As Pastor Bob King told us, Jude wrote to combat a serious threat in the church—a group of people perverting the grace of God. Through this crisis, we learn an important lesson about God. When we talk about God’s grace there are two primary categories. The first is known as “common grace” or God’s good gifts such as rain, oxygen, or laughter. These things are gifts from God available to everyone. “Special grace” is the gift from God given to those who’ve accepted the free offer of forgiveness available through Jesus’ death.
The “grace benders” were taking advantage of this gift. Their theory was if God has forgiven all of our sins, even our future sins, then it doesn’t matter how we live. They wanted the forgiveness available through Jesus, but ignored the need to make him Lord of their life.
As Pastor King reminded us, God is too good of a father to let this type of behavior slide. Sin is serious, and God—as a loving Father—wants to rescue us from its disastrous effects. As you start your week, journal about a time God rescued you from bending grace, once again proving he is a good Father.
