MLE, let me give you my take on this. We receive grace from God freely. God WANTS to give us so much. We just have to want to receive it. Choosing to believe in Our Lord is in and of itself a work. "Choosing" is a verb. "Believing" is a verb. So it's a faith and works situation. And you are correct, once you receive God's grace and believe in him, it will change your attitude toward your actions. Once you understand grace, you are so grateful to Our Lord that you don't want to do anything that is going to offend Him. You want to do good things because it is the right thing to do, in Jesus' eyes.
Grace changes everything. That's the problem with the JWs. Theirs is purely works with no concept that the heart needs to be involved. You have to know Jesus to love him and the JWs have taken Jesus away from their adherents. The JWs are strictly legalistic with no consideration for the need to be motivated by love for God, not by fear of being hauled back into a JC.
You know, as a mother, my sons don't have to do anything for me to love them. I was in love with them from the moment I found out I was pregnant, talking to the little baby in my belly. And when you finally see your child for the first time after they are born, you are hooked. Head over heels in love and it lasts forever. JWs don't understand that this is how God loves us. Yes, we do things we shouldn't and it hurts him because he knows we've set ourselves up for trouble. He wants to help us avoid painful situations but, like all children, we have to learn for ourselves.
The JW God is a detached dictator who has made up an endless list of rules, just waiting for someone to screw up so he can slap them down. Is it no wonder JW parents often follow that same parenting model?
