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Sunday, May 6, 2012

CONTRACT vs GRACE

Religion is all about contract. The Holy Trinity is all about grace.

Biblical Christianity is not one of the great religions. It is utterly unique. One way to see this truth is to reflect on the difference between contract and grace.

We live in a contractual world. Study hard, earn A's, take out the trash, get your allowance. Be nice to me and I will be nice to you. Contract always has an If - Then clause. If the tree trimmers I contract with, do their job, then I will pay them.

Contract religion (which is redundant) is about you. It's about you saying your prayers, taking a pilgrimage to Mecca, paying your tithes, witnessing, or whatever. If you do those things, then God will like you.

Trinitarian grace is the very opposite. You can't do anything to earn God's favor. It's already yours. It's not if you repent, then you get forgiven - you already are.

"He chose you before he created the world to be holy and blameless. In love he predestined you to be adopted as his very own son or daughter."
 Ephesians 1:4-5

Your status was decided by the God of grace before you could do anything. No If - Then contract was ever imagined by God. Because of our guilty feelings, we imagined it. This is where religion comes from. We have invented ways to assuage our guilt and balance the books.

But, 
"Love keeps no record of wrong." 
I Corinthians 13:5 
There are no books to balance.

By nature God can keep no good thing to himself. All he knows how to do is give freely. The true If - Then clause goes like this.  

If we believe the good news that Jesus has included us inside his own fellowship with the Father and Spirit, then we can live free. 

And only then will we see what we are made of and made for.

Only then are we free to respond to God's love with our own love.

Only then will our obedience and devotion to him be what he is waiting for.