Pratchett with his Death who tells his victims emotions etc all in the glands and you leave them when you leave the body..and my favourite the auditors...you get all these emotions red raw animal like when you acquire a body...killing over a piece of chocolate..but then can't we all do that?

"Neatly packaged" - a super brief and somewhat blunt sketch for a comment on an internet forum.

"a bit transactional" - no idea what this means.

"but okay for a basic parable level of theology" as stated above, it's a very brief and blunt sketch, and the many nuances that qualify the various aspects are omitted. To outline this properly would require a rather large chapter in a book.

" karmic earning of grace" - in my opinion, grace cannot be earned, by definition. I do not believe in any "karmic earning of grace".

"accepting the tremendous bounty of mercy from God and freely choosing to reside in that world of grace" An understanding of the dynamics by which our spirit grows to maturity does not contradict the realization of grace, acceptance of grace or living in grace. (I may elaborate on this further, but for now....)

"Bad deeds/good deeds I think aren't the attractors of energy as much as what's behind the deeds" I 100% agree with this perspective. Actions are the result of a causal dimension, aka the motivation that dwells within the heart/spirit/soul/mind. The motivation is invisible, while the actions manifest or express the motivation. The motivation is what determines whether an action is good or bad.

"That is a key milestone " I'm in general agreement with that idea, but I think there are important nuances. I think the natural central motivation that emerges from any person's God-given nature is to experience joy by creating joy in others. Even a child of 3 will act or do things to make mummy and daddy happy, but primarily because when mummy and daddy are happy, the child receive love more abundantly. However, because we are both spirit and flesh, the flesh needs to be disciplined so that it will follow and submit to the directions of the true heart or mind.

So I would say that while that motive to give (or help) and make the loved one happy grows and develops, part of that process requires the disciplining effect of reward and punishment. When 'punishment' is given to a child properly (aka NOT motivated by the parent's frustration, difficulties or own internal issues), it becomes a disciplining force that teaches the child the fundamental principle of accountability and consequences, that all choices (that manifest as actions) have consequences.

Personally, I think we can observe the development of the human heart writ large over history through the history of faith and religion, aka scripture. In the era of the Israelites, the best that humanity could recover was a master-servant relationship with God. Thus, the Laws of Moses were disciplinary laws that spoke to a child-level (immature, aka master-servant) capacity of connection with the Creator. When Jesus appeared, he taught an entirely new level of connection (in heart), where rather than simply obeying God as the master, one should learn to love the Creator as one's father, being motivated by love and not simply by disciplinary punishment.

That's why forms or practices of Christianity (such as that which you allude to in "not because one is expecting punishment") which focus on punishment (fire and brimstone, damnation, etc) can cause such damage. They allow only a child-level immature development of the heart and suppress more mature relationships with God. Also one reason that many people reject faith in God outright because they sense that such an approach is deeply flawed / limited.

It's better than nothing (no obedience to God's laws), but the era we live in is one where we are intended (I believe) to live and experience a much more mature level of existence.

I was unfamiliar with the Catholic expression or concept of "perfect contrition" (even though I was raised as a Catholic for the first 10 years of my life) although I wholeheartedly agree with and resonate with that concept, as you might gleam from my comment above. I would suggest that God and Christ want for us even to grow beyond that, however, where we experience sorrow not only over our own sins, but also the sins of others, for the reason that it grieves God, and that we love this world and humanity, not merely for the rewards, but because it brings the greatest Joy to God when we do so.

Regarding the natural development of the spirit through inherent natural principles God embedded in the universe (and through which we are created aka "the Word"), these existed prior to and beyond the realm of the Fall. They are (in this framework) the natural workings of God's created nature. Just as a plant grows through the interaction of sunlight, air (CO2, O2, etc) and water, nutrients, so our physical bodies grows to maturity according to certain basic principles. Likewise, our spirit (on which the function and the structure of our bodies are modelled) likewise grows according to similar principles.

But if so, where does grace fit in? When our ancestors fell, they forever fell under Satanic dominion. Through the acceptance of his lies and then acting based on those lies, the first ancestors handed to the Adversary a form of legal control and dominion over them, and all their descendants, via their choice.

In that state, there is no way we could ever "earn' or do anything to deserve being restored back to God. Thus, grace is absolutely necessary to open the door for us to return. Christ was sent as grace, Christ will return as grace, and the possibility of even being saved is a grace.

However, if you notice, there is always a component that is required from us too. "Knock" and the door will be opened. "ask" and you will receive. We are required to do the knocking and the asking. The grace is that which opens the door or gives in response, because we are in NO position to demand or require that the door be opened or what we ask for be given. That is 100% grace on the part of the Father.

There is no way we could ever "earn" the grace of salvation, or demand it. We come from a lost lineage. As fallen creatures, we have no right to demand or claim it. However, once that grace is given to us, and we receive it through acceptance of God's laws and/or acceptance of Christ, then we have a role to play.

Could someone simply say "I believe in Christ" and then do nothing at all to help others, serve others, or live a good life, and then expect to receive rich rewards (aka spiritual growth into maturity in heart and soul) in Heaven? You might get into heaven, but you'd be a miserable beggar there, and others would not experience very much joy observing or interacting with such a person.

The parable of the talents (Matthew ch 25) is one where Christ is teaching us this important truth, imo. Once we receive and begin living in God's grace, we also have a responsibility to live in accordance with God's word. Our faith in Christ is the "condition" that says to God "I'm ready to stand up to my responsibility" After we then receive grace, that responsibility becomes alive and kicks in (because of God's grace).

The parable of the talents explains how a potential is given to us, and that we then have a responsibility to act properly with it. However, the giving of the talents is in this case a grace, granted by the Master, not something that can be demanded by the servants.

In an immature state, we might do good deeds because they generate some reward, but as we mature, we do good deeds because our hearts are in such unity with God that we naturally and purposefully do good motivated by the God-given nature within us. There are rewards, but the motivation is to bring joy and comfort to God.

Acceptance of Christ moves us from a spiritual realm of Satan's dominion (aka spiritual "death") to God's realm of governance (aka spiritual "life"). That grace is beyond comparison to anything we ourselves could ever accomplish.

However, under Satan's dominion, our spirits are subject to toxic spiritual fumes constantly, our hearts and constantly under attack and our spirits can barely grow. Spiritually, we cannot access the core nature of God's abundant love.

But when we are removed from Satan's spiritual dominion, we are now, through God's boundless grace, placed in his spiritual environment where we can freely access his love, and our spirits can grow more naturally according to the principles that God created us to mature by. In other words, in the spiritual realm of God's governance, our spirits are liberated to grow properly, but when under Satan's governance, there is a stifling, stunting effect, that results in a distorted and deformed spiritual state.

"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers." 1John 3:14

But no mistake should be made. It is ONLY by God's grace that we are moved to, and remain in, his realm of governance.

Anyway, that's my understanding, which I believe resolves the apparent conflict between "salvation by works" vs "salvation by grace". That conflict only exists because of a limited understanding of how grace and works (our actions) are related. We are saved by grace, but we fulfill and manifest the potential and promise of that grace (the talents God gives to us, which we could not earn no matter what) via works, aka how we implement God's truth and how we live our lives in response to that grace.

Once we receive his grace, what we do with it will bring either joy or sorrow to God.

Note: In this framework, sin is any choice or action that brings one into an interaction with Satan and then manifests or accomplished a fallen motivation or purpose, as Satan is the master and author of all fallen actions, ultimately.)

Have a great day.

Ps. I'm not aiming for complete agreement here. Just attempting to imperfectly articulate better my understanding of what is actually a very complex topic.