Grace, A Free Gift
First: You don’t earn grace; grace is freely given by the giver.
Second: Grace is given to the obedient who fall short, not to the
disobedient, or the rebellious.
Thirdly: Grace may be extended to those who out of ignorance have not kept Torah because YAH knows the heart and the intent of man.
Jer 17:10 “I יהוה search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
As I sit here in my plastic throne in front of the five shekel coffee shop I think to myself “what audacity I have to speak the things of YAH. Who am I to even suggest what YAH will or will not do to anything to or for anyone let alone me”.
I can only hope He looks beyond my faults, my arrogance and my sinful nature and sheds His grace on me.
There is nothing in my life that I have ever done that I should deserve His grace “I am but a worm, not a man that He should be mindful of me”.
When we look at any of the blessings of YAH as laid out in Torah, the first five books of the Tanach, which again, in our arrogance we call “promises”, ( as if YAH owes us something) we like to read over the first word that begins them, “IF”. The love of YAH may be unconditional but the blessings of YAH are conditional.
He does not give us a blank check for the taking , there is no claiming or positive thinking them into existence… there is no such thing as “name it and claim it”. His blessings are directly linked to our obedience to Him and His ordinances, statutes, judgments, teachings and instructions. There is just one condition to the blessings of YAH and that condition is obedience.
I know of no parent that has ever rewarded a child for disobedience or rebellion. Why would YAH be any different?
People like to confuse obedience with works. When confronted with the thought of keeping Torah you normally hear something like “I don’t have to keep Torah, I live by grace”. If we really stop to think about it, all the things we call “works” or even “good deeds” are in reality acts of obedience to what YAH has instructed us in Torah and nothing more.
That being the case, what servant was ever rewarded for doing his job? His master feeds him, clothes him and puts a roof over his servant’s head; anything above and beyond that is a blessing and not a promise for doing what is expected of him.
The word servant leaves a bad taste in most people’s mouth. We would rather think of ourselves as a daughter or a son… but not a servant. It is true we are the children of YAH and I still like to picture myself climbing up on His lap and feeling the whiskers of His beard as I hug Him, but there is a responsibility that comes with being His child and that is obedience to what He tells us to do.
I remember as a kid growing up my father owned a furniture factory which employed some 100 people. I liked being “The Bosses Son” it made me feel special. My dad tried to teach me that although you can and should be friendly with the employees you cannot be there friends, less respect for you and your position would be lost. I also knew that as the boss’s son I could be disciplined or even fired for outright disobedience, as my brother was.
YAH tells us the same… we are in this world but not part of this world. He set out ordinances, statutes, judgments, teachings and instructions for use to navigate our way through this world. They allow us to be friendly and kind to all we come in contact with as we treat them with dignity and respect but at the same time they keep us separate.
De 6:7-1″For you are a holy people to יהוה your Elohim; יהוה your Elohim has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. יהוה did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; “but because יהוה loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, יהוה has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. “Therefore know that יהוה your Elohim, He is Elohim, the faithful Elohim who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; “and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face”.
We are to be a light, an example of what a blessed life looks like for those who do not love YAH and keep His commandments. As we serve our Elohim in obedience He in return blesses our obedience which in turn should cause others to see His blessings and be jealous of what we have in Him, which in turn opens the door for us to sharing the good news, that being; they too can become the bosses son or daughter “IF” you want to follow HIS statutes ordinances judgments teaching and instructions; or as HE put it “to those who love Him and keep His commandments”.
De 28:1,2 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the יהוה your Elohim, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, יהוה your Elohim will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the יהוה your Elohim.”
De 28: 15 “But if you will not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
The choice is up to each of us. Obedience or disobedience… blessings or curses; Know that there will be grace for you when you fall, not when you are disobedient, or the rebellious.