The True Value of FREE Grace

okay here is a biggie ... we were discussing the definition of Grace (and as with everything one must be extremely careful to define actual terms when dealing with Mormons, as in their zeal to deceive themselves and others they have become adept at the art of Twistianity). So what is "grace" as defined in the "Gospel"? (there is also much confusion as to what is the "gospel", but that is for another day)...


Originally Posted by (mormon) "Zemah"

You have thus reduced the Gospel to “saved by grace through faith”, since, if something “is not necessary to obtain salvation, it is not part of the Gospel”.

So really the Bible is a great excess of words since the only thing you need for salvation is faith in His grace. You should really start your own church and profess this simple truth.

After all didn’t Jesus forgive everyone when he walked the roads of the holy land? Didn’t he cure all the leapers, didn’t he heal all the sick, and recue all the impoverished, and bestow peace to all the inhabitants? Why should those that actually came to him be rewarded and not those that believed but moved not?

What about those that stood by the shores of the Jordan watching John baptize? If they professed that they believed in the Messiah or the grace of God but repented not and refused to enter the waters, shouldn’t they also receive a remission of sin?

Sorry folks it does not work that way. Faith requires action. Faith requires obedience. Faith is a journey not a statement. Faith in Christ starts with a water baptism unto repentance for the remission of sin. No cutting corners off of the Gospel.

You say faith is a gift from God; well I say the LORD has given me a larger portion because my faith did not stop with the first spoon full. My faith did not stop with faith in His grace. It marched onto repentance, and baptism, and the receipt of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands; it grew in the acceptance of the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods; it was magnified in the Temple by doing ordinance work for the dead who are prisoners of Satan no more. The faith He gave me lead me to Israel to receive a patriarchal blessing that in death I have a family to return to in Jerusalem.

And my faith marches on in a promised Fatherhood in Christ; it lives forever in the creation of spirit children that will be my own; it never stops for all time and eternity because there is no end to love in God.-Zemah

Ah, now we are getting down to brass tacks. The Gospel of FREE GRACE is not enough for those like Zemah. And Zemah admits that he thinks we believe and THEN repent - which is BACKWARDS.

He seems to assume that the Free Grace position thinks it "easy" for proud, unregenerate, spiritually blind, absolutely depraved, self-righteous man to trust an unseen, crucified, and resurrected Jesus alone for eternal life!

In reality, the Christian believer in FREE GRACE acknowledges that trusting in Jesus Christ alone is hard.

For pompous man to admit his sinfulness and cast all his confidence upon the work done in his behalf by an unseen Substitute is a task of the greatest magnitude. Indeed, it is an impossible task without the humbling, convicting work of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, "easy believism" is a label tossed at us by mormons that cannot be accurately attached to Free Grace. FREE GRACE does NOT equal "easy" grace.

Paul makes it clear that God gave the Law for one purpose: to convict (bring the sinner to the realization that he IS a sinner) - wherefore we are convinced of our bankruptcy and inability to save ourselves through the keeping of the Law. We repent, but it will never be enough. We repent again, still it will never be enough. We repent through eternity - it will never pay the price. We finally realize: THE LAW DOES NOT SAVE. The Law does not save. The LAW CONVICTS, convinces, confirms reality OF OUR ABJECT POVERTY. We see this, we know it, we acknowledge it, and are lost. Who will pay the price? Who will Redeem us? What will save us?

It is only when we are reduced to the bare facts of our poverty and inability before the Lord, when the saving grace of Christ's atonement is seen to be of value, is this not true?


TRUTH: that is the heart, beginning of real repentance- KNOWING we can never be righteous or redeem ourselves and admitting our poverty, our bankruptcy before God.

Unregenerate stiff-necked pharisees will never get to that point, because they are too busy trying to work the law to their salvation. They will not therefore bend the knee to admit their bankruptcy before the Lord, repent, and acknowledge He alone is worthy to be praised, He alone saves, He alone works salvation, He alone gives freely. We can only receive. We can ONLY receive. The only righteousness belongs to Jesus, He ALONE imputes this righteousness to us, to those who belong to Him. We deserve nothing. We earn nothing. We are bankrupt before Him.

No, Zemah does not understand THE PRICE of free grace. We must deposit our pride at the foot of the cross, move to the point of abject hopelessness, admit our total unworthiness, and submit. THAT IS HARD. That involves losing all pride. That involves admission of a complete lack of righteousness: we have NO redeeming value.

Grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone can save.

We were discussing.... Cheap Grace

"Great post, (imtheonlycathy). I can't stand when people have the notion that because Grace is FREE it is either "cheap" or "easy".

Most of these same people can understand the concept of a marriage between a husband and wife. They understand that when they strip everything away, what it comes down to is each spouse pledging their love and commitment to the other. That's it. Neither one has to pay the other, neither one has to earn it or meet certain criteria or "rules" for it. All that matters is that they at some point pledge their love to each other and make that commitment.

Does a husband have to buy his wife anniversary or birthday gifts? Does a wife have to cook and clean? Does a husband have to have a job and support them both? Does a wife have to have a job and support them both? Does a husband have to spend time with his wife? Does a wife have to take care of the bills and finances of the household? Does the wife have to make herself attractive for her husband?

Does either spouse HAVE to do anything beyond remain committed?

Technically, NO. People can stay married and not buy each other gifts, and not spend much time together, and not try to look good for each other, and not support each other financially, and there are many, many other thins that they don't HAVE to do. All they HAVE to do is honor their commitment and love each other. That's it.

However, if they are NOT spending time with each other, buying each other gifts, supporting each other financially (or emotionally or in any other way), taking care of each other, etc. then what kind of marriage is it really? What is the value of their commitment and love for each other? If they do none of those things, does that mean they are not truly committed to each other?

Nobody knows. They know in their own hearts, but even there they can fool themselves. For all anyone knows, the husband that never buys his wife a gift or spends a lot of time with her really DOES love her. It's unlikely, and it's unusual that someone who loves another would not show it through his actions, but it's possible.

The point is that the ACTIONS of a spouse don't make the love happen; the actions are a RESULT of the love that was given FREELY. Does that mean love between spouses is "cheap" or "easy"??? No, it is a lot of work that both parties put in. But it's not a work that HAS to be done for love to be earned, it's a work that is done out of love and as a RESULT of love.

So many of these mormons know this and live this in their relationships with their spouses, and even their relationships with others. (Even a business relationship, you have to make a move to trust the other person just to do business with him or her, and that trust is a freely given commitment, and all the work done in the business relationship thereafter is resultant from that initial mutual trust.) They live their lives by this.

But when it comes to our Lord Jesus Christ, they reject the notion that He could be as graceful as humans even can be to each other, and that He is going to make us earn what He gives us. When their spouses give them gifts, they accept it and don't try to "earn" it or "pay" for it, as they know how that would be an insult. They each accept the gift to honor the grace the spouse has shown.

But when Jesus Christ gives His own LIFE as a GIFT to us, they choose to slap Him in the face and insult Him and call Him a liar, and insist that it's not a gift and must be earned, and that if they are wrong and it IS a truly Free gift, then it must be cheap and not worth anything.

Can you imagine this scene:
Mormon Husband: Hi Honey, I have a little anniversary gift for you here...
Mormon Wife: Oh wow, what is it? (opens box) DIAMOND EARRINGS!!! WOW, thank you honey!!!
MH: Yes, I got them at the new Salt Lake City Creek LDS Shopping Mall!
MW: Well they are BEAUTIFUL!
MH: I'm glad you like them, honey!!
MW: Well, let me start by making you some filet mignon for dinner, and what I'll do is detail your SUV for you this week, and then I'll go out and buy you a nice gift to help make up for this.
MH: What do you mean?
MW: lol, honey, I'm not stupid, you know... I realize that a gift like this doesn't come without having to be earned somehow.
MH: No, dear, it's a GIFT! I got it for you JUST because I love you!
MW: Oh sweety, that's such a nice thing to say, but come on, don't take me for a simpleton! I'll make sure I look these up online and see what they cost so I get you appropriate gifts and do enough work to offset the cost for you.
MH: But, sugarplum, if you do that, that defeats the purpose... These earrings are a GIFT to you. FREE. You don't have to do ANYTHING.
MW: Look, you're being silly. How can you say such an elaborate gift is FREE??
MH: Well, it IS! And to be honest, I think it's a little offensive that you can't accept a gift from me, your own husband!
MW: Oh yeah? Well first of all, I'm no fool, I know that earrings like this don't come FREE to anyone. Of course the only exception is if they're cheap, crappy knock-offs like the ones they sell down on Canal Street out of the back of a truck. The cubic zirconias...
MH: No, those are NOT cubic zirconias!!!
MW: Oh really? I suppose you're just giving away REAL diamonds for FREE? Come on, don't be so stupid to think anyone would believe THAT. Obviously these were cheap and you came by them very easily. They're garbage.
MH: Fine, you don't want it, don't accept it.
MW: Fine, take your crappy cubic zirconias back. I'm going to go out and detail cars for a few months and buy my own REAL diamond earrings at the Salt Lake City Creek LDS Mall.
MH: Yeah go ahead. Should be interesting considering you don't know how to detail a car correctly.
MW: Well I was just going to get you to help me...
MH: Dream on!!! Give me back those earrings now


That's how stupid mormonism is."

POSTED by my dear Armenian Orthodox friend "JerseyJohnny" at CARM.

We were discussing.... The Bride of Christ

We were discussing.... The Bride of Christ

Jesus of course is the husband
His Bride is ... us.

Jesus enters the house, his beautiful gift in hand. All is dark, dank, and smells of death.

He finds her lying on the floor as He always knew He would, broken at last by sin and conquered by death. Unhearing, unseeing, dead. Even knowing what he would find does not ease the pain of seeing her so - He weeps, as his tears fall upon her unlovely face He cries:

O how I have longed to gather you in my arms, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!

He places the perfect sparkling diamonds in her ears, washes her with his tears, covers her with his pure white righteousness, and yet she sleeps... for a little while longer. There is more to be done, and His spirit groans within.

He faces the Enemy who slayed her, the smiling evil face that has been waiting for him in the darkest corner, waiting patiently for what it thinks is this, its most triumphant moment. The voice of evil rasps: there is still a price to be paid...

Take me, He says.

Three days later, she arises to His touch on her hand, clothed in His righteousness, cleansed by His blood and tears, she kneels and weeps at His feet crying 'My Lord and My God, you have saved me, saved me'. Gone are the shackles that bound her to sin and death. His righteousness covers her like a beautiful gown; His cross falls over her heart, her face; his Truth shines from Her eyes and overflows from her lips...

There is no thought of repayment in her mind, only of His sacrifice, and the Gift, and the Love He pours over her night and day. There is no thought in her mind but of Him, and no desire in her but for His face, and to serve Him only.



... and that's how beautiful the Gospel is.

disclaimer-
(my desperate apologies because I know that all analogies fail somehow but it sprang into my dark little mind like a beacon so I had to share it with you)