Re: ASSIGNMENT 8

God’s Grace

While Tozer is on the right track when he says that Paul “never disassociates God’s grace from God’s crucified Son,” he stops short of adequately explaining the implications of that connection in his handling of John 1:17. By using “grace” as a simple synonym for “favor,” one might conclude that nothing special happened when Jesus came to us in the form of a man – i.e. that we see as much of God’s grace in the Old Testament as we do in the New. After all, God has always shown favor toward men, right?

In older versions of the bible (e.g., KJV), the word “grace” appears somewhat frequently in the Old Testament. But more recent versions (e.g., ESV and NASB) often replace the word “grace” with the word “favor” in many Old Testament verses. So “grace” appears less frequently in the Old Testament in those versions. The ESV and NASB editors have strived to adhere more closely to the original languages of the scriptures.

While older translations do have their benefits, they may have caused many readers to mistakenly equate God’s grace with mere favor from God. But there are many aspects to the specific package of “grace” that we receive in Christ. For example, God’s grace is what uniquely strengthens believers during trials, despite our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10); and it is what empowers us to labor for the Lord (Act. 6:8).

Although those who lived under the law saw some aspects of God’s grace and truth, they did not see God’s grace to the extent that we see it today. They lived in failure and fear, under the law that “made nothing perfect.” We live with “a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” (Heb. 7:19). They were generally told: “wash,” “cleanse yourselves,” “do not come up here” (e.g., Exo. ch. 19, Lev. ch. 16). Remarkably, we are invited to “come boldly to the throne of grace.” (Heb. 4: 16). This is why John 1:17 says “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Is Love God?
Many excesses arise from simplistically thinking that “love is God.” For example, one might say that since love is God, anything that involves hatred is not God. This is problematic since the bible explicitly records God saying that he hates some things, even certain people (e.g., Amo. 5:21, Zec. 8:17, Mal. 1:3, Rev. 2:6). Here's a similar problem–one might conclude that since many different religions involve love, they also involve the true God. This clearly conflicts with Joh 14:6, where Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The problem lies in the misunderstanding about what God is. While love is one of God's attributes, saying that God is love does not literally mean that that love is God. An obvious implication of John 14:6 is that God is much more than love.

God’s Holiness

Exo. 16:29 (God made the Sabbath holy and provided for the Israelites so that they could rest and enjoy him); Isa. 6:7 (God caused the seraphim to touch the prophet’s lips with burning coal, taking away his guilt and atoning for his sin); Rev. 4:8 (the scene in heaven where the four creatures “never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”); Rev. 6:10 (the slain souls cried out for the holy one to avenge their blood); Rom. 1:4 (Paul explains that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness”); Rev. 21:2 (the holy city, the new Jerusalem).

Exo. 31:14 (because the Sabbath is holy, anyone who profaned it was to be put to death); Isa. 6:5 (the prophet was alarmed because of his inadequacy when he saw God’s holiness); Job 40:4 (Job covered his mouth when God appeared); Eze. 1:28 (Ezekiel fell on his face when he saw God’s glory); Dan 10:9 (Daniel had a similar reaction, losing his strength when he saw God’s glory).

The above verses show that God’s holiness is an awesome thing. It is awesome in that we can enjoy it—we want to rejoice and worship God because of his holiness. We will never encounter anything as sacred or as pure as him. There is no one like the Lord (Jer. 10:6). But it is also awesome in a fearful way—we cannot help but worship God, for we feel inadequate before him; and he is not just a sacred thing, but he is a sacred person (see 1 Pet. 3:15). But not just a person either. The numinous power that awes us is God, the maker of the universe (see Gen. 2:3), who sits on his great throne and will judge the world in righteousness (Rev. ch. 20).