J.A. Matteson
Grace is never obligatory. If it were it would not be grace. No one can lay claim on God and demand He extend grace to them. If we know God and reverence Him it is solely due to His good pleasure. "Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name" (Ps. 86:11). Sinners cannot know Him or His ways unless He gives it to them to know. Nor can they walk in His way apart from grace. It is the influence of divine grace that compels the sinner to cry out to God for salvation and to yearn to walk in a manor pleasing in His sight. Apart from grace we would all pursue paths of self destruction. Each would be as Pharaoh who's evil heart was permitted to blossom into absolute wickedness. For that is who saints are by nature, children of wrath, even as the rest. It is by grace alone that we know God and love Him. He created that love within us when there was nothing in us but contempt. We love Him because He first loved us. O God, glorious is Your name and magnificent Your Grace. All praise and glory and honor belong to You, for You save Your people from their sin and lead them in the paths of righteousness for Your namesake.
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