God Loves You As You Are

What is Amazing Grace ?
John 1.17 states that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. This was not revealed in the Old testament but is revealed to us now. 
Grace gives us great freedom while religion puts us in bondage. The Israelites got their Law from Moses. Other religious groups also had their own laws and steps to please their own gods and receive their favour and forgiveness. The superlative of this is what the Israelistes received through Moses.

However, the law is impersonal and blind; in any religion. Laws and rules don’t look at any particular person, everyone is under it. The law is also blind. However, grace is personal and it is kind! It shows compassion and gives a chance to get up and grow. Law punishes and kills.  In Christ, through His grace, we have freedom. Paul exhorts the Galatians not to go back to the Law after having experienced the grace through Jesus.

The Book of Romans talks about what grace,law, sanctification, justification etc  is in detail. 
Romans 10:9 explains salvation: “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 5 and 6 talk about the Old Testament law and the changes that have come to us through grace. In Romans 7, using the example of a woman who is  free to marry now that her husband has passed away, we are also free to join with Christ now that we are free of the Law in the Old Testament. 
Romans 8 talks about grace which has replaced the Law with a new covenant of freedom. Jesus gives a new commandment of love which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit ! This one commandment covers all the Ten Commandments. 

We need to understand that the Covenant changed and God’s Approach to us also changed . Both have changed immensely from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God is looked upon as a judging and angry God while in the New testament, He is the God of love. This is not because of a change in God’s nature or his character, but because we have been reconciled with God through the death and resurrection of Christ. 
2 Corinthians 5. 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Jesus gave Himself for us as a ransom for our sins.
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus”

Now God is not angry with us nor is he our enemy. God is not far away any more, the gap has been bridged. 
Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated  you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
Jesus took the sin which separated us from God. The chasm which separated us is bridged when we believe in Jesus.

God loves us in whatever condition we are in now. He doesn't love us because of how much work we do in His kingdom or based on the good works we do. It does not depend on how much we pray or do ministry or give to the Lord. This is a human thought. But God is love (1 John 4.8,16). That is His nature. Man thinks that when we do right, God is pleased and when we sin, He hates us. This is how humans react. God has no mood swings.No matter what you do or do not do, He will still love you the same!

By not reading the BIble, there won't be any change in God. But the loss is for us! By not dedicating our time to God, He does not lose out on anything, but we do! Our actions do not affect God’s nature, He does not change; we are the ones who lose out. When we worship and give God glory, His glory and holiness is imparted to us, not vice versa. When we give to the Lord, we are blessed.  

Therefore, we must realise the grace and freedom we have received through Christ, and instead of abusing God’s love and mercy, we must grow closer to God and experience that love deeply in our lives.

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