God's Love and Grace

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Josho

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Love and Grace, the Godly kind.

I think it's time we do a proper in-depth Bible study on Biblical examples on love and grace, the Godly kind of love and grace, we could even explore the words "love" and "grace" in the Bible, even feel free to share personal testimomoes of how God has shown His love to you. This thread could go on for months or even years, it's a very big topic, God's love and grace certainly is very very great.

Let's start of with the greatest act of love and grace. We all should know this one.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The greatest act of love and grace, he ever did was send His Son "Christ Jesus" to earth, that He may be the ultimate sacrifice to sin for those that choose to believe in him, giving us a bridge to eternal life, His forgiveness is so great, that even the worse of sinners can be forgiven if they turn to Jesus. It doesn't matter if you went to prison, it doesn't matter how badly you have stuffed up, you can still turn to Jesus, ask for God's forgiveness, then you are forgiven, it's not complicated, it's that simple. He paid for our sins on the cross, and cleansed us of our sins with His precious blood, He raised up on the third day. That we too may be raised up Jesus's Resurrection Power is powerful! And for any non-Christian reading this, your sins can be forgiven too if you turn to Jesus Christ and believe, as I said it doesn't matter how badly you stuffed up, once you turn to Jesus Christ and Believe you are forgiven.

This how powerful God's love for us is. Throughout the Bible we will find love and grace.

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Here's another great example of God's love and grace for human beings, if he can turn Saul's life around, he can turn anybody's life around.

Acts 9:1-22

Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

We can even find the word "Grace" in the book Revelation, as a matter of fact it's found in the very first chapter, here's a challenge for you all, next time you read Revelation, can you read Revelation from a grace point of view? Hehehe.

When we read the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation never forget what Jesus did for you on the cross, we should never forget Jesus's love and grace for us.

In Revelation we see John's greeting to the 7 churches starts of with "Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come,"

In fact I will quote Revelations 1:3-6 why am I starting of at Verse 3? I want to highlight these verses to you. And Revelations 1:3 contains a blessing. Yippee! :D

Alright I hear you all, fine then I will start at Rev 1:1-1:8 so I am not accused of taking it out of context. And highlight 3-6 in some pretty -easy to read- colour.

Revelation 1:1-1:8

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.


John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.


Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Can you see the Love and Grace of God in these peoples?

:D

Alright that will do for me for now, as I have already spent quite a bit time putting this together.
 
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Heart2Soul

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It is beyond our comprehension that God would choose a persecutor of Christian's to be a chosen vessel to preach to the Jews, Gentiles and kings. Can you imagine the hurdles he had to face because of his reputation? But it wasn't by his own power but the Holy Spirit in him that gave his words and testimony power!
And everytime I look at myself as unworthy to be His chosen vessel I am reminded of Paul and how His Mercy and Grace was sufficient.
Good Post!
 

amadeus

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And then with regard to Love:

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." I John 4:8-12


"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." I Cor 13:4-7
 

CharismaticLady

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I remember being such a weak-willed "Christian" for 30 years before I actually became born again of the Spirit and was granted to be on the path to salvation.

I like these scriptures of what God granted to me.

1 John 3:1-3
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

2 Peter 1:2-4
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
 

Josho

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Here's another great example of God's grace.

Luke 23:39-43
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
 

Grailhunter

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Ya a deep study. Well worth the effort. You all are digging for gold and it is there. They could have left us. Why is it that the Trinity love us so much? The last remnant of good on earth was there in the middle east. Satan had them bottled up, he had the nations of the world. He thought he was winning. Then a voice, a glimmer of hope. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and the angel said, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

The study of the Love of God is the study of the Spirit of Christ. And Grace, oh my! Another deep study. The heart of Christianity is all wrapped up in that. The understanding of all scriptures are based on the understanding of the Love of God and the power of Amazing Grace. Should be interesting.
 
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farouk

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Here's another great example of God's grace.

Luke 23:39-43
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Indeed; saving grace at the sinner's extremity even as the Lord Jesus passed through unimaginable moral and spiritual sufferings - far more than physical ones, already immense in themselves.
 
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Josho

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It's also worth mentioning the very last verse in the Bible.

Revelation 22:21
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

It's wonderful how the Bible finishes of with God's grace.
 
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Eternally Grateful

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John 15: 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

But is Gods love just for his close friends?

John 3: 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Gods love produces the possibility of Salvation for all.
 
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Eternally Grateful

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I wonder if many realize there are differing greek words for Love also.

And that when God speaks of his love for his children, he speaks of Agape love which is a sacrificial love, The kind of Love how wants us to share with others. And as we saw in my last post. The kind of Love he showed himself when through Love he paid the price for all mankind..
 
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Josho

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I wonder if many realize there are differing greek words for Love also.

And that when God speaks of his love for his children, he speaks of Agape love which is a sacrificial love, The kind of Love how wants us to share with others. And as we saw in my last post. The kind of Love he showed himself when through Love he paid the price for all mankind..

Found this one from "Strong's Greek Lexicon" on eliyah.com

26. agape ag-ah'-pay from 25; love, i.e. affection or benevolence; specially (plural) a love-feast:--(feast of) charity(-ably), dear, love
 
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FollowHim

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7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
9 Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God."
Rev 19:7-9

8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered
9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Heb 5:8-10

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
1 Peter 1:22

10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Eph 2:10

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10

Such grace, to forgive, cleanse and purify us to be His royal priesthood, a holy nation walking in His wonderful light.
 
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Eternally Grateful

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Found this one from "Strong's Greek Lexicon" on eliyah.com

26. agape ag-ah'-pay from 25; love, i.e. affection or benevolence; specially (plural) a love-feast:--(feast of) charity(-ably), dear, love

I think when we think of love in the sense of the english word we think of Phileo or brotherly love.

or using just the word, In our culture we love those who we can benefit from, IE If you can help me, I will love you.. When you stop feeding me, I will take my love elsewhere where someone else will love me Its why friendship are so fragile today as well as marriages and parent child relationships. And sadly, I think want to translate this kind of Love to God. The sacrificial love God shared and live out all through the OT and through Christ is like unknown these days
 
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Josho

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@Eternally Grateful

Also a few differing words for grace too, here's one of them, of course grateful popped up in the search too haha

1653.
eleeo el-eh-eh'-o from 1656; to compassionate (by word or deed, specially, by divine grace):--have compassion (pity on), have (obtain, receive, shew) mercy (on).
 
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Eternally Grateful

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@Eternally Grateful

Also a few differing words for grace too, here's one of them, of course grateful popped up in the search too haha

1653.
eleeo el-eh-eh'-o from 1656; to compassionate (by word or deed, specially, by divine grace):--have compassion (pity on), have (obtain, receive, shew) mercy (on).
Its interesting how our word Charity comes from another Greek word from whence we get the word Grace (Charis) And how to many, Charity is a bad word.

its like you try to help people. and in pride they refuse and get angry, because it is a huge barrier to admit we are broken and need help because we are unable to help ourselves

I think this is why many reject grace in scripture. or attempt to change its meaning, Because of the same issue, It takes humility to admit one is hopeless and unable to help themselves. so they have to do as the tax collector did. Because he became "poor in spirit" not even able to look up. and begged for Gods mercy.
 
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Josho

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Its interesting how our word Charity comes from another Greek word from whence we get the word Grace (Charis) And how to many, Charity is a bad word.

its like you try to help people. and in pride they refuse and get angry, because it is a huge barrier to admit we are broken and need help because we are unable to help ourselves

I think this is why many reject grace in scripture. or attempt to change its meaning, Because of the same issue, It takes humility to admit one is hopeless and unable to help themselves. so they have to do as the tax collector did. Because he became "poor in spirit" not even able to look up. and begged for Gods mercy.

Just out of interest this is what the Cambridge dictionary has to say about Charity.

charity
noun

1- a system of giving money, food, or help free to those who are in need because they are ill, poor, or have no home, or any organization that has the purpose of providing money or helping in this way:
She does a lot of work for charity.
People tend to give to (= give moneyto) charity at Christmas time.
Proceeds from the sale of thesecards will go to (= be given to) localcharities.
UNICEF is an international charity.
They did a charity performance on the first night, to raise money for AIDS research.

2 - the quality of being kind to people and not judging them in a severe way
 
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Eternally Grateful

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Just out of interest this is what the Cambridge dictionary has to say about Charity.

charity
noun

1- a system of giving money, food, or help free to those who are in need because they are ill, poor, or have no home, or any organization that has the purpose of providing money or helping in this way:
She does a lot of work for charity.
People tend to give to (= give moneyto) charity at Christmas time.
Proceeds from the sale of thesecards will go to (= be given to) localcharities.
UNICEF is an international charity.
They did a charity performance on the first night, to raise money for AIDS research.

2 - the quality of being kind to people and not judging them in a severe way
Sounds like grace

That is what God has done for us, He has given to us, who were homeless and without hope. and offered us a new home, which can never be tore down.
 
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FollowHim

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16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:16

19 We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:8

We are called to follow Jesus's example. So we are to love sinners before they start loving us, to accept the pain and rejection and still carry on loving. And it is this love, the love of Christ that will shine as a light to all, because as God first loved us so that we might know what love is, so should we love others so that they might know what love is.

20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
1 Peter 2:20
 
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Eternally Grateful

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Blessed are the poor in spirit

2 greek words for Poor in the NT

1. Penes - A person who holds a lowely job, like a person who does manual labor. Low in social class.
2. Ptochoi - without property, wretched, needy, helpless, powerless. A person who gets on their knees head down to beg. In our day literally bankrupt. devoid of any wealth.

When most people think of the word poor. I think they think of the lower class people who can still take care of themselves. they just have to work alot harder. And do not see the second definition, of a person who is literally bankrupt, totally hopeless, Wretched, person as where Jesus said we need to be if we are to enter the kingdom of Heaven

IE, The tax collector. the example Jesus gave, as the one who fell on his knees unable to look up. Jesus said he was justified.

True repentance should lead to true total humility, which should be us realizing how hopeless we are. Which brings is to true saving FAITH based on the GRACE God is offering us.

If we have not come to this point. But just think we are poor (penes) have we truly repented?
 

FollowHim

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Blessed are the poor in spirit

2 greek words for Poor in the NT

1. Penes - A person who holds a lowely job, like a person who does manual labor. Low in social class.
2. Ptochoi - without property, wretched, needy, helpless, powerless. A person who gets on their knees head down to beg. In our day literally bankrupt. devoid of any wealth.

When most people think of the word poor. I think they think of the lower class people who can still take care of themselves. they just have to work alot harder. And do not see the second definition, of a person who is literally bankrupt, totally hopeless, Wretched, person as where Jesus said we need to be if we are to enter the kingdom of Heaven

IE, The tax collector. the example Jesus gave, as the one who fell on his knees unable to look up. Jesus said he was justified.

True repentance should lead to true total humility, which should be us realizing how hopeless we are. Which brings is to true saving FAITH based on the GRACE God is offering us.

If we have not come to this point. But just think we are poor (penes) have we truly repented?

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Matt 5:3

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--
23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Col 1:22-23

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Eph 2:11-16

It is interesting, before we knew Christ we were without hope, while in Christ we have the hope in the gospel.

Some seem to think of themselves even in Jesus as hopeless. But that has to be unbelief and a lack of transformation, for in Jesus we live, breath and walk the eternal hope. God bless you
 
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