Rightly dividing the Word of Truth. 32
Rightly dividing the Word of truth.
This is part 32 in a series of 53 articles about RIGHTLY DIVIDING GOD’S WORD OF TRUTH. All scripture quoted will be from the King James Bible.
In part 32, we continue where we left off in part 31, talking about the “Gospel of the grace of God.”
The law then, being fully satisfied, God was free to deal with us in mercy and Grace, through Christ.
Let us remember, then, that, although all of us deserve God’s infinite judgment, God is dealing with us on another principle entirely. He deals with us in Grace. Grace is favor to people that deserve God’s wrath. Grace is kindness to the ill-deserving. Grace is mercy toward those who righteously ought to be punished. Grace is goodness to the utterly bad. Grace is pardon to the criminal who ought to be hanged. Grace is love to those who deserve hatred and vengeance from God. Let this grace-principle take “hold of your heart! It is the only principle upon which God is saving or blessing man today. Men have all sinned; they all deserve judgment; but God, in His great love, has determined that His grace-plan will save all who will believe.
Having satisfied His own righteousness regarding human sin, God is free to give men salvation as an undeserved gift. Theirdebts having been paid by Christ, God offers men eternal life through Christ as a free gift. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 6:23
What a blessing it would be if men would simply believe, and receive this wonderful gift of God! Men think that they must do something to earnthe favor of ‘God; whereas God has already given us His favor without our deserving it. Christ has paid our debts for us, and God is giving eternal life away free.
There is a wonderful word in this twenty-fourth verse of Romans 3. It is the word translated “freely” as in the expression, “justified freely by his grace.” The Greek word here is “dorean.” It means, “on the gift principle” as contrasted with “the merit principle.” Gifts or presents, for instance, are sent on the gift principle. It is the love of the giver that prompts the sending of the present. The one who receives the gift is not expected to do anything to merit or pay for it, but simply to receive it. God says He justifies men dorean, that is, on this gift principle, without their meriting or deserving justification or salvation at all.
The precise meaning of this word dorean is brought out by its use in John 15:25, where our Lord, in speaking of the hatred men” had for Him, it says, “They hated me without a cause.” The words “without a cause” here are the translation of this Greek word dorean. Jesus says, “Men hated me dorean,” that is, without any cause in me, so why should they hate me. I received their hatred without deserving it; there was nothing in me to make them hate me. They hated me dorean, without any cause. Turning things around, we can see how wondrously this word dorean in Romans 3:24, signifies the absolute freeness of God’s method of salvation. He justifies men dorean, that is, without any cause in men, He justifies them.
To be continued