Title: The Blessing of Living in Grace
Galatians (22) The blessing of living in grace (Galatians 4:21-23)
< Law and Legalism >
The most beautiful and empowering virtues in the world are grace and love. But without justice and truth, grace and love are in vain. Therefore, you should not try to accept everything or accept everything while claiming ‘grace and love’. We must tolerate weakness and mistakes as much as possible, but resolutely reject evil, deceit, and Satanism. Jesus protected the woman caught in adultery with grace, but the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Sadducees powerfully defeated them.
As we go through life, we realize that we also need the law. In general, when we think of the law, we think of bondage, but in fact, the law exists to give us freedom. Traffic lights on the road are a kind of law. Blessed is the person who feels freedom when he sees a traffic light saying, “That brings order and safety!” rather than feeling constrained by saying, “I can’t cross the road at will!” because of that.
The law exists to give broad freedom to the majority. Therefore, you must be able to feel freedom within the law. Usually, a bad person feels the law as a bondage and hates the law. It's like a thief who sees a bright full moon and rolls his eyes that he's disrupting my business. As such, the original intent of the law is to give freedom. God gave the law for true freedom, not for bondage.
The Bible says, “You shall not commit adultery!” The commandment is a bondage to the person who tramples on others' chastity, but to the person who wants to keep the chastity, it becomes a fence that protects him. How grateful are you? As such, the law originally came out of the spirit of love. Do not view the law as evil. He lacks self, and the law is not evil. However, legalism that criticizes and condemns others with that law should be avoided as much as possible.
< The blessing of living in grace >
Legalists know that if they change churches, they will be severely punished. What is important is how you move it, and moving itself does not punish you. If moving itself is a punishment, 95% of the current church members will be punished. A legalist commits his devotion reluctantly to avoid being punished. Then, when I encounter something a little bit, I think about what I have done wrong in the past, and I associate that difficulty with a certain sin in the past. Have we done only the mistakes we think we are before God in our lives? It's nonsense.
Legalists seem to serve God well, but they are not. Conversely, people who live by grace may become spoiled, but this is not the case. People who know grace and live in the first place are usually good at giving thanks. Therefore, those who live by grace will eventually serve God well with thanksgiving, and their hearts will overflow with peace, joy, and joy. But the legalists have no thanks, no peace, no joy.
There is a parable like this. One day, while a robin and a sparrow were talking in a city, the robin asked. “Sparrow! Look at those humans over there. Why do humans wander around with so much anxiety and worry?' Then the sparrow answered. “Perhaps it’s because humans don’t have a God who cares for us.” This parable teaches us that even sparrows live in the grace of God. As such, everything in the world is maintained under the grace of God. The eyes that can see unhappiness as happiness are those of those who have received God's grace.
No one is perfect in the world. Psychology professors say they're good at marital quarrels. As all people are weak, everyone needs God's grace. When we sometimes fall in our lives, God does not ask, “Why did you fall?” Rather, He comforts and covers you. That is the grace of God. God's grace may have a bad outer cover, but it is full of precious gems of blessing.