Newfound Respect

I realize it has been a while since I last wrote.  The main reason is that I haven't updated this blog is because I started seminary several weeks back.  I am not a big reader... in fact I really dislike reading so I was a bit overwhelmed by the reading that is involved in my New Testament class.  I have two HUGE books that have to be read, one fictional book, and the entire New Testament along with various notes and lectures.  I now know the definition of a plethora.  That is how much reading that is involved.  Lord have mercy on me... please.
I am not trying to sound like a glass half empty kind of guy, so I want to tell you some of what I have learned.  I have learned how the New Testament came to be the 27 books that we know it to be.  I have learned that there was a meticulous time consuming process to not only copy the texts in the early church times, but when the canon was put together, the amount of due diligence it took to decide what was to be included and that which was to be left out.  I know that only through the Holy Spirit would this have been possible.  That the scripture is God-breathed, and I hope you know what that means.  It was inspired by God to be a revelation and a help to those who are called by His name.  I have been gaining an increased desire for the Word, and the truth that is illuminated by the Spirit.  
We have been talking in Sunday School more and more about what it is to do everything in grace and truth.  These two must coincide in a Christian's life.  If you focus on grace, you can tend to lean to a life of license.  I.E. that because of God's grace we can live a life of sin because we can always ask for forgiveness.  God forbid!  However, if you focus on truth (which is the way I am geared) you tend to lean toward a more legalistic approach... this is basically saying something is right or wrong and there is no gray area.  While this may or may not be true, if there is no grace in my life, Christ will not be evident in my life.  We have been shown the greatest grace that the world has ever known.  If we, in turn, are not gracious to the world around us, what does that say of our Savior?  But then again, if we do not stand for truth, will we get lost in a lie?  This is part of the mystery of God.  We must rely on the grace of God, to show us the truth through grace.