Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. Peter also closes his second epistle with a benediction in joining us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." What is the gospel? The English term is the usual translation for the Greek charis, which occurs in the New Testament about B. Luter, Jr., DPL, pp. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright © 2021, Christianity.com. This is done as slaves, offering ourselves in obedience to him (v. 16). Then God will remove his hand and allow Moses to see the back of his glory, but not his face. Naturally, the various meanings of the word were simply taken over from ordinary language by the New Testament writers. That is, to the multiplicity of concepts there is given a unity of terminology, corresponding to the unity given the multiple aspects of life by the thought of entire dependence on God. The keeping of the law is man's work, but that man has the law to keep is something for which God only is to be thanked. The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, Moses then makes one of the most remarkable requests of God ever made in Scripture, asking God to "show me your glory." He promised to "cause all my goodness to pass in front of you" and that he will proclaim his name "Yahweh" in Moses' presence. Indeed, "grace" here differs from "mercy" chiefly in connoting eager love as the source of the act. Shapeshifting: Grace is capable of changing her entire … Paul tells us, “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” (Titus 2:11). 1 Cor. Synonym Discussion of grace. 31-34) is enough of a statement about the grace of God on its own, but it is linked to the hen [ej] of God by the occurrence of that word in 31:2. Orr, James, M.A., D.D. (4) But a mere negative granting of pardon is a most deficient definition of the Old Testament idea of God's mercy, which delights in conferring positive benefits. He then makes a statement that is connected with grace throughout Scripture, one that Paul will quote in the context of election in Romans 9: "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." He is also the editor of Christian Theologies of Scripture. Crucial among the Old Testament passages on the unmerited favor of God is the conversation between Moses and God recorded in Exodus 33. Evidently in this sense "grace" is almost a synonym for the Spirit (see HOLY SPIRIT), and there is little real difference between "full of the Holy Spirit" and "full of grace and power" in Acts 6:5,8, while there is a very striking parallel between Ephesians 4:7-13 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, with "gifts of grace" in the one passage, and "gifts of the Spirit" in the other. In the same way, he links the grace of God with the gospel in Colossians 1:5-6. Grace is a participation in the life of God, which is poured unearned into human beings, whom it heals of sin and sanctifies. Indeed, it is not too much to say that Christ knows but one unpardonable sin, the sin of spiritual self-satisfaction--"That which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15; compare Luke 17:7-10; Matthew 20:1-16). Through Jesus “we have all received grace upon grace” (John 1:16)—the gratuitous and undomesticated grace of God. The word of truth, the gospel, is bearing fruit and growing at the present time "just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth" (v. 6). But the tendency of the New Testament writers is to combine the various meanings the word can have, something that is particularly well illustrated in 2 Corinthians 8; 9. When the people of Israel complain at having only manna and not any meat, Moses cries out to the Lord in an apparently sincere state of vexation at the burden of judging this entire people by himself: "I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. What Were the Key Events in the Life of Jesus Christ? Just as remarkable is that God answers his request positively. Indeed, in Ezekiel 16; 20; 23, mercy is promised to a nation that is spoken of as hardly even desiring it, a most extreme instance. Hence the many different phrases connected with grace: the grace of God ( Rom 5:15 ), the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ( 2 Cor 13:14 ), and the like. Proud member 372-74; J. Moffatt, Grace in the New Testament; C. R. Smith, The Bible Doctrine of Grace; J. H. Stringer, NBD, pp. 1.1. We are told that we have been saved "by grace" but "through faith." First, let’s start with “unmerited.” To merit something means to earn it or deserve it. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. The remnant is a sign that God's gracious favor bestowed upon Israel in the covenant continues on even in times of great disobedience and/or destruction among the Israelites, though this is the only reference to the remnant in the context in which hen [ej] is used in the Old Testament. Of course it is this sense of grace that dominates Romans 3-6, especially in thesis 3:24, while the same use is found in Galatians 2:21; Ephesians 2:5,8; 2 Timothy 1:9. Internships at Grace Fellowship; Missions. 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