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Love and Grace
by Rosita Dozier "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10 (NIV) Love and grace what a powerful combination. Adding mercy makes this a recipe for God to reconcile his creation to himself. God is love, and we cannot separate the two. All of his other attributes are the result of who he is, LOVE. Love gives. Grace and mercy flows from love. God is unconditional love; He loves in spite of mankind's failure and hatred toward Him. God shows his love according to Ephesians 2:4, " But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions" it goes on to say, " it is by grace you have been saved." God exercises love for his creation by first showing compassion, mercy. (James 5:11) Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. In fact, all have sinned and deserve death. Romans 3:23 (NIV) God continues to exercises his love by giving grace, in the person of his Son. Jesus came to take on the sin of the world, to reconcile us back to His Father. Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. We did not deserve life but Love demands that his rebellious creation have an opportunity to live. As the Son, God continues to exercise love for His creation. Jesus expresses this love by sending us another helper, John 14:16. The Holy Spirit continues the work of love by helping us, giving us power to live the life Christ gave us through his death. Eternal life is the manifestation of unconditional love. Teaching women is Rosita Dozier's top priority. She has conducted bible studies for over twenty years. She has written articles for church newsletters, helped pastors put oral messages into print and edited several books. She is a published author and is working on a new book. 09242014 Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |