Leviticus 12:8 KJV
And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
The Lord gave the command of the sacrifice for the birthday of a child. But then the Lord made a provision for those who could not afford that sacrifice. Even in the Old Testament God made a way for grace.
I can see someone figuring out the loophole and, though they could afford the full sacrifice, they gave the lesser so they could keep the greater for themselves. But God could see that far better than I can and He still chose a way of grace. There are always those who abuse grace but grace is still the rule of God. Old Testament or New, age of the law or this church age, the rule of God is grace.
• Of course there will be those who abuse it and
• Of course they that do so are outside of the blessing of God
But to practice precise faith for any motive other than love for God is contrary to the whole purpose of His plan for the ages.
Those churches who impose strict standards on their congratulations think they are doing God service but in reality they are breaking the very heart behind God's plan. If He had wanted people to obey Him and follow and worship Him out of coercion,
• He could have kept the serpent from the Garden
• He could have killed Adam and Eve and started over
• He could have stayed the Jews in the wilderness and begun again with Moses
God could have forced all men to bow and worship Him. He has elected instead to offer grace.
I am sure that the multitudes who take advantage of God's grace will come to a time when they regret it. Either they will find that they were never saved in the first place and the fact that they did not have the heart to obey the Lord out of sheer love for Him betrayed that truth. Or else they will stand before God saved, yet so as by fire and will suffer both loss and shame.
The proper Christian practice is grace. The right Christian attitude is always grace. There will be huge disappointments when exercising grace because people will fail. But giving them the choice between right and wrong is the only real way for them to know where their true spiritual heart lies. A church might be able to force or coerce them to behave as a Christian, but that in no way proves they are Christians.
And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
The Lord gave the command of the sacrifice for the birthday of a child. But then the Lord made a provision for those who could not afford that sacrifice. Even in the Old Testament God made a way for grace.
I can see someone figuring out the loophole and, though they could afford the full sacrifice, they gave the lesser so they could keep the greater for themselves. But God could see that far better than I can and He still chose a way of grace. There are always those who abuse grace but grace is still the rule of God. Old Testament or New, age of the law or this church age, the rule of God is grace.
• Of course there will be those who abuse it and
• Of course they that do so are outside of the blessing of God
But to practice precise faith for any motive other than love for God is contrary to the whole purpose of His plan for the ages.
Those churches who impose strict standards on their congratulations think they are doing God service but in reality they are breaking the very heart behind God's plan. If He had wanted people to obey Him and follow and worship Him out of coercion,
• He could have kept the serpent from the Garden
• He could have killed Adam and Eve and started over
• He could have stayed the Jews in the wilderness and begun again with Moses
God could have forced all men to bow and worship Him. He has elected instead to offer grace.
I am sure that the multitudes who take advantage of God's grace will come to a time when they regret it. Either they will find that they were never saved in the first place and the fact that they did not have the heart to obey the Lord out of sheer love for Him betrayed that truth. Or else they will stand before God saved, yet so as by fire and will suffer both loss and shame.
The proper Christian practice is grace. The right Christian attitude is always grace. There will be huge disappointments when exercising grace because people will fail. But giving them the choice between right and wrong is the only real way for them to know where their true spiritual heart lies. A church might be able to force or coerce them to behave as a Christian, but that in no way proves they are Christians.
No comments:
Post a Comment