Grace vs Karma

Your title reminds me of something Bono once said. Haven't listened to the sermon yet, but maybe that's where the preacher got the distinction:

You see, at the centre of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics--in physical laws--every action is met by an equal or opposite one. Its clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it.

And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "As you reap, so will you sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.

That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep ----. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.

The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled….it's not our own good works that get through the gates of heaven…​

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Ransom said:
Your title reminds me of something Bono once said. Haven't listened to the sermon yet, but maybe that's where the preacher got the distinction:

You see, at the centre of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics--in physical laws--every action is met by an equal or opposite one. Its clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it.​
​
And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "As you reap, so will you sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.​
​
That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep ----. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.​
​
The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled….it's not our own good works that get through the gates of heaven…​

[Source]
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What Pastor Paul says is not far from this. He repeatedly says the theme of Galatians is, "Jesus is enough."

Frankly, I have been needing to get into teaching on grace and living by the Spirit. It's been subtle but my walk has been on a performance track more than I realized. Even though I talk a lot about grace, I've been plumbing the depths of grace these past few months like never before.
 
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