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Post by Josh on Oct 22, 2007 15:00:13 GMT -8
"[The Christian] does not think God will love us because we are good, but God will make us good because He loves us...."
CS Lewis, Mere Christianity
Comments?
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Post by michelle on Oct 24, 2007 20:48:13 GMT -8
Yep, God loves us in spite of the fact that we are not good. No amount of good deeds can earn God's love. It's there whether we want it or accept it. And I know that I can't be good without him. When I am not open to His love, I am the most selfish person and I don't care about doing good. It's only when His love fills my heart that I can give to others. His love makes me good...I hope.
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Post by Josh on Oct 26, 2007 19:48:18 GMT -8
So, along these lines, one thing that I think confuses Christians at times is the difference between God's love and God's favor. In Scripture, God is said to love everyone not based on our deeds but because of His own goodness. However, elsewhere, parallel to this thought is the fact that our deeds can either please God or grieve God. I wrote a bit about what Scripture says on this elsewhere: Pleasing GodBased on this, here are some questions I have: 1. What is the difference between God's love and God's favor? 2. If I can't earn God's love but can earn His pleasure, what does that mean for those of us who have a tendency to place too much stock in our own deeds? Another way to put this is, what is the pure way to seek God's approval and how is it distinguished from neurotic, self-righteousness?
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