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Comment by nickpsecurity | Hacker News Reader

Although the prose is beautiful, the word lovingkindness has a different meaning. It was an English word invented to translate hesed in Hebrew into English. The Word of God, esp in King James Bible, uses this word to explain how God loves His chosen people.

https://www.compellingtruth.org/lovingkindness.html

We are undeserving, evil people who deserve justice for our sins. Instead, God offers us a chance to repent and follow Him out of pure grace. He makes a covenant backed by His own name. Within that covenant, He preserves us in eternal life forever while using us to His glory in this life. If we fall, He’ll discipline us but never let us go. That’s out of His love and character.

This undeserved grace for those following Jesus Christ is what the Bible calls hesed, or lovingkindness.

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Conditional grace is not grace. The human experience of grace is so much larger than what you describe.

Grace is anything that’s not deserved that is given. You could tell your kid they get a new car so long as they do their homework every night. They could do this and still not deserve a car. You don’t have to give it. So, that would still be an act of grace even in conditional.

Whereas, while we were still sinners (enemies of God), Christ died for us. He laid His life down for us. He left everything He had in heaven to save those He loved. At every point, we were undeserving enemies. If we repent and trust Him, we still keep turning on Him and failing. Yet, nobody can snatch us out of His hand.

That’s grace upon grace that God lavishes upon those who believe in Jesus Christ.

> We are undeserving, evil people who deserve justice for our sins.

I'm not an evil person.

We all tell ourselves that. God is holy, loving, and just. He’s that all of the time. Heaven will be life without a single act of evil. God’s definition of good is that you obey Him and love others without failure.

In your case, you can test yourself using Romans 1:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+1%3A18-3...

Have you ever lied, stolen, cheated, shown apathy, lusted, or wished evil on someone? Have you rejected the true God or tried to live your own way instead of His? These are evil per the God that defines what morality is.

“The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God us eternal life in Jesus Christ.”

Fortunately for you and I, the only good person to ever live… tempted in all ways we are but having committed no sin… earned God’s favor for you, died for your sins, was raised again, and offered you eternal life in His name. You just have to repent and put your trust in what He did. He’ll also transform you from the inside out when the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Nor am I. And I don't appreciate the implied equating of "justice" with punishment.

More broadly, I don't think "evil" is a useful word; it refers to (a) the embodiment of everything that is irremediably bad, and (b) to people or actions that are irremediably bad. I don't think such people and actions exist, and I don't think pure badness is embodied anywhere.

So I think the word has no referent.

Do you think most people you would consider evil considered themselves evil?

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