I know that to say that grace is NOT unmerited favour, flies in the face of popular Christian doctrine, but let’s examine this for a moment. The Scriptures state (Ps 138:6 NKJ) that, Though the Lord is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. And again, (Prov 3:34 NKJ) Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.
James quotes this Scripture in James 4:6 … “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Peter also quotes this Scripture in 1Pet 5:5 NKJ … for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Problem; If grace is unmerited favour, then why do ONLY the humble get it while it is denied to the proud.
Clearly something does not make sense IF we hold to the false premise that grace is unmerited favour. It is clearly not unmerited while ever some do not merit it.
If the cross changed nothing, could it have changed this? Could it be that this is how God dealt with humanity before the cross and somehow James and Peter got were still teaching Old Covenant practices?
We do know that James was not very educated. After all, it was James, who in the Bible book named after him, says that God tempts no man neither can he be tempted. And yet when we read Genesis 22:1 we see that God most certainly does tempt man, and when it comes to God not being temptable, was Jesus God when he was tempted of the Devil in the wilderness??? James is really not all that reliable. By the way, Christianity loves to squirm out of the Genesis 22 reference by saying that God TESTED Abraham but never TEMPTED. Such crap! They have clearly not read the Septuagint version of the Old Testament (written by Jewish scholars fluent in Greek, and writing for Greek consumption 250 years before Christ and almost always quoted by Jesus and His Apostles),in which the very same Greek word that is used in Genesis 22:1 is used by James. Oh well! facts are such messy things, aren’t they.
But back on topic now! Proverbs, James and Peter, are in total agreement. They are all teaching old covenant truths, which are ALWAYS based on dualism. But the cross changed all that, and now UNITY reigns.
Hi, as I have always seen it, Abraham was TESTED and not TEMPTED. I have never been fortunate enough to examine the Greek version, so I do not know ehat the translation is. Could you please post the translation so we can all be educated?. Thank you.
Clearly the Greek word is the same for tempt (entice to commit sin) or test (evaluate ones character) and can mean either depending on the context. There is a big difference between God trying to induce a person to sin and Him testing their Character.
This is a nice article but the writter did not give room for contextual meaning or evaluation, I completely agree with Austin Haygood view, yes the Greek word for ‘tempt’ is the same, yet it could mean different things depending on usage, this is where context comes in, which the writter of this article didn’t consider in his submission…
In classical Greek the verb πειράζω is used, first in the sense of “to attempt,” and then in the meaning of “to try, to test,” but not in the meaning of “to tempt” to evil; yet the latter connotation is common in the Greek of the Septuagint and the New Testament.
Temptation (in the Bible) | Encyclopedia.com
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs…and…/temptation-bible
The proud refuse to believe the gospel but not the humble. And it is those who believe the gospel who are saved by grace.
The Greek NOUN G5485 “CihahR-eeS” does not mean UN-MERITED or UN-DESERVED, but means a “REACTION”, which when the Father has a “REACTION”, it is the “REAPING-TO-SETTLE” of something that has been SOWN by the person. Other Greek words with the stem “CihahR” have to do with “REACTION”, such as G5479 “CihahR-ah”, which means a “GLAD REACTION”, which is often translated “JOY”. The Greek NOUN “CihahR-Mah” means a “REACTED-THING”, which also relates to the principle that the Father teaches that a person REAPS-TO-SETTLE” what he or she has SOWN. The Father teaches FAIRNESS, rather than that people get gifts that they do NOT deserve & rather than that people do NOT get the punishment that they deserve.
Rather than meaning “RESISTS”, VERB G498 “ahNTee-TahSS-uhMahee” means “APPOINT-TO-REPLACE-FOR()SELF” & is a compound middle voice VERB from PREPOSITION G473 “ahNTee” which means “REPLACING” & VERB G5021 “TahSS-oh” which means “APPOINT”. This is the Lord’s “REACTION” to the PROUD.
Commentary: In Chapter Four & verse Six, YeeahQohB [James] is referring to Proverbs 3:34 in the Septuagint Old Testament, teaching how YHWH REACTS. Therefore, he is not contradicting the principle that a person “REAPS-TO-SETTLE” what he or she SOWS. YeeahQohB [James] is using G5485 “CihahR-eeS”, which actually means a “SETTLING-REACTION” (but is falsely translated in Christian English Bible translations as “GRACE” (which Christianity defines as UN-DESERVED-FAVOR or UN-MERITED-FAVOR, which contradicts the FAIRNESS Principle of REAPING-TO-SETTLE what has been SOWN).
(James 4:6)Also, (He)is-giving (a)greater settling-reaction, throuugh-which (it)is-accounting, “The Setting-One is-appointing-to-replace-for(Him)self (to)over-highlighting(ones); also (He)is-giving (a)settling-reaction.
Ultimately the Father tests everyone, but He even uses tempters to do it. He even sent the Son to face the devil in the wilderness. However, the Father does most things indirectly through mediators, and no one can claim that the Father tempts anyone directly because a person should be obedient to what the Father tells him or her to do. That is what “James” (Yee-ah-QwohB” means in his New Testament book. Things that seem to be contradictions in the Bible can be found to not be contradictions at all (and it is a common thing is that the Christian English translators have mistranslated many important words). Translations are only translations, so they are definitely not perfect.
it is true that “grace”(favor) is gained. but the unmerited favor what ephesians 2:8-9 speaks about is that man’s sin (indebtedness) to god is so huge, all his good works that gained him favor with god cannot outweigh it. jesus pointed out a parable that a man who could not pay his debt was forgiven by his debtor. that servant must have gained favor with him already.
the written word of god reveals an uncomfortable truth: in the eyes of god, breaking one of his laws is breaking all. only jesus was able to be completely compliant all his life. for god, this was enough to wipe out the sin of debt of everyone who believes this solution to the problem, repents and start living a life that jesus showed us: a life in compliant to god’s instructions (torah). as humans, we can never be fully compliant, and for those who have believed, repentance and committing not to live in sin by the power of the holy spirit that god supplies upon the first act of obedience in baptism is needed.
all how have been declared by god as having righteousness have sinned but live in faith of his undeserving graciousness and mercy.
thank you for sharing your understanding. the fairness of what god did is shown by jesu’s paying for the balance of what is owed. only he can pay for the balance of the debt of sin we humans owe god. that is how god’s justice can be just: all a man’s debt is paid off by what he has done and what is short is covered by jesus when that man accepts the fact that he cannot fully pay his debt and accepts jesus’ offer of covering his shortfall. then, his gratitude is expressed in living the life of compliance to god’s written instructions of how to live our lives pleasing in his sight. from thence, jesus continues to cover his short fall continues to shower him unmerited grace.
be continually blessed.
dear mr. bartlett:
thank you for putting out your understanding of “grace.” may i ask the you the favor of passing my message to mr. kain? i would be ver grateful.
kind regards,
grace
dear mr. kain,
blessings be to you for sharing your understanding of the written word of god. it is by god’s grace that i found your responses on the issue of grace. i would very much want to know more of what you have come to understand of the written word of god. i submitted my personal email address to this website in the hope that mr. bartlett can provide it to you should you be interested to reach out to me.