I was surfing the internet sometimes ago, when on Facebook, I saw an advert of an online dating, chatting and flirting site. Sad enough, thousands of likes and comments have been dropped by Facebook users. As I mused, many thoughts and reflections floodeed my heart:
-The level of depravity and perversion in the world. -The multitude of souls that need help. -The enormity of the work before us as believers. -Lack of training to release labourers into the harvest. ...and lots more. I decided to drop a comment to help the hearts of those that will be privileged to come across it. As I clicked on 'comment', I saw an earlier comment that goes like- "Chat, flirt and receive the inevitable wage, for the wage of licentious chatting is death" The commentator has successfully dispensed TRUTH, but where is the touch of GRACE in that message? Am I saying he was wrong? NO Am I saying what he did was bad? NO BUT his message was not complete! Truth, not balanced with grace is not complete, so also is grace without truth. Even Jesus came 'full of grace and truth' (John 1: 14) Truth says, "All sinners will rot in hell!" Grace says, "God is willing to forgive you if only you will repent" Paul told the Colossians that they knew the GRACE of God IN TRUTH"- Colossians 1: 6. I agree that knowing grace out of truth is not safe. It is in fact, very dangerous to preach grace without balancing it with truth; it gives birth to a lot of errors. One of those errors that have crept into the body of Christ is the 'Once saved, forever saved' philosophy... Absolute Nonsense! When we however preach the truth to sinners without balancing it with a touch of grace, we portray to them, a God that is wicked, waiting to blow the final whistle so that he can punish sinners and subject them to eternal torment, not the God that said in Ezekiel 18:23- "Have I any pleasure in the death of the evil-doer? says the Lord: am I not pleased if he is turned from his way so that he may have life?" Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" TRUTH opens the eyes of a sinner to see his depraved state, but it is GRACE that opens the sinner's eyes to see the WAY out of that state so that he may have LIFE. In other words, JESUS (as the truth) opens the eyes of a sinner to see his depraved state, but it is thesame JESUS (by His grace) that opens the sinner's eyes to see JESUS (as the way) out of that state so that he may have JESUS (as the life)... Brethren, let us preach the complete JESUS! I once heard a msn of God say "Don't criticize what another person believes, unless you have something better to offer them". We must let sinners know that although God hates the sin, He loves the sinner and wants him saved. Rom. 5: 8 Brethren, as much as we must not compromise the TRUTH of God's word, we must be evangels of His GRACE and as much as we live in the 'DISPENSATION OF GRACE', we must live by the uncompromised TRUTH of God's word.
Shalom!