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Introduction - Grace and works

Introduction:

  • The word "Grace" is very important word in our spiritual life and our lifes in general as Christians
  • The first grace we recieved is the grace of being ... existenace 
  • Another grace is being created in the image and likeness of God 
  • When we talk about "Grace" we refer to the Grace of God, of our Lord Jesus 
  • When God created Adam and Eve, He surrounded them by His grace.
    • Describe their initial state, being like children 
  • As a result of Adam's sin, Adam and Eve lost God's grace, hence they felt naked 
    • Describe their state after the sin being exposed to corruption and sin
  • This state continued throughout the Old Testament - People longed and desired for God's grace and they could not find it 
    • The righteous people wanted to live righteously and overcome sin but they were not capable of doing so without God's grace
  • Then the Lord gave the law through Moses - The Law only did not help but on the contrary showed that the individuals are even more transgressors "sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful" Romans 7:13
  • Even though the law was good, it revealed how sinful man is. 
  • Therefore, people needed divine intervention - righteousness became impossible to achieve without an aid
  • Now comes the new testament - St John says el namos be mosa o3ta
  • crucifixion - resurrection - giving us a new life
  • The beginning of the grace of the new testament is the incarnation 
  • Grace is like a magnetic field that surrounds us

What is grace?

  • "Grace" is a free gift we received from God, Who came to us and our human weak nature and made it His own freeing us from corruption and death that were as a result of sin 
  • Therefore whenever something good happens in our lives we say by "God's grace"
    • I arrived from my travel
    • I passed the exam
    • I was sickand now I am healed 
  • We live in the covenant of grace 
  • Grace is the divine role in the life of man 

Where do we get grace?

  • "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:17
  • We recieve grace on a personal level and on a church level 
  • Everything that happens in the Church (storage of grace) 
  • The church has the authority to despense to us God's grace - baptism 
  • The grace of baptism - takes us to the grace of myron (temple of the holy spirit 
  • Repentance and confession - getting rid of sins 
  • No salvation outside of the church 
  • Church sacraments - graces 
  • No one can come to the sacraments without repentancee -and without faith 
  • On a personal level - God gives according to the need - my grace is suffesient to you 
  • I didn't do anything to recieve any of these graces by my role is to use them and to bring fruit 
  • Each person's response to the sacrament is different

Faith - prayer - humility (almotawade3oon yagedon ne3ma - nazar ila eteda3 amato - momtale2a ne3ma 

 

Grace and our salvation 

  • In anything there is a divine work and there is a human work 
    • In salvation 
      • The Divine work is God's desire for us to be saved 
      • The human work is us accepting His economy 
  • Without the Blood of Christ  - no effort will be counted 
  • To be worthy of this blood we need, we need faith, acceptance, doing the commandments, bapotism, mayroun , communion, etc 
  • "being justified [g]freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus romans 3:24
  • incarnation is a free gift - grace

What is grace?

  • "Grace" simply means a divine help that is sent to us 
  • Grace is sent to those who are weak and strengthens them, and those who are strong to increase their strength 
  • The word "Grace" comes from being "graced" with something, or something being bestowed on you or given to you 
  • Any gifts or talents we have are considered "grace" that we received from God
    • "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: " Romans 12:6
  • The food on table and the drink in our cup is considered from God's grace
  •  Grace leads to repentance - encourages us to attain virtues 


 

  • Some people thought that God does everything so we do not need to work 
  • Some people thought that man must do all the work without depending on God in anything 
  • The Orthodox way is a collaboration between God and man. God gives grace and man responds to this grace and work
  • St Augustine said “God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us”

Biblical examples:

  • Amalik War 
  • The miracle of feeding the multitudes
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