Defining the Word Grace

If you open a dictionary, most of them are going to define the word grace, as regards our discussion, as “unmerited favor”. The unmerited nature of grace means that it is something which must be given to mankind.  Indeed, we can see this when God says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Exodus 33.19).

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament states that one way to define grace is the “showing of oneself to be pleasant.”  Rather than showing himself to be malicious or stentorian, God has shown himself to be pleasant to mankind through sending the rain and the sun, and through restraining his vengeance upon us and allowing for time to repent of sin.  Another, more significant, way this was done is that God sent Christ to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2.2).

Ultimately, when all things are said and done, the reason why mankind may be saved is that God has chosen not to condemn us for the sins that we have committed.  This is the part of grace that really concerns us – the being treated as though we have never sinned, the willingness of God to forgive rather than to punish.  When consider the magnitude of God’s holiness, the severity of our transgressions, even a single transgression, is magnified to the point where no amount of work could recompense for the wrong already done. Thankfully, God so loved the world that he gave Jesus so that everyone who believes in him might not be condemned but have eternal life (John 3.16).

Who Will Be Saved?

Another way to ask this question is, “Who will receive grace and mercy from God?”  The short answer is those whom God chooses.  However, we must not make the mistake of assigning to God the choice of who will and who will not receive his mercy.  That may be the case, but we cannot jump to that conclusion yet.  First we must examine the Scriptures and see who God wants to receive salvation.

“[God our savior] desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2.4).  There is not a single person on the face of the earth that God does not want to be in heaven with him on the last day.  There has never been a single person that has caused God pleasure by refusing to come to him for salvation.  The most quoted verse in the Bible says that Christ died for the world, that is for all mankind, not just a select group of people (John 3.16).

Why, then, is it that most people will not be saved?  If God wishes that everyone would be saved, why will there be so many people who wind up in hell on the day of judgment?  Again, God will have mercy on whom he has mercy and will be gracious to whom he will be gracious.  Though God desires that all mankind would be saved, he is not going to make anyone do anything they will not choose to do.

No Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked

“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18.23)  God’s desire is that everyone should turn from their wicked ways to the new and living way and serve him.  He has desired since the first sin that mankind would “listen to his voice” and follow his commandments and statutes and ordinances.  Those people who refuse to do so are not going to be forced to submit to God during their lifetime on earth.

This brings us to the fact that there is something required of mankind in order to be saved.  Does this mean that salvation is earned?  No, mankind is saved by the grace and mercy of God.  How then do we balance the concept of grace with the need of man to respond?  That is what’s coming as we get ready to talk about faith and works.

If we were going to look at all three of these words and study how they fit together in a single post, no one would read it and I would get tired of typing before it was finished. Rather than write something that no one will ever read, I am planning on making several smaller posts throughout the next week or two that focuses on the idea that we are saved by grace, faith and works. As an introduction, I wanted to offer a glimpse of the picture mentioned earlier.

A Fallen State

We separate ourselves from God through our sins (Isaiah 59.1-2). There’s nothing that can be done to restore the relationship with God that we loose the very first time that we sin willingly against him. There is no great work that can be done, there no particular thing that may be believed in order to make everything better again. At this point, there is only one thing that can repair the relationship we used to have with God – mercy. This is the reason why the apostle Paul is able to say that salvation does not rest on man who works by on God who has mercy (Romans 9.16).

Receiving Mercy From God

God will choose to have mercy on some people and not on others. What is the difference between the people who will receive mercy and the people who will not receive mercy? This question asks about the conditions that are placed on salvation. What has God said is necessary for mankind to do to receive mercy? Will God randomly select who will be saved and who will be lost? Is there some other process that must take place?

There a couple of things that will not obtain mercy. The first is good works. There is no amount of good work that can be done in order for one to receive mercy. There is no set amount of money that may be given, there is no set number of prayers to offer, there is no set number of hours to work community service. If any of these things were a way that we could receive mercy then it would be something that we earned.

Paul tells us that when one receives something for the work that they do they are being paid a wage. Salvation, however, is not a wage that one can earn but it is a gift given to mankind by God. However, there still looms the fact that at the end of the time there will be two groups of people: the saved and the unsaved. If there is no great work that I can do to be saved, then what makes the distinction between the two groups? Why are some people given the gift and others not?

Mankind’s Choice

God wants all mankind to be saved (1 Timothy 2.4). There is nothing that would please God more than if every single person who ever lived was saved on the day of judgment. This is not going to be the case, though, as Jesus has told us that the way to salvation is difficult and the gate is narrow; few people find it (Matthew 7.14). The judgment will ultimately come down to the fact that some people, most people, will refuse to glorify God with their lives. Those people who search through the Scriptures because they hunger and thirst after righteousness, those people who hear the word of God and do it, those people who seek for God’s will and make it their will are the ones who will be saved. This means that there is an obligation on man’s part in order to receive the gift of salvation, but their obligation does not earn it. There is nothing done that can earn the wage of eternal life.

This is the foundation and picture of salvation that we are shown in the Scriptures. Mankind sinned and fell away from God. From the very beginning of time, God has been causing history to happen in such a way that eternal life can be offered to those people who want to have it. Mankind shows God that they want to have eternal life by loving his son, Jesus Christ. We are also told that those people who love Jesus are those people who obey his commandments. This means that in the salvation of mankind all three pillars are used. Grace, faith and works are all involved in salvation and salvation will not occur if any of the three parts are missing.

- John 9:24-26 ESV

You can picture the scene. There is a man who, moments earlier was blind, standing before a crowd of men with scowls on their faces who though seeing do not see and yet hearing do not hear. The listen with great irritation to the man describe his healing by one he calls a prophet sent from God. Finally, when they can no longer stand his supposed insolence, one of the men cries out “Give glory to God! We know that this man (referring to Jesus) is a sinner!” The claim is that since Jesus is a sinner, there is no way that he could have healed anyone. Obviously this man, who was blind from birth, was lying about something. Obviously, there was some trick or illusion that they were simply not able to see. The Pharisees demanded that this man give glory to God by telling the truth, and that is exactly what he did even though it wasn’t the truth the Pharisees wanted to hear.

Rather than folding under the pressure, this man claimed that Jesus of Nazareth had healed him. He claimed that a great sign was performed in Israel unlike any sign that was ever done by any other prophet. While many miraculous things occurred in the Old Testament, no one was ever given sight who had been born blind. Ever. This made Jesus healing of this man something of particular interest. It was something that would catch everyone’s attention. It was something to take note of, something to remember.

It’s also interesting to note that this man wasn’t just asked to confess before a hostile audience, he was facing excommunication from the Jewish nation for teaching that Jesus was something other than a prophet of Satan. The Pharisees wanted this man to give glory to God by renouncing the miracle that had occurred and joining them in declaring the Son of God as an imposture and false teacher. Rather than doing so, he boldly declared that Christ healed him and, later would confess Jesus Christ as the son of the living God.

We live in a world where we are constantly called upon to deny Jesus Christ as the Lord of Lord, King of Kings – the very Son of God. We are constantly confronted with people who want Christians to deny the lordship of the savior. We must be like that blind man from so many years ago; in the face of our hostile audience we must stand firm and give glory to God in all that we do, say and believe.

The purpose of this blog is to do just that: in all things, in all ways giving glory to God. Through study, prayer and interesting tidbits of information, through posts and comments, let us all do everything we can to glorify the God who has created the heavens and the earth and redeemed mankind from sin and death.