July 1, 1996
From: darcyj@ix.netcom.com
Subject: Re: Grace or Law?
To: "Bart
You wrote:
If the "grace of God" is "Jesus' life", how is it that by the "grace of God" Jesus died?
"Grace", again, is God's _favor_ which He shows by sending Jesus to die.
Brother Bart,
You seem to be responding as if favor and life are complete
opposites and are entirely disconnected from one another.
I'm sorry if I tried to dichotomize and simplify. But the distinction which
I made is the root of our division, so it is very important to clarify our similarities
and differences in the basic meaning of grace, and how it is communicated by God
to sinful mankind in order to bring about salvation.
Let me respond to a few points in your last two letters. 1st thing is,
I believe grace to be divine favor, but not only favor, especially
when discussing how Christ justifies sinners. GRACE is certainly a free
gift, a merciful one, based upon the righteousness of Christ, given to
us because of the infinite merits of Christ's work accomplished upon
the cross. The work of Christ is sufficient and efficacious for our
salvation. But how is the Savior's work of redemption accomplished upon
the cross applied to our souls individually. He has conquered the power
of sin and death by his meritorious passion, death, and resurrection.
Grace is divine favor. He has shown us great favor. But it isn't
just a favorable attitude shown to us by God the judge. God is the
infinite judge, but even more than that, God is a loving Father.
Throughout salvation history, as seen in the covenants, we can trace
how the grace of God has operated, from the OT to the NT. In the OT,
God administers the covenant by means of the law and the prophets. In
the New Covenant, we have received more than God's Word in the form of
His divine commands, but we have received new life in Christ, the power
of the Holy Spirit, now receiving the Spirit of sonship, making us
children of God. Finally, our hearts are made right with God. Our sin
has been cleansed. We have totally been transformed by Christ.
This is the core of the gospel...Justified become a child of God.
Therefore, the grace of God which comes to us in the New Covenant is
divine adoption, whereby God's own divine life transforms our hearts,
causing us to be spiritually born as His sons and daughters. The
regeneration, this new life in Christ, is the primary gift of
salvation. This is grace....Christ's divine life given to us, making us
His children. This is seen in many of Paul's epistles. And Jesus
claims in John 3 that which is of primary importance - to be born
again. Justification isn't merely a legal declaration of God the
Rigteous Judge. Catholics affirm this, but also affirm the fact that
the regenerating work of God in us is essential to becoming united to
Christ's death and resurrection. As St.Paul says "If anyone is in
Christ, He's a new creation."
Also, my favorite verse spells out the fact of divine adoption: "
See what love the Father has given us, that we may be called children
of God, and so we ARE."-1 John 3:1
In sum, God's grace isn't merely a subjective attitude of favor,
but the gift of His own divine life, which changes our hearts when
we're born again. This is the core of the gospel. What do you see?
For Christ's glory,
JohnDarcy
Before I go, I want to state some of the basics which we share in
common. Let's affirm the 90% we do agree upon. It may shed a little
light and dispel some unnecessary heat!
Let us who agree say AMEN!
1) Christ alone is the savior...and Lord of Lords. Amen?
2) Grace alone saves us. Amen?
3) Christ alone can bring a person into a saving relationship with God.
4) The work of Christ on the cross has infinite merit...and the grace of Christ
needs to be applied to us in order to be saved. Amen?
5) Salvation is brought about by the regenerating power of the Holy
Spirit, bringing us into God's family, taking away our original sin.
6) We cant earn our way into God's family. Amen?
7) It is for God's glory alone that any one of us is saved. Amen?
Let the good dialogue continue only after we say "AMEN" to each of the
above 7 statements of essential truths of the historic Christian
gospel. And let's remember, we're all Trinitarian, disciples of the one
Lord and Savior of us all, the justifier of sinners.
Let the Christian dialogue continue, my dear brother Bart!
Grace of Christ to you,
JohnD'Arcy