Grace & Gifts – BT2:  Grace versus Works of Righteousness

 

 

 

Video:  Grace & Gifts - BT2:  Grace versus Works of Righteousness

 

 

Grace & Gifts – BT2:  Grace versus Works of Righteousness

 

 

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Paul says that “at the present time there is a remnant, chosen kata down-from/according-to charis unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace.  But if it is by charis unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace, it is absolutely-in-fact-NO longer on the basis of ergon works/doings; otherwise charis unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace would absolutely-in-fact-NO longer be charis unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace” (a), exactly because “to the one who routinely/habitually ergazomai works/does, his misthos ‘wages, salary, pay’ are absolutely-in-fact-NOT counted as charis unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace but-instead as his obligated-due.  Moreover, to the one who is in-possibility-NOT routinely/habitually ergazomai working/doing but-however is routinely/habitually having trusting-relying-faith upon Him (Christ), who is routinely/habitually dikaioo ‘justifying or making/declaring as righteous’ the ungodly, his [routine/habitual] trusting-relying-faith is logizomai ‘logically counted/reasonable-concluded’ as justification/righteousness” (b).  <Notes> a) Romans 11:5-7, b) Romans 4:4-5.

 

Here the context is the ergon works/doings of the Law required of a Jew under the old covenant (a).  Finally, Paul says of Christians: “You have already been [with ongoing effects] saved dia thru-the-realizing-channel-of trusting-relying-faith – and this is absolutely-in-fact-NOT out-from yourselves; [but instead] of/belonging-to God [it is] the grace-gift , absolutely-in-fact-NOT out-from ergon works/doings, in order that in-possibility-NO one [person] may boast” (b).  <Notes> a) Romans 3:20, 27-28, b) Ephesians 2:8-9.  The Greek neuter “this” pronoun doesn’t point back to feminine charisgrace” or pistis feminine “faith” but to the phrase “saved dia thru-the-realizing-channel-of trusting-relying-faith” – a common argument of Christ’s, Paul’s/Silas’, and James’ that “is the grace-gift of God,” per Luke 7:50, 8:12; Mark 16:16; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 1:21, 15:2; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 16:31; James 5:15; cf. Jude 1:5.

 

And yet, Paul can balance this with:  “God is able to make all unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace abound TO you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every agathos ‘God-like good’ ergon work/doing” (a).  Clearly, God’s abounding Grace comes to us by the abounding God-Doer of the Holy Spirit!  Here the context is the Christian’s God-like works/doing (b) as “light shining before others” (c), associated with the unconditional-love of Christ (d), and worked/done by-the-means-of God’s dunamis dynamite-like enabling-power through unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace working/doing within you (e), the “bearing/carrying of much fruit that glorifies My Father” that only occurs when you “meno ‘abide in or remain connected to’ the Vine of Christ” (f).  None of this has to do with “the ergon works/doings done by us in righteousness” (g) under the old covenant “Law of ergon works/doings” (h).

 

<Notes> a) 2 Corinthians 9:8, agathos ‘inherently or intrinsically good as excellent, distinguished, salutary, upright, honorable, useful, beneficial, suitable, advantageous,’ b) Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:14, 3:8, 14; 1 Timothy 5:25, c) Matthew 5:16, d) Hebrews 10:24, e) Philippians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 12:6, 15:10; Hebrews 13:21, f) John 15:4-8, g) Titus 3:5, h) Romans 3:27, cf. 4:2; Ephesians 2:9; 2 Timothy 1:9.

 

James also strikes the balance:  “So also trusting-relying-faith, if it has in-possibility-NO ergon works/doings, [is] nekros dead/lifeless/useless” (a).  He reminds these Jewish-Christians of “the perfect Law of liberty/freedom” where “mercy triumphs over judgment,” which in context is freedom from the old covenant Law of slavery to certain judgment of sin and thus death, and reminding them to have merciful compassion instead of criticalness & divisive favoritism they were showing others in the local church, and he says this kind or life-giving, useful, working “faith” is all based on the “implanted [gospel ] logos message which is able to save your souls” (b). <Notes> a) James 2:17, b) James 1:21, 2:13.

 

Paul also reminds Christians that they are under a completely different-in-kind “Law of Christ, to bear one another’s burdens” (a).  John reminds Christians that the completely different-in-kind “kainos New commandment of Christ to unconditionally-love one another [reciprocally/mutually] (b) is what marks a Christian as genuine (c), as it is integral to the only 2 New Testament commandments (d).  Paul says that whether we obey the OT Law or NOT “ishuo presently/ongoingly has ANY ’embodied-strength/power to engage resistance with combative/confrontive force to be victorious’ but-ONLY trusting-relying-faith dia ‘thru the realizing channel of’ unconditional-love [that is] routinely/habitually energeo ‘working-in to bring from one point to another, energizing to accomplish an objective’.”  There’s that “Faith and Love” connection! <Notes> a) Galatians 6:2, b) John 13:34, 15:12; 1 John 2:8, c) 1 John 2:9, 11, 3:15, 4:20, d) 1 John 3:23.

 

 

 

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Spiritual Education, Grace versus Works, God chooses a remnant down-from grace not works, grace is a gift NOT a due wage, Righteous is logically-concluded & declared-given to those with faith, Salvation thru faith is a gift of grace of God so nobody can boast, God’s Spirit-working is God’s Grace working in us to do God-like-good Christian works, All that NOW counts is Faith working thru Love

Categories: Grace-Gifts

Grace & Gifts – BT1:  Grace is a completely different-in-kind New Covenant Way distinction

 

 

 

Video:  Grace & Gifts - BT1:  Grace is a completely different-in-kind New Covenant Way distinction

 

 

Grace & Gifts – BT1:  Grace is a completely different-in-kind New Covenant Way distinction

 

 

 

Please follow the BLOG Etiquette to stay on topic and pass the moderator’s check.  Bold, underlined text below = future links to the BLOG pages.

 

Here’s a definitive statement from a scholarly work about grace:  “There is no word in the Hebrew Old Testament (OT) that can represent all of the meanings of grace in 118 verses of the New Testament (NT), and in the OT Greek Septuagint LXX charis ‘grace’ itself is practically used only as a translation of the Hebrew chen ‘favor’ or ratson ‘acceptance’ in such passages as Isaiah 60:10 and Psalms 44:3, or chesed ‘kindness/mercy’ as in Exodus 20:6.  That is because technically, salvation by grace in the NT is opposed to an OT doctrine of salvation by ergon works/doings (a), or, what is the same thing, salvation by Law (b) – i.e. men and God are thought of as parties to a contract/covenant-agreement, to be fulfilled by each independently.”  The OT is about working FOR God but the NT is about working WITH God. <Notes> a) Romans 4:4; 11:6, b) Romans 6:14.

 

They continue:  “Most of the legislation seems to presuppose some idea of man as an entity quite outside of God.  But the promise is made that the God who has manifested Himself as a forgiving Father will in due time take hold of His children to work IN them actual righteousness (a).”  Whatever the Law was, it sure wasn’t “The Grace” or “The The Truth” since in John 1:17 it says that “The Law was given through Moses, but The Grace and/coupled The Truth actually ginomai ’emerged/moved-from/came-into-being/manifested from 1 realm/condition into another’ dia thru-the-realizing-channel-of Jesus Christ.” <Notes> a) Isaiah 1:26; 4:3-4; 32:1-8; 33:24; Jeremiah 31:33-34; Ezekiel 36:25-26; Zechariah 8; Daniel 9:24; Psalms 51:10-12.

 

Furthermore, trusting-relying-faith and unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace as associated together are pretty much NT distinctions from the OT, exactly because the New Covenant is completely-different-in-kind, sharing nothing with its predecessor, by definition of Hebrew chadash & Greek kainos “NEW.”  That’s exactly Paul’s gospel logos message of The Truth!  –  “The gospel is the enabling-power of God for salvation” that reveals God’s “WAY of righteousness by-the-means-of unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace apart from obedience to the Law” – but only to those who routinely/habitually have trusting-relying-faith in Christ (a).  <Notes> a) Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-22, 25-28, 30, 5:1-2; Galatians 2:16, 3:24; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 1:27, 3:9.

 

Jewish myths, genealogies, controversies, dissensions, quarrels, and the like about the Law (a) are worthless and unprofitable (b), even the reading or teaching of the Law (c), as is anything else is other than Christ and His sound gospel logos messages (d).  However, Paul and the writer of Hebrews (e) say there are gramma letters (f) of graphe scripture that are “of a kind/class/category/portion of” (g) scripture that Jewish-Christians, like Timothy and his family, commonly used to catechize/convert (h) fellow Jews to Christ to “make them wise eis ‘toward and reaching the goal/purpose of’ salvation dia ‘thru the realizing channel of’ trusting-relying-faith IN Christ Jesus” (i).  This “kind/class/category/portion of” used by the early Jewish-Christians amounts to 2.6% of the OT graphe scripture – see Logos Word of God – BT6.

 

<Notes> a) scholarly debate is still encouraged to ‘unlock’ or ‘unpack’ the scriptures, and the Jews see it as “worshipping God with their all their minds”, b) 1 Timothy 1:4; Titus 3:9, c) 2 Corinthians 3:7, 15-18; 1 Timothy 1:3, 7; Romans 7:6; Colossians 2:16-23; Titus 1:11, d) 1 Timothy 6:3; Titus 2:1; Hebrews 13:9, e) likely Paul’s preaching companion Barnabas, who had much better Greek than Paul, f) writings, but in context: portions of sacred writings, g) pas is rarely used as “the whole/entirety of,” h) 2 Timothy 3:15-16, i) katecheo: repetitive instruction of foundational truths: Luke 1:4; Galatians 6:6; 1 Corinthians 14:19; Acts 18:25.

 

Charis unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace and agape unconditional-love are nearly synonymous in meaning, the former’s “favor” is the result of the latter’s love of God, but both are unconditional!  We also see “unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace and peace” given as a blessing for “those unconditionally-loved by God” (a), and “unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace to all who unconditionally-love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying unconditional-love” (b), and “may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who unconditionally-loved us and/coupled by His unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope” (c). <Notes> a) Romans 1:7, b) Ephesians 6:24, c) 2 Thessalonians 2:16.

 

The Triune God is involved in blessing us:  “May the unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and/coupled the unconditional-love of God (Father), and/coupled the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (a).  Paul knows where all this comes from:  “The unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace of our Lord (Jesus) was poured out on me abundantly, along with trusting-relying-faith and/coupled unconditional-love that are [both] in Christ Jesus” (b).  Finally, “unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and/coupled from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, shall indeed be with us by-the-means-of [singular] Truth and/coupled [singular] Unconditional-Love” (c). <Notes> a) 2 Corinthians 13:14, b) 1 Timothy 1:14, c) 2 John 1:3.

 

Because God’s unconditional-love and God’s unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace are so similar in meaning – the later the result of the former – and our trusting-relying-faith results in God’s unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace, naturally the connection between unconditional-love and trusting-relying-faith is even more obvious – even directly coupling them by the Greek conjunction kai 6 times (a).  In fact, the other examples of proximity and relationships are so numerous that I’ve discussed this all on the Obedient Steps of Faith and the Unconditional-Love pages!  <Notes> a) Revelation 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:6, 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:14, 2:15; 2 Timothy 1:13.

 

Reflections:

 

As Christian musicians, don’t we want our worship music to represent the completely different-in-kind New Covenant that speaks of the unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace that comes from God’s unconditional-love, which we can all have dia thru-the-realizing-channel-of trusting-relying-faith?  If grace is all about “unmerited, unearned, undeserved, no-strings-attached loving favor,” why then are we referring to Old Testament “spiritual disciplines” like fasting at all, when all these are based on the “merited, earned, deserved, conditional-love” of the Law of commandments, that Paul said in Colossians 2:23 has “absolutely-in-fact-NO value in curbing the indulgence of the flesh, especially since all 613 commandments that were against us were airo lifted up/away and nailed to the cross by Christ per v. 2:14?

 

You need to ask why Christ’s disciples didn’t fast and why Christ’s defense was that you absolutely can’t put new wine into old wineskins or sew new cloth onto old fabric without ruining BOTH – see Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39 and New Covenant – BT7.  Many pastors like Francis Chan have recognized that the oldest New Testament manuscripts don’t teach fasting at all, but that this is simply a “tradition of men” passed on down by the Byzantine Catholic Church.  Is there anything else we are “borrowing” from the Old Testament to build the foundation of The Great Wall quenching the Holy Spirit in the Church today?

 

 

 

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Spiritual Education, Grace is mostly unique to the New Testament, New salvation by grace opposite from Righteousness by works of Old Law, Working FOR God is opposite of Working With God thru relationship, The Grace & The Truth isn’t the bible but Jesus, Grace by Faith is unique gospel message of the New Testament, The Law study & teaching are now worthless & unprofitable, Only 2.6% of Old Testament used and only to convert Jews, Charis Grace favor comes from God’s agape Love, Blessings NOW by Grace-Love thru koinonia relationship by Faith-Dependence

Categories: Grace-Gifts