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GRACE ISSUES

1. Is the definition, “unmerited favor,” found in any serious dictionary or theological work? Yes. It is often given this exact definition or given a meaning using synonyms to “unmerited” and “favor.” They are underlined below. This list is not exhaustive.

• “in theology, . . . the free unmerited love and favor of God; . . . (Noah Webster, Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, 2^nd ed., volume I, page 790).”
• “Moreover, the word caris* contains the idea of kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved . . . (Joseph Henry Thayer, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, page 666).”
• “. . . of Christ, who give (undeserved) gifts to men . . . (William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, page 885).” This is the Greek Lexicon favored by conservative scholars.
• “. . . favour, gift . . . (James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, page 77).” This is an good concordance of the Bible in English. However, the dictionary that it contains is too abbreviated and out of date for scholarly work.
• “. . . because God is gracious, when we come to Him with our need God replies, not because of our merit, not because of the persistence with which we plead, not because of anything other than the need represented by the suppliant. Grace responds to our need (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things Which Become Sound Doctrine, page 20).” Dr. Pentecost is a dispensational scholar.
• “Grace may be defined as the unmerited or undeserving favor of God to those who are under condemnation . . . (Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology, page 196).”
• “Always, however, charis has the underlying idea of bestowal of help by an act of one’s free generosity. Aristotle could therefore define charis as ‘helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything . . . ’ (H. D. McDonald, Grace, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, volume 2, page 799).”
• “The word ‘grace’ is sometimes used of a gift, quality, virtue, or power which God imparts to man gratuitously. . . . It is the unmerited love of God toward men . . . (Edward W. A. Koehler, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, page 79).” Edward Koehler is a Lutheran scholar.
• “Since grace only represents what God can and will do for those who trust the Savior, it must needs function apart from all human works or cooperation (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, volume vii, page 179).” Dr. Chafer was a dispensational scholar.
• “. . . The fundamental idea is, that the blessings graciously bestowed are freely given, and not in consideration of any claim or merit. . . . In most of the passages, however, in which the word charis is used in the New Testament, it signified the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit (L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, page 427).” Dr. Berkhof is a covenant theologian.

*Sorry but my font does not provide the proper sigma at the end of a word.

 

2. Does 2 Peter 3:18 teach that more grace will be available to believers as they progress in obedience? No . . . for the reasons given below:

“. . . grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. . . . (2 Peter 3:18, NASV).”

• The verb in the clause is “grow.” The subject of the clause is supplied by the verb in Greek and is second person, plural, and active. It is the “you” of the previous context. Because the verb is active, the subject is performing the action of the verb. The clause indicates that it is the recipients of 2 Peter who are growing, not the grace.
• The preposition that is translated “in” in English is “en” in Greek. There are only two meanings of the preposition that seem to be applicable in the clause. The meanings are (1) the introduction of the place where the verbal action occurs or (2) the introduction of the cause of the verbal action (William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, pages 257-261). Either meaning is reasonable. Either the growth of the believers occurs in the midst of grace (like a germinating seed in rich, watered earth) or grace is the cause of the growth.

 

3. Does James 4:6 teach that additional grace is only available to the obedient (i.e., it is merited)? No, again for the reasons listed:

“But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE (James 4:6, NASV).”

• First, the verse begins with a conjunction, de (often “but” in English, see Arndt & Gingrich, pages 170-171), connecting the verse with the previous context. The theme in the previous context is Christians living sinful lives to the extent that they live like enemies of God and God hypothetically desires to remove the Holy Spirit from them that they received at salvation. The adjective “greater” is relative to the dire circumstances of the sinful believers. Though their problems are great, they have access to grace that is “greater.” The “greater grace” is sufficient aid for the believers to overcome their evil bent if they make use of it. It is not teaching that disobedient Christian have less access to grace than do obedient Christians. In fact the “greater grace” is available to sinning believers!
• The inference, introduced by “therefore” (dio in Greek, see Arndt & Gingrich, page 197) in the second sentence of the verse, is being drawn from the entire context, not just from the previous sentence. God is angry with the sinning Christians (verses 4-5) but gives them access to “greater grace” that will solve their problems (verse 6a) if they draw on it. The quite reasonable inference is that God opposes the proud (sinning believers who are too proud to draw on the grace given them) and gives grace to the humble (sinning believers who are not too proud to draw on the grace given them), possibly a quote of Psalm 138:6 and/or Proverbs 3:34.
• De is also the conjunction used to connect the two phrases, "God is opposed to the proud, de gives grace to the humble." This conjunction is a very mild contrast giving additional creditability to the understanding that a hard contrast between opposition and making grace available is not intended.

". . . one of the most commonly used Gk. particles, used to connect one clause w. another when it is felt that there is some contrast betw. them, though the contrast is oft. scarcely discernible. Most common translation: but, when a contrast is clearly implied; and, when a simple connective is desired, without contrast; . . . (William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, page 170)."

 

4. Does 1 Peter 5:5 teach that additional grace is only available to the obedient (i.e., it is merited)? No.

“. . . For GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE (1 Peter 5:50, NASV).”

• James was written around AD 45-50. 1 Peter was written around AD 63 (Ryrie Study Bible, NASV, page 1440). Enough time had passed since the writing of James so that Peter and his readers could have become familiar with it. Peter used an abbreviated quotation from James 4:6 in 1 Peter 5:5. Peter and his readers would be familiar with James’ full argument.
• Like the sinning Christians of James 4:4-5, the elders and the young believers of northern Asia Minor were sinning. They were lording over each other. “Greater grace” that is sufficient to overcome bad habits was also available to Peter’s sinning readers. They certainly did not merit it.

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  Ó 2002, Ken Bowles -- November 30, 2002, Edition -- Midi coutesy of http://www.cyberhymnal.org.

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