What is God’s grace? What is God’s blessings? And what do each of them look like?

Does God bless the lustful behavior of a person or someone who lives in fornication?

Does God bless an abusive relationship?

Does God bless same-sex relationships?

Does God bless cowardice or disobedient behavior?

No. According to scriptures, these acts go up in direct opposition to the nature of God and the commandments of God. “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.” (Numbers 23:19) If we look at what the word “bless” means, it means to consecrate, to make holy. Synonymic words include exalt, glorify, magnify, or beautify. Knowing that, how can we reconcile between what God represents, and what we as autonomous but creations of God represent? We can’t. When we ask of whether or not God bless a thing, what we are really asking is, “Is this a situation, relationship or person God wants to promote.” Let’s say God is telling you to leave your hometown to go elsewhere but you refuse to do it because you’re afraid of leaving family, friends and don’t know what the other side of leaving what you know for what you don’t know. God cannot give you the blessing of obedience for the act of disobedience because He would then be exalting fearful behavior or cowardliness.

On the flipside, are these same situations, Are they under God’s grace? With an absolute resounding YES! What does grace mean? It is an attractive or elegant quality. But you could also use the word refinement to describe grace. God extends grace because it’s a refinement tool to place us back in position for God to bless us!

Let’s give each of these words scriptural context:

All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you IF you obey the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 28:2) You see, obedience proceeds blessings. You’ve got to be in the right position, you’ve got to carry the right posture in order to receive the blessings of the Lord. This may be the reason some of us may be feeling stagnant in our lives. It’s because we have not exhibited the right posture for God to exalt Himself upon not only for the spiritual growth of ourselves but as an example for the those around us to imitate as well.

“The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” (Titus 2:11-12). Simply put, grace is given as an opportunity for holy living.

Not everything that opposes God’s Word and will for our lives is an obvious conflict of interest, meaning there are some things we can do that don’t come with immediate consequences and yet places us further and further outside the will of God but that is why we are instructed to continually seek His face (Psalm 105:4) to ensure we are up to date in all that He has called us to.

I really hope this gives clarity as to what it means to live in God’s blessings and God’s grace.