-13T11:34:32.217-06:00

{smiles} :D

WHOOP!!!!!! Ahahahahahaha, THAT is the Good News, ...

2009-11-12T15:58:28.306-06:00

WHOOP!!!!!! Ahahahahahaha, THAT is the Good News, you're right! Dang, Breeze, these posts just keep gettin' better & better... :D

Thanks for this, Joel! I loved it!

2009-11-12T15:28:49.996-06:00

Thanks for this, Joel! I loved it!