Month: August 2018
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When Grace Doesn’t Work: The Unpardonable Sin
Don: The idea that we are saved by undeserved grace is made easier to accept and act upon when “through faith” is added, as it was in Ephesians 8. The judgment is also about the actuation of grace: This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness…
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Grace and Faith
Don: In the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke there are about 31 parables of Jesus. (Altogether, there are over 50, many of them overlap, leaving about 31 that are unique.) Of these, 20 (fully two thirds) deal with the topic of grace and justice. Many of the other stories Jesus told also deal…
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The Paradox of Grace and Judgment
Don: The concept of mercy is recognized by all religions, but the concept of grace—that one does not get what one deserves from judgment, that there is something for nothing—is uniquely Christian, yet even to a majority of Christians it is unbelievable, polls suggest. In His teaching and His parables, Jesus explained and emphasized it…
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The Quantification of Grace
Don: If there were no grace, judgment would seem relatively simple: The good would go to heaven, and the bad would go to hell. But it then begs the question: How good, how bad? In fact, with grace, judgment is easier because there is no need to measure how good or bad. As taught by…