Thoughts on Grace, Part 1: Knowing God

Grace is something Christians love to talk about, and indeed, we should, as it is the basis of our entire belief system. But what is grace? How does it work?

From what I gather, Good Catholics like to blur the lines when it comes to grace. I say "Good Catholics" because the difference between secular Catholics who care nothing for the Bible and Jesus but still call themselves Catholic, and those who are real, genuine Christians, is like night and day. NONETHELESS-- Good Catholics aren't even entirely sure. One thing they all seem to agree on is that Grace is dispensed from God to humans in the form of Sacraments-- 7 ceremonies/rites that the presence of God filters through to humans, if you will.

Now what exactly is filtering through? The narrowest I can get down on this topic and still have everyone agree with me is . . . "something good" . . . ?

From my roots, I can also offer you a fundamentalist/pentecostal view of grace. WE ARE ALL HEADED TO HELL. OUR TIME HERE ON EARTH IS FILLED WITH SINFUL BEHAVIOR. The only thing that keeps this from happening is Jesus. How do we get Jesus? Well, that seems to be largely up to Grace. At this initial state, I guess we can look at Grace as something that inclines our hearts toward God.

There has to be something that does this, right? I mean, if I didn't believe that 'Grace'-- whatever that is-- inclined my heart toward God before I knew him, then the only reason that I'm a strong Christian today is this: I'm particularly awesome, and indeed naturally more capable of piety than people I've known who've rejected God outright.

Sounds fairly arrogant, but really it's true: unless I believe that Grace had a hand in my conversion, then I either have to believe that:

a) I'm more exceptional than my fellow man, due to my innate ability to respond to God, or
b) God chose me above others. They won't know him because he did not choose them.

The problem with posit 'a' is that it's fairly arrogant, and leads us as Christians into pride. The problem with posit 'b' is that, let's be frank here, it isn't fair. Why did God choose me but not my friend Matt? That's not something a loving God would do. If he really loved all of us, he would call all of us.

Counterpoints:

Posit 'a' surely must have some truth in it-- after all, I did choose God when others didn't, and most Christians would agree that we as humans surely have some degree of free will. On the other hand, posit 'b' must have some truth in it too, if you consider cases such as that of the Apostle Paul's. He, an absolute opponent of Christianity, was BLINDED BY JESUS, who then AUDIBLY SPOKE to him! Surely, there aren't many people who have had that experience. So God obviously called Paul more specially than he did for, let's say, some similar Pharisee named Eleazar, who hated Christians just as much.

Between
Posit A: I wholly chose God
and
Posit B: God chose me . . .

there has to be some sort of middle ground, right? (Something I hope to make apparent as I write this blog is this: I believe that, to every idea a Christian may have, there is a middle ground, and more often than not, Christians stay out of that middle ground because being extreme and having extreme beliefs allows us to be in control, not God. Being extreme is easy. Submitting to a moderate faith, over which God is moderator, is hard.)

That middle ground is Grace.

Grace, in this initial stage, before conversion, inclines our hearts toward God, and his purposes. I DO believe that we're all hopeless sinners by nature, and that only the grace of God opens our hearts. For some people, the grace of God enabled them to hear his voice, and they responded by making the choice to become believers. For others, the grace of God enabled them to hear his voice, and they responded by making the choice (conscientiously or not) to remain apart from him. Both received God's grace, but both dealt with it differently. I believe this. But what about posit 'b,' and the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus?

I submit to you this:
To some, whom God has great evangelistic and soul-winning plans to use, his grace is more abundant. I was never blinded by Jesus, and I never heard him call me audibly. I can only assume from this that God had bigger plans for Paul than he does for me, and indeed, he did-- I don't exactly feel the anointing to author scripture any time soon. There may well have been others throughout History who had a Paul-like experience, and still did not choose God. After all, it's still our choice, right?

So you see, all are called by God's grace, but not all respond. This is our choice. And yet, some are more called than others.

Moderate, right?



These are my thoughts on grace. I am a small man in this world. Take from them what you will.

An Introduction

I was born into a Christian family. I gave my life to Christ when I was five, was baptized in the spirit when I was eight, and have been living wholly for God since fifteen. I'm a fundamentalist, pentecostal, soon-to-be-Catholic Christian. My life is not my own, but the Lord's.

What I say here comes from a young man with no theological certifications or degrees. Like Paul of Tarsus, I have not received these revelations from man, nor were they taught to me. Unlike Paul, however, I am not of such a spiritual stature as to author holy scripture. Take it all with a grain of salt, for only you can truly decided what you believe and why.

These are my thoughts on God, faith, and the spirit.