Grace and Gratitude

God's grace should always bring more gratitude in our lives. God is So good to us. The more thankful you are for God's love and mercy to you through Christ Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, the less you will sin against God.  Only grace and gratitude can control our inward sin nature.  Genuine gratitude to God Himself who loved me, and gave Himself for me on the cross of Calvary.

Law
* External compliance
* Points out our failures
* System of rules for earning God's favor without trusting, loving, or communing with God.
* Majors on the minors, strain at gnats-swallow camels, always exaggerate the non-essential stuff in life.
* Interested in what people do, use people
* Rules, rules, rules
* Get what you deserve
* Eliminates wisdom, don't have to pray, just keep the rules
* Conformity outwardly (work of the flesh)
* Make you find great comfort in the fact that other people do the same things you do, or do not do
* Religious peer pressure - this is the ultimate form of peer pressure - legalism - do what they do, don't do what they don't do, gives a false sense of spirituality
* Fruit - fear and guilt

Grace
* Internal character
* Empowers us to obey
* Interested in who people are, love people
* Relationship with Christ is preeminent
* Don't get what we deserve
* Need wisdom from above, and must pray for guidance and help
* Transformed internally (by the power of God the Holy Ghost)
* Fruit - communion, fellowship and gratitude

Grace -

Some Guidelines for Grace
* If the scriptures warn against it, do not play around with it.
* If the scriptures forbid it, do not try to justify it.
* If the scriptures do not say anything about it, do not assume it is right or wrong.
* If the scriptures are truly silent about it, do not try to use them to prove your point.
* If the scriptures encourage it, do not try to ignore it.
* If the scriptures teach it, do not try to live without it.