June 20th, 2007
Grace Study – Edition #1
I do not have an understanding of grace. If I did at one point, I’ve lost it. I’m starting to regain a new understanding. I had a small argument with my wife this evening. Maybe I am feeling a bit more stressed than I thought. The surgery is Friday. I would believe that would have a lot to do with it, but I can never really say if that is it. If God is the quarterback, I want to be his “go-to guy”. I don’t know if I am right now. I don’t feel confident about it, to say the least. I met a guy today, actually earlier this evening. I was starting to feel more like the guy wants me to be. When I got home, another guy approached me looking to squab with me over a parking space. To add insult to injury, my son was standing right there with me. I’m not sure if I want to live here anymore. Well, actually, I DON’T want to live here anymore. This neighborhood has rapidly declined since we first moved in. I just don't think it is safe. And to say the least, I want out. To further add to the whole thing, I just went and got my mail, praying a bit before I got it, and the woman who was being assaulted by her boyfriend threatened to call the cops on me. SHEESH!!! What next? I could use a little encouragement.
What is grace?
In the NIV, the word “grace” is used 124 times. It is only used 8 times in the Old Testament and 116 times in the New Testament. In the OT, four of those times, it is used in reference to wearing clothes. Another time it is used in a wedding song in Psalms. Here are the other three:
Isaiah 26:1-21 (NIV)
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD. O LORD, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them. LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. O LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor. They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them. You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land. LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer. As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O LORD. We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to people of the world. But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.
Jonah 2:1-10 (NCV)
While Jonah was inside the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God and said, “When I was in danger, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. I was about to die, so I cried to you, and you heard my voice. You threw me into the sea, down, down into the deep sea. The water was all around me, and your powerful waves flowed over me. I said, ‘I was driven out of your presence, but I hope to see your Holy Temple again.’ The waters of the sea closed around my throat. The deep sea was all around me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. When I went down to where the mountains of the sea start to rise, I thought I was locked in this prison forever, but you saved me from the pit of death, Lord my God. When my life had almost gone, I remembered the Lord. I prayed to you, and you heard my prayers in your Holy Temple. People who worship useless idols give up their loyalty to you. But I will praise and thank you while I give sacrifices to you, and I will keep my promises to you.” Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and the fish threw up Jonah onto the dry land.
Jonah 2:8 (NIV)
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
Zechariah 12:10-14 (NIV)
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”
Zechariah 12:10 (NCV)
“I will pour out on David’s family and the people in Jerusalem a spirit of kindness and mercy. They will look at me, the one they have stabbed, and they will cry like someone crying over the death of an only child. They will be as sad as someone who has lost a firstborn son.”
These are the three scriptures in which grace is a noun and not a description of an item.
Grace (noun):
Chên (Prounounced: khane):
Grace Study – Edition #1
I do not have an understanding of grace. If I did at one point, I’ve lost it. I’m starting to regain a new understanding. I had a small argument with my wife this evening. Maybe I am feeling a bit more stressed than I thought. The surgery is Friday. I would believe that would have a lot to do with it, but I can never really say if that is it. If God is the quarterback, I want to be his “go-to guy”. I don’t know if I am right now. I don’t feel confident about it, to say the least. I met a guy today, actually earlier this evening. I was starting to feel more like the guy wants me to be. When I got home, another guy approached me looking to squab with me over a parking space. To add insult to injury, my son was standing right there with me. I’m not sure if I want to live here anymore. Well, actually, I DON’T want to live here anymore. This neighborhood has rapidly declined since we first moved in. I just don't think it is safe. And to say the least, I want out. To further add to the whole thing, I just went and got my mail, praying a bit before I got it, and the woman who was being assaulted by her boyfriend threatened to call the cops on me. SHEESH!!! What next? I could use a little encouragement.
What is grace?
In the NIV, the word “grace” is used 124 times. It is only used 8 times in the Old Testament and 116 times in the New Testament. In the OT, four of those times, it is used in reference to wearing clothes. Another time it is used in a wedding song in Psalms. Here are the other three:
Isaiah 26:1-21 (NIV)
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD. O LORD, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them. LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. O LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor. They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them. You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land. LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer. As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O LORD. We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to people of the world. But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.
Jonah 2:1-10 (NCV)
While Jonah was inside the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God and said, “When I was in danger, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. I was about to die, so I cried to you, and you heard my voice. You threw me into the sea, down, down into the deep sea. The water was all around me, and your powerful waves flowed over me. I said, ‘I was driven out of your presence, but I hope to see your Holy Temple again.’ The waters of the sea closed around my throat. The deep sea was all around me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. When I went down to where the mountains of the sea start to rise, I thought I was locked in this prison forever, but you saved me from the pit of death, Lord my God. When my life had almost gone, I remembered the Lord. I prayed to you, and you heard my prayers in your Holy Temple. People who worship useless idols give up their loyalty to you. But I will praise and thank you while I give sacrifices to you, and I will keep my promises to you.” Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and the fish threw up Jonah onto the dry land.
Jonah 2:8 (NIV)
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
Zechariah 12:10-14 (NIV)
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”
Zechariah 12:10 (NCV)
“I will pour out on David’s family and the people in Jerusalem a spirit of kindness and mercy. They will look at me, the one they have stabbed, and they will cry like someone crying over the death of an only child. They will be as sad as someone who has lost a firstborn son.”
These are the three scriptures in which grace is a noun and not a description of an item.
Grace (noun):
Chên (Prounounced: khane):
- Graciousness, that is, subjectively (kindness, favor) or objectively (beauty): favor, grace or gracious, pleasant, precious, favored or well favored.
- Favor, grace or charm; in elegance or in acceptance.
That Hebrew definition is from Zechariah. The other two, from Isaiah and Jonah, are derivatives of mercy. What I can gather is that grace and mercy go hand-in-hand. And this is an important lesson in itself. If I am going to express grace onto my wife or my son, I am also showing mercy on them. And that is good. It is important. And I have to learn this lesson. It needs to be at the core of my being. How am I to be like Christ if I do not display grace and mercy? IT CAN’T BE DONE!!! There’s no way one can stake a claim in being Christ-like if they do not express grace and mercy.
Grace (noun):
- The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
- The influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
- A virtue or excellence of divine origin.
- Mercy; clemency; pardon.
- An allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied.
- A manifestation of favor, esp. by a superior.
Also on the online dictionary:
- Of form or person (Proverbs 1:9; 3:22; Psalm 45:2).
- Favor, kindness, friendship (Genesis 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 2 Timothy 1:9).
- God's forgiving mercy (Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:5).
- The gospel as distinguished from the law (John 1:17; Romans 6:14; 1 Peter 5:12).
- Gifts freely bestowed by God; as miracles, prophecy, tongues (Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:8).
- Christian virtues (2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Peter 3:18).
- The glory hereafter to be revealed (1 Peter 1:13).
I am very curious as to what these scriptures would reveal. I’m starting to get very excited about this new little series. Johnny Out.
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