Grace Is Not A Movement...

A friend of mine posted an article today entitled "The 3 Most Dangerous 'Grace Movements" In The Church Today & How To Spot Them." While I have no intention of sharing all of these thoughts, I found the article quite revealing. At some point or the other I have been a part of these movements due to my lack of understanding. I pray these thoughts will stir your heart to rest in God's unconditional love.

This article was written by Phil Drysdale and can be found on his website.

False Grace Movement #1: Elevates Works Over Faith

This movement’s ignorance of what grace is causes them to spend all their time trying to become more holy. They believe that God will relate to them based on their good works.

They pay lip service to the fact that God has forgiven all sin – but really they don’t believe it because they live constantly in fear of sinning.

False Grace Movement #2: Talks About Jesus’ 2nd Coming More Than Jesus’ 1st

This movement’s ignorance of what grace has given them causes them to fixate on the 2nd coming of Christ to an extremely unhealthy degree.

By doing so, they effectively communicate that they are not happy with the job Jesus did the first time round and would like Him to come back and do what they really want this time.

False Grace Movement #3: Focuses On Our Attempts To Be Intimate With God

This group sounds really good, right? I mean, this is the very foundation of Christianity – it’s why Jesus died for us! So we could be made one with Him.

But this movement’s ignorance of grace causes them to focus on intimacy as something to be attained rather than something we already have which can be enjoyed today.

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What is my point in sharing all of this? The point is that if we add anything to the grace of God then it is no longer grace. Grace is the operating power of God at work in your life. It was given to you as a gift. You didn't earn it. You don't do anything to get it. It's yours. You simply receive it - establish your heart in it - and watch God do amazing things in and through your life. Grace is the foundation of your faith. It is the key to your intimacy with God. It is a powerful force in the earth.

Grace is the rest that is promised in the Bible. It allows God to demonstrate Himself through your life. It reminds you that everything was settled through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. It's the life you were meant to live all along. One of the wonderful things about the indwelling Holy Spirit is that He will always lead you to grace, deal with you through grace, and comfort you through grace.

How wonderful the love of God is for us!!! He places us in Christ and provides everything we need for life and godliness. The moment we get this understanding is the moment that we will stop trying to please God through our works, seek an escape through the rapture, or beg to become more intimate with God. Instead we will rejoice that He has made us holy, righteous, & blameless. We will look forward to what God is going to do today - in our lives. And we will discover that God wants intimacy with us more than we understand. He's in us to make this all possible.

I pray that you will be refreshed in your experience of His grace.
I hope that you will learn how to rest in His unconditional love.
I trust that you will be encouraged to establish your heart in His grace once and for all.

Remember this: GRACE is NOT a movement. It's the life that you were always meant to live.

Enjoy the journey!!!