Growing up, I've always been asked, "What have you done for the Lord in return for what He has done for you?" This question has always brought guilt and condemnation in my life. I was always unsure of if I had done enough, if there was something more that I could have done? I always felt short of God's expectations. Have you ever felt like that? Well, don't let anyone take you on a guilt trip anymore.
Author Darin Hufford, in his book, 'The Misunderstood God' puts it so beautifully. He says, "Don't ever feel that you have to repay God for the suffering He went through for you. This was a gift to you! Anytime we attempt to repay someone for a gift they gave us, we are diminishing that gift. An attempt to repay someone for a gift is really a rejection of that gift. You'll never know how much it cost to see your sin upon the cross because God removed the price tag from the gift before He gave it to you. Just receive it and go on. It's free. Boasters always expect repayment, and they make sure everyone knows what their gifts cost them. God is not this way. He never boasts!
4 comments:
"Just receive it and go on." It is my sincere hope that Darin Hufford would do just that, be thankful that he has received some revelation of grace, and move on from there, and not continue with the habit of attacking what has come to be called institutional church. God is love, and God is first of all, Holiness. The whole counsel of the Word of God is more than just grace alone. Do not just attack the church and just baste in grace. It is alright, go ahead, and back-paddle to other aspects of the whole counsel of the Word of God. Do you know what heads of state or kings do concerning gifts? A King gives another King thing the other party do not need, and that is honoring the receiver. I am a Chinese, and we, Chinese often do this, we will bring a fruits basket when we visit. It is not that the host has no money to buy the fruits. My God and King does not need anything or that there is anything that He cannot get Himself, yet I WANT to come to Him with a "fruits" basket. Darin, he will do greater good if he would stop hitting at people's attempt to do good works, instead help people to understand they need not be smitten by guilt, yet teach people that they can attempt small things, and the little that they do or give can be very pleasing unto God or the King when they offer it in love and sincerity of heart. If it is a relationship, you would want to response, and that response cannot be just "I take, and I take, and I take, and that is all." No father teaches his son that way, and neither is the Father God teaching us to be acting that way.
Price tag or no price tag, that is not the point!
AC
Anthony,
I'm not sure if you've read Darin's book. What you are saying is exactly what Darin is advocating..."if you have a relationship you WANT to respond by giving". I think you may be judging a book by it's cover. Works should be a fruit of your relationship with Him. Many are advocating works without a relationship with Him, which is nothing but religion. All it does is produce guilt and condemnation for not doing enough.
God is holiness, like you mentioned. His holiness operates from the mercy seat of grace. Grace is Jesus Christ personified; it is not a doctrine.
PEACE!
I have read a number of his blog entries and listened to a number of his speeches. Nevertheless, if my comment has come forth as judgmental, please forgive me, after all it is Darin's ministry, and I obey the Lord not to judge another concerning his ministry, because I am not his master, but the Lord is, and only He knows what He has assigned, and only He assesses and judges.
I believe such like comments had been said of his blogs or speeches, and in general of such grace only, all-in theology. What I would do is to reflect on the comments, and bring them before the Lord, and see if the Lord has anything to say. If he has done that, well and fine.
I am not against grace, and I believe I understood grace, even before this more recent surge of grace, and nothing but grace movement. While some people may need to hear the grace messages a lot more, but, my understanding is that we do not prescribe "grace", and nothing else, as the cure for all ills, so to speak. That is why there is a need to have engagements to know what are the needs, and what are problems, where are the struggles of the individuals. The rampant use of lingo such as grace is everything or grace is the end, in non-specific scenarios lead many to come off with the notion that one should just baste in grace, and care about nothing else. Worst still, many have began to adopt the attitude that they are perfect, and therefore are concerned only with "being", and every "should" or "ought" they would shoot down in the name of grace, making it, often impossible to exhort people because the moment you use "should" or "ought" you are accused of going down the slippery slope of works. Concepts of sin and sinning got thrown out of the window. Many are now reinterpreting Scripture to tie in the overly skewed grace teachings to the extent of blatantly saying that non-believers were being addressed whenever repentance, confession and asking for forgivenss are found in the Bible. Even the holy, Holy Spirit, is now said to convict people of righteousness only but is barred from convicting people of sin or sin situation of a believer. Even Jesus' own teachings when He was doing His earthly ministry are being set aside on the ridiculous ground of Jesus had given Paul of Tarsus the final gospel, purportedly the only gospel of grace (meaning the rest of the versions of the gospels of the Disciple Apostles of Jesus were not). Do you know that today, you can begin discussion with a believer, and first question he asks you is which gospel are you following, and then volunteers his stand that he follows the gospel of grace of Paul? Even Paul did not teach grace, and nothing but grace. We believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is a gospel of grace. I know I am saying things in broad strokes, so to speak, it is not very helpful, but it is to paint a broad picture of things, so that readers can go and observe themselves.
I know we have good intentions, but I believe we should also address any ill-effects from our actions. Of course, again, ultimately everyone is answerable to the Lord concerning what the Lord has assigned.
God indeed is extending His grace
AC
We have to agree to disagree on this. I had a revelation of grace a few years ago and it has brought such a change in my life, which never happened from my birth to that point in life. I thought I knew grace, and grace was taught as one of the many doctrines in church (I had 'information' about grace, but not revelation). Now I know that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He is grace personified and He is the answer to everything, even the answer to sin in our lives. The revelation of grace, has has consumed me and filled me with a passion for Jesus (it is inexplicable). I can't but stop talking about Jesus. He is real to me now.
Again, I don't think this discussion will lead us anywhere since we apparently are on different frequencies. I don't mean it in a condescending manner, all I mean is that I have a different understanding of grace now, than I used to before.
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