Dave, Slave Bondservant Friend To Jesus to God's GLORY!: August 2013

Friday, August 02, 2013

Peter And Promise

here is his Blog by Rev. Tullian Tchividjian, http://liberatenet.org/2013/07/30/peter-and-the-promisehttp://liberatenet.org/2013/07/30/peter-and-the-promise

Rev. Tullian's Book Due Out In October About God's One Way Love And Inexhaustable Grace

from his upcoming book, (One Way Love: Inexhaustable Grace For An Exhaustable World) defines grace:
What is grace?

The definition I give for grace in my forthcoming book, One-Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World, comes from Paul Zahl. He writes:

Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return. Grace is love coming at you that has nothing to do with you. Grace is being loved when you are unlovable…. The cliché definition of grace is “unconditional love.” It is a true cliché, for it is a good description of the thing. Let’s go a little further, though. Grace is a love that has nothing to do with you, the beloved. It has everything and only to do with the lover. Grace is irrational in the sense that it has nothing to do with weights and measures. It has nothing to do with my intrinsic qualities or so-called “gifts” (whatever they may be). It reflects a decision on the part of the giver, the one who loves, in relation to the receiver, the one who is loved, that negates any qualifications the receiver may personally hold…. Grace is one-way love.

Grace doesn’t make demands. It just gives. And from our vantage point, it always gives to the wrong person. We see this over and over again in the Gospels: Jesus is always giving to the wrong people—prostitutes, tax collectors, half-breeds. The most extravagant sinners of Jesus’s day receive his most compassionate welcome. Grace is a divine vulgarity that stands caution on its head. It refuses to play it safe and lay it up. Grace is recklessly generous, uncomfortably promiscuous. It doesn’t use sticks, carrots, or time cards. It doesn’t keep score. As Robert Capon puts it, “Grace works without requiring anything on our part. It’s not expensive. It’s not even cheap. It’s free.” It refuses to be controlled by our innate sense of fairness, reciprocity, and evenhandedness. It defies logic. It has nothing to do with earning, merit, or deservedness. It is opposed to what is owed. It doesn’t expect a return on investments. Grace is unconditional acceptance given to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.

It is one-way love.

Rev. Tchividjian, grandson to Rev. Billy Graham, preaches, writes, pastors Coral Ridge Church where Dr. D. James Kennedy preached as well.

. An extra great Christian Music Video : The Middle Of Your Heart by For King and Country < click