A few weeks ago I purchased a book from a used book section in a store. "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning. I had previously borrowed and read this book a few years back, but I felt I needed to read it again. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a first edition hardcover. I love finding first edition books. They still have some imperfections with spelling and with this particular book the type looks as though it was printed with a typewriter. All of this aside "The Ragamuffin Gospel" is an amazing read.
As I was reading last night I ran across this quote that really struck me.
"Fyodor Dostoyevsky caught the shock and scandal of the gospel of grace when he wrote: 'At
the last Judgment Christ will say to us, 'Come, you also! Come, drunkards! Come, weaklings!
Come, children of shame!' And he will say to us: 'Vile beings, you who are in the image of the
beast and bear his mark, but come all the same, you as well.' nd the wise and prudent will say,
'Lord, why do you welcome them?' And he will say: 'If I welcome them, you wise men, if I
welcome them, you prudent men, it is because not one of them has ever been judged worthy.'
And he will stretch out his arms, and we will fall at his feet, and we will cry out sobbing, and
then we will understand all, we will understand the Gospel of grace! Lord, your kingdom come!"
"Will Christ actually welcome those who are marked by the evil one?" This was the first question I found myself asking after reading this quote. The answer I came up with is "I don't know". The gospel of grace is such a mystery to us as humans because we can't really grasp the vastness of God's grace. How are we to take hold of something that is so all encompassing as grace? Even the premise of Holy, God given, all covering grace is so hard for us to take hold of and accept that we in the church had to come up with a way to some how still attach duty to the free gift of grace. "All you have to do is pray this prayer". When you have to put the words "all you have to do" before you can receive grace it takes away the word "free" from "free gift of grace". If you have to do something for free grace, the grace really isn't free. There is nothing we can do earn God's grace. It isn't saying a set of words that will get you into heaven. It is simply knowing that God is offering free grace and you receive it.
This old hymn written by William R. Newell has been running through my head all night: "Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary." This chorus certainly does display the freeness of God's grace.
I know this blog seems incomplete but I plan on discussing the gospel of grace much further as I continue to work my way through the book "The Ragamuffin Gospel" and I hope that it may help those who may be struggling with accepting the fact that there is nothing a person can do to earn God's grace.
As I was reading last night I ran across this quote that really struck me.
"Fyodor Dostoyevsky caught the shock and scandal of the gospel of grace when he wrote: 'At
the last Judgment Christ will say to us, 'Come, you also! Come, drunkards! Come, weaklings!
Come, children of shame!' And he will say to us: 'Vile beings, you who are in the image of the
beast and bear his mark, but come all the same, you as well.' nd the wise and prudent will say,
'Lord, why do you welcome them?' And he will say: 'If I welcome them, you wise men, if I
welcome them, you prudent men, it is because not one of them has ever been judged worthy.'
And he will stretch out his arms, and we will fall at his feet, and we will cry out sobbing, and
then we will understand all, we will understand the Gospel of grace! Lord, your kingdom come!"
"Will Christ actually welcome those who are marked by the evil one?" This was the first question I found myself asking after reading this quote. The answer I came up with is "I don't know". The gospel of grace is such a mystery to us as humans because we can't really grasp the vastness of God's grace. How are we to take hold of something that is so all encompassing as grace? Even the premise of Holy, God given, all covering grace is so hard for us to take hold of and accept that we in the church had to come up with a way to some how still attach duty to the free gift of grace. "All you have to do is pray this prayer". When you have to put the words "all you have to do" before you can receive grace it takes away the word "free" from "free gift of grace". If you have to do something for free grace, the grace really isn't free. There is nothing we can do earn God's grace. It isn't saying a set of words that will get you into heaven. It is simply knowing that God is offering free grace and you receive it.
This old hymn written by William R. Newell has been running through my head all night: "Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary." This chorus certainly does display the freeness of God's grace.
I know this blog seems incomplete but I plan on discussing the gospel of grace much further as I continue to work my way through the book "The Ragamuffin Gospel" and I hope that it may help those who may be struggling with accepting the fact that there is nothing a person can do to earn God's grace.
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