God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

A place to snark and vent about CoC doctrine and/or our experiences in the CoC. This is a place for SUPPORT and AGREEMENT only, not a place to tell someone their experience and feelings are wrong, or why we disagree with them.
Grace
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Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:35 am

God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by Grace »

Attended a Community Church this weekend.

The sermon was about knowing God is holding on to us. The minister said there was two ways to think about God. He loves us in "spite of" or "because of".
His take, which I believe, is that God loves us in spite of our flaws. The minister said how sad if you believed that God loved you because of what you did, because you could never do enough to make up for Jesus dying for us. This really struck me as the CoC doctrine, that you can do enough, be perfect enough to get to heaven.

How freeing to know that God loves us in spite of our flaws. Knows when we are trying to do the best we can and still loves us when we fail.
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illuminator
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2014 3:04 pm

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by illuminator »

Coc likes to sing songs about a loving God but their sermons were always a hateful, vengeful, un-understanding God.

I think God does love us ... faults and all! We're human. We have flaws.
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bnot
Posts: 229
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 3:22 am
Location: Southern California

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by bnot »

The coc does not know the meaning of grace. It's refreshing to know about the freedom through Jesus once you leave the coc.
Opie
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Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:27 pm
Location: Arkansas

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by Opie »

Exactly right --- the Church of Christ denomination stumbles over grace, and in reality is a religion of works. Even though some say that they preach grace, the bottom line of their message implies that human effort is extremely important because somehow Jesus didn't really do all that was needed for us on the cross. In other words, grace is something that has to be EARNED. Has anyone besides me heard the phrase "Jesus did his 90%, but we still gotta do our 10%!"
"If I had to define my own theme, it would be that of a person who absorbed some of the worst the church has to offer, yet still landed in the loving arms of God." (From the book 'Soul Survivor' by Philip Yancy)
GMan
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Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:20 am
Location: Denver Colorado

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by GMan »

The concept of grace is not anything they do not wish to understand.
A life lived in fear,
is a life half lived.

Glen McGuire
Lev
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Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:58 pm

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by Lev »

Opie wrote:Has anyone besides me heard the phrase "Jesus did his 90%, but we still gotta do our 10%!"
Wow. Never heard that before. Not only does it miss the "saved by grace, not of works" concept but it severely diminishes the importance of Jesus' sacrifice. Only 90%? Come on.

Lev
AtPeace
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 4:52 pm

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by AtPeace »

God loves.
GuitarHero
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Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:13 am

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by GuitarHero »

I just don't believe there's anything inherently wrong with me that God, or anyone else for that matter, should have to love me, in spite of myself. If we're all that dirty and filthy, such that God has problems even looking at us, then maybe he fucked up when he made us. I just don't buy this whole "worthless me" thing that religion uses to control people.
Turtle
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Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:23 pm

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by Turtle »

GuitarHero wrote:I just don't believe there's anything inherently wrong with me that God, or anyone else for that matter, should have to love me, in spite of myself. If we're all that dirty and filthy, such that God has problems even looking at us, then maybe he fucked up when he made us. I just don't buy this whole "worthless me" thing that religion uses to control people.
I feel this way too. No saints, no sinners, no unclean filthy people, just human beings who need to learn how to get along in the world. I told my husband recently that I didn't need anyone to die for me to save me from myself. I hate that my children still hear this every Sunday. I want them to feel good about themselves.
ena
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Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:34 pm

Re: God loves in "spite of" not "because of"

Post by ena »

Grace wrote: The sermon was about knowing God is holding on to us. The minister said there was two ways to think about God. He loves us in "spite of" or "because of".
His take, which I believe, is that God loves us in spite of our flaws. The minister said how sad if you believed that God loved you because of what you did, because you could never do enough to make up for Jesus dying for us. This really struck me as the CoC doctrine, that you can do enough, be perfect enough to get to heaven.
Very good. It is correct but does have pitfalls. Paul addresses this in Romans 6:1 KJV 6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Otherwise the quote will not make sense. The problem is that some were sinning more because they were saved anyway. The purpose is to free you from sin not to sin more. We are already bad enough. Work towards perfection while knowing you are not perfect. This will save you from two traps Christians fall into. The difference is subtle.
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