| | Guest Post: Grace and TruthToday, I am happy to post this article that is the first every guest post here at From the Pulpit. This post was written by Kat(most of ya'll on xanga know her as crosskritters), a friend of mine and a former xanga blogger. Be sure to read and be ready to be blessed!
...the One and only who came from the Father full of grace and truth.--John 1:14b
Grace and truth are what separates Christianity from other religions. They are the foundation of what we believe. They are what we must preach to the world. The world hungers to hear them.
Other religions teach sin. Other religions teach ways to get to heaven. "If you lead a good life...", "If you you give your body to the flame...", "If you achieve enlightenment....", then you shall live in paradise. Yes? No, Christians admit that they cannot live a good life. The only good life is a perfect life. Christians know that there is nothing that they can do or achieve to gain entrance into paradise. What a hopeless message.
But it doesn't stop there. We are hopeless, yes, but God offers us hope. God offers a door to paradise. That door is his son Jesus who took us in our hopelessness and brought us into the presence of of his father. We did not deserve this. We deserved death and not just physical death. We deserved worse than that, but God said "no." He sent his son to take on our punishment and gave us grace. Now the need for punishment is filled. We can now enter paradise.
Grace is a wonderful thing, but without truth, it's just a pretty story. Truth validates what grace has to offer. It is well documented who Jesus was and what he did. He performed miracles. Even the teachers of the law who hated him admitted that. They said that he was of the devil. Does the devil call on the name of the Lord? Does the devil teach you to love your neighbor? No, only a man of God does such things.
So what? There were many prophets. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the light." "I am...the light." One could picture a prophet giving light in a dark world. "I am...the truth." One could say that the prophets held the truth but not that they were the truth per say. "I am the way." Here's the kicker. Christ claimed to be the only way to God. Not just a person showing the way, but the way itself. If Christ was a man of God, he was the man of God, the truth.
The world has lost its devotion to the truth. It has made truth 2nd class to the way people feel because if there's no truth, there's no right or wrong. If there's no right or wrong, there's no need for grace. If there's no need for grace, there's no need for God.
But look at the culture. Are people happy in their life of sin? Sometimes, but it doesn't last. Look at people in the midst of divorce. Look at people whose lives are ruined by drugs or alcohol. Look at boys trying to live without fathers. Look at girls who have given their bodies up for the taking. These are the tragic consequences of sin. But don't stop by just looking at these people. Offer them grace and truth. |
| | Posted 9/28/2006 8:45 PM - 1 view - 2 comments
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But now that that is squared away...