'Unmerited Favor' Besmirches God’s
Character
Part 1 of 4
(October 2004)
Grace According To The Church
The Church teaches the meaning of grace as “God’s undeserved or unmerited favor toward mankind.” The understanding of that is: anything humans get from God, including salvation, is typically given by God with the attitude of “they don’t deserve it.” This points to the cold hard fact that God is not a cheerful giver even though He is love, He doesn’t give out of love. What a sad commentary on the understanding of the word grace in relationship to God and mankind. Numerous sermons on God’s grace and the teaching of it being undeserved, has been and continues to be the teaching in The Church. Not a pretty picture of the God we serve based on The Church’s meaning of grace.
The word grace in both the Hebrew and Greek languages boils down to: kindness ■ favor ■ pity, but The Church has widened it to include the word “undeserved” kindness ■ favor ■ pity of God toward mankind. The Church is fully responsible for that dreadful untruth about God that smears His character. God Himself, nor His Son Jesus ever said that mankind is undeserving of His kindness ■ favor ■ pity, but yet that has been driven into the hearts and minds of Christians for about as long as Christianity has been around. In all sincerity, to be reminded that the favors or blessings God bestows on mankind are all undeserving of them makes one feel so “low-down and rotten” inside even though they have a personal relationship with God and became His through Christ Jesus out of the Born Again experience. That’s not joy and that’s not what a child of God is supposed to be experiencing. If one believes that they are undeserving of anything God gives, how can one joyfully receive from God? One can’t. Truth of the matter, having this “undeserved” declaration drummed in to Believers’ spirits has created guilt in the soul of every Believer. Yes, guilt! And a Born Again child of God should not be experiencing a bad conscience behind receiving a gift from the God of love. It just doesn’t add up.
Thou [God] openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:16).
“Every living thing”? That means that God provides for both the saved and unsaved people on this earth, and everything else on this earth with the breath of life in them. God says He “satisfiest” which means He’s out to fulfill the desire of every living thing and He’s doing so because He loves – He loves giving, and He is obligated to look after His creation.
The Hebrew word for grace, chen means favor, pleasant, and precious from the word chanan which means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior. The Greek word for grace is charis from the word chairo meaning the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life. There are three other words that are synonymous with the word grace and its meaning.
|
Word |
Language |
Meaning |
|
Grace |
Hebrew:
Chen---------- |
Kindness; favour |
|
Mercy |
Hebrew:
Checed--------- |
Kindness; favor;
pity |
|
Lovingkindness |
Hebrew: Checed---------Greek: not in NT |
Kindness; favor; pity; good deed ------------------------------------- |
|
Goodness |
Hebrew: Towb -----------Greek: Agathosune------ |
Kindness; favor,
well-favored, pleasure |
Dear Saints, grace is mercy is lovingkindness is goodness when looking at both Hebrew and Greek meanings.
Grace Is His Lovingkindness/Goodness
God’s glory is His infinite goodness – His grace. Moses said to The Lord…
I beseech thee, show me thy glory (Exodus 33:18).
Well, dear Saints of God, it turns out that the glory of God is His happiness expressed through His divine attributes, and it’s about Him giving from the purest depths of His holy being. God proclaimed as He passed by Moses…
The LORD, The
LORD God, merciful (compassionate) and gracious
(kindness), longsuffering (patience), and
abundant in goodness (provisions) and truth (His Word),
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
and that will by no means clear the guilty…(Exodus 34:6-7).
“Merciful, gracious, patient, and abundant in goodness and truth” is not characteristic of someone that gives half-heartedly – showing little or no emotion because mankind is “undeserving” of His goodness. No, that’s not the God of the Bible, but you, Church, have painted that ugly picture of Him. It’s so demonic! Satan is most definitely behind that ugly portrayal of God. God, who is giving, never has arrogantly thought or said “it’s My gift to you undeserving human beings.” With God, there is no such thing as someone being undeserving of His gifts. When you get something from God, you deserve it, and you deserve it because He gave it to you being that He enjoys giving; you deserve it because God is under obligation to mankind that He created, whether it be ordinary or extraordinary kindness.
God’s character in all His
goodness is besmirched when The Church refers to His grace as underserved
kindness ■ favor ■ pity towards mankind. Mankind’s undeserved favors from
God is a bad reflection on God, being that all are created in the very image
and likeness of Him. To believe such about God doesn’t set well with
Him. It makes God out to be a selfish derelict who is haughty and
manipulative when He most certainly is not. (That’s more like Satan’s
nature. That is Satan’s nature.) The grace characterization of God is
grossly undeserved of Him but yet The Church has, for hundreds of years,
labeled His grace/lovingkindness/goodness as Him giving to the undeserving
or the undeserving being recipients of God’s goodness. Church, you are
guilty of destroying God’s good reputation; guilty because you don’t really
know God; guilty because you accepted someone’s explanation of the word
“grace” as undeserved favor and you ran with it. Church, you have made
God out to be a “short-order cook with a bad attitude on a Monday morning.”
God isn’t happy with this unjust assassination of His character. It’s
heartbreaking! Sinful! God forbid!
God’s Pools Of Ordinary And Extraordinary Grace
When one looks at The Church’s commonly taught meaning of grace, both Believers and unbelievers are all filth in God’s eyes and they deserve nothing. At the same time, all of God’s grace/loving kindness/goodness is not bestowed upon all of mankind which brings us to there being two types of grace: ordinary and extraordinary.
(1)
“Ordinary” Grace – favors that are given out to every living
creature, in spite of the fact that the majority of people don’t love God
and a great number just outright hate Him. This includes the breath of life,
provision, and the opportunity to become a member of the “extraordinary”
grace pool of Believers.
Out of a pool of billions of people on this earth who receive the “ordinary” grace of God every single day of their lives, only a handful willfully allow themselves to be drawn in to God by the good things He does for them.
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee (Jeremiah 31:3).
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44).
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32).
The word used was “willful” because God will never-ever force anyone to love and serve Him. Yes, it’s God’s grace/lovingkindness/goodness that draws people out of the pool of ordinary grace to Him to be recipients of His “extraordinary” grace.
(2) “Extraordinary Grace” – specially for His children who without a shred of doubt walk with Him in love, trust, and obedience. This grace is set apart specially for these Believers. These Believers are receptive to God’s captivating and magnanimous goodness and do go on to genuinely love Him and walk obediently before Him. This uncommon grace is the incredible goodness of God toward those who walk in the light of Jesus Christ, who are truly Born Again spirit-filled uncompromising Christians because they don’t go through life without the Father and the Son making their abode in them. These are the sons of God (John 1:12). (All created are not sons of God or God’s children; only those who walk upright before Him in love, faith, and absolute obedience to Him. The Believers in Jesus Christ get the benefits of both ordinary and extraordinary grace.)
God has reserved some of His grace/loving kindness/goodness for them that love, trust, and obey Him – the Saints – the Believers. For these select people, God will not withhold anything from them because they are the righteous and holy children of His.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will be he withhold from them that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).
Grace Is His Presence In The Life Of The Believer
In Acts 4, the apostles were preaching in Jerusalem when the priests, captain of the temple, and the Sadducees had them locked up until the next day at which time they were set in the midst of the Jewish rulers for interrogation. After the interrogation the Apostles were allowed to leave and they went to their peers and told them what had happened, and they all in one accord lifted up their voices to God in prayer. After praying the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost “and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). Verse 33 goes on to say…
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all (Acts 4:33).
Mind you, after they were filled with the Holy Ghost – the very presence of God, (1) they preached with boldness, (2) they witnessed with great power, and (3) great grace was upon them all. This great grace that was upon them wasn’t “unmerited favor” or “undeserved kindness,” or even “pity.” It was the very presence of God’s Holy Spirit in His people who were obedient to Him, and He expressed His pleasure with their contrite and obedient hearts by pouring out His Spirit upon them. God did it because those Christians deserved it based on the holy and obedient lives they lived and because of their complete trust/faith in Him. God thrives on giving. What else would He do if He didn’t give? If God is delighted when He gives, He wouldn’t get anything out of giving if His giving is undeserved. Yes, God delights in giving. God is the SUPREME GIVER. It’s known that He does love giving and is delighted when doing so because mankind has that same quality and they got it from God being that they are created in His image and likeness.
God’s grace is not some heavenly-wonder of a revelation that He announced for the first time through Christianity. God’s grace/lovingkindness/goodness existed and was exhibited on earth long before Jesus came with the Gospel and the New Covenant. Paul’s teaching on grace was no new revelation from God to mankind. In fact, Paul’s teachings somewhat stretches the meaning of grace (addressed in part 2 of this message – November 2004). Moses in Exodus 33 of the Old Testament references God’s grace. In Exodus 32, the people wanted Aaron to make them gods to go before them because Moses was taking too long to come down from the mount where He was visiting with God. The people got their molten god, worshipped it, and gave it credit for having delivered them out of Egypt instead of God. That didn’t go over well at all with God for He wanted Moses to let Him be so that His wrath would wax hot against the ungrateful people. After the people repented, God decided to send His angel to go before the people instead of Himself (Exodus 32:34; 33:2).
Moses wanted God to go before them instead of an angel so he reminded God of what He’d said about knowing him by name and finding grace in His sight.
I Know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight (Exodus 33:12).
In Exodus 33:13, Moses petitioned God to show him His way so that he could know Him and find grace in His sight. Here’s what God said in the very next verse…
My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest [give comfort] (Exodus 33:14).
The Hebrew word for rest
is nuwach meaning to give comfort. If God’s presence, His Holy
Spirit was with Moses and gave him comfort, that means God’s Spirit rested
upon Moses because God’s Spirit is the comforter (John 14:16, 26; 16:7)
which was what Moses meant by finding grace in God’s sight. Moses went
on to say to The Lord that if His presence didn’t go with him, then never
mind taking them into the Promised Land.
For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us (Exodus 33:16)?
That's why the only way Moses would know that they’d found grace in God’s sight was for God’s holy presence – His Holy Spirit to be with them. The grace of God is the presence of God – His Holy Spirit. God’s reply to Moses was…
I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou has found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name (Exodus 33:17).
God knew Moses by name? Yes, by saying so, God was saying that Moses is a friend, and a close friend at that, whom He took into confidence. That being the case, why should Moses be made to feel undeserving of God’s grace/lovingkindness/goodness? In the eyes of God, being undeserving of what He gleefully gives is puzzling. Really, it’s no puzzle because such trash teaching about grace being “undeserved favor” is of the Devil.
How can the grace of God, His presence, be undeserving by those who love Him and serve Him in obedience to His Word? God’s grace is the gift of His Holy Spirit’s presence as a show of appreciation to those deserving it because of their covenant relationship with Him and them loving and serving Him obediently with their whole hearts, minds, and souls, and with all their strength. God’s grace, His extraordinary goodness, is the presence of His Holy Spirit in the life of the Believer.
Grace Is God’s Reward System Of Blessings
Church of Jesus Christ, as it is with us humans and our earthly children that we bring into this world, so is it with God and the human race. As earthly parents we are obligated to provide for our little ones and protect them from the evil that is in this world as is God our heavenly Father obligated to provide for the human beings that He created in this world, and protect them from the evil one, Satan. Just as our earthly children deserve our love, provision, and protection because they didn’t ask to be born into this world, neither did mankind ask God to create them, and they “deserve,” yes, deserve, God’s love, provision, and protection as a benefit or reward.
The word ‘deserve’ means to be worthy or fitting of something – a benefit or recompense. Deserving of something means rewarded or given back. Because Almighty God is love, He can’t help but love mankind. God, who is love, is obligated to love His creation but at the same time is quite capable of hating them that do evil while yet is responsible for their provisions. Even then, because of His goodness and His obligation to provide for mankind, he doesn’t withhold from the evil the ability to carve out a living for themselves. Cain for example (Gen 4). Cain was a murderer and a liar whom God banished but yet God continued to provide for Cain and his family. Esau is another example (Genesis 27,28,32,33). God hated Esau (Malachi 1:3), but yet God didn’t starve Esau and his family to death. After Esau foolishly gave up his birthright, married two Canaanite women and the daughter of Ishmael, then joined up with the Ishmaelites, because of God’s goodness and His obligation to provide for His creation, Esau lived because God provided. Even though the God of love is capable of hating some of His created beings such as Esau, He still provides their needs and not in an angry mood because they are supposedly undeserving.
The reward system is God’s grace/lovingkindness/goodness – His mercy – none of which is “unmerited.” His reward system is Him “opening up the windows of Heaven and pouring out blessings (Malachi 3:10). This is someone ecstatically giving to those who deserve His blessings because of His obligation to them as His creatures. Bless God!
Out Of God’s Grace/Lovingkindness/Goodness He Created Mankind
The besmirching of God’s character has gone on entirely too long and it’s time for it to end. The question is raised, “why did God even bother making us” since we’re so undeserving of His love, His provision, His protection, His counsel, His salvation, and eternal happiness. Too many Christians have gone to their graves with the idea and belief that God, in all His goodness, created us undeserving of His blessings. God would have to be mighty cold-hearted to look upon His human creation as undeserving of His blessings, especially the blessing of salvation, when not one human being in the history of mankind, asked to be created. No, the creating of mankind in God’s image and likeness was all His idea. He made each and everyone of us for Himself – He wanted to be a Father to mankind; He wanted mankind to love Him and obediently serve Him by praising Him and lifting Him up, and by giving Him glory for all the goodness He does for mankind.
the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord (Psalm 102:18).
Even everyone that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him; yea, I have made him (Isaiah 43:7).
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men (Psalm 107:15, 21, 31).
God made mankind to praise Him and to speak of His goodness to others. That’s not One who looks down on His creation as though they are undeserving. That, folks, is not a God sitting high upon His throne saying “those people are undeserving of everything I do for them” and for Christians to keep the theology on the burner that labels mankind as undeserving is irreverent to God. It’s irreverent in that is misrepresents God’s grace/lovingkindness/goodness. It makes God appear as this cruel and unloving monster, high up on a throne; and that He is not.
Remembering that God created mankind to praise Him and obediently serve Him by bringing Him glory, He stresses that in Jeremiah…
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
If God delights in His people giving Him that kind of praise and glory, why would He do things for them if He believes they are undeserving? That’s not God. The word exercise in Hebrew is asah meaning to perform, or provide, or to carry out. It is God’s duty to give lovingkindness/goodness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth because (1) it’s the very essence of His Being. He “…is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9); and (2) If God’s giving of His lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness is so undeserving of His creation, why is He expressing that if mankind is going to glory in anything, it should be that they understand and know of His goodness? If God delights in doing things for mankind, why should they be undeserving? If God wants us to brag about the lovingkindness that He exercises in the earth for mankind because He delights in doing so, how could He, with a good conscience, see human beings as undeserving of what He is thrilled about doing? God’s goodness – His grace is not undeserving. Please, it doesn’t add up – being ‘undeserving’ of God’s grace/lovingkindness/goodness. It just doesn’t add up, especially since He is one who is inherently giving.
God loves blessing mankind. Besides, how can the “God of Love” give with the attitude that those He is giving to are undeserving, especially when they who are Believers do what He expects of them. He wouldn’t have conditions on His promises as rewards or benefits for obedience and complete trust in Him if the gifts weren’t deserving. His giving cannot be looked upon as undeserved. That would be real arrogant of God, and arrogant He is not. Since God created mankind for Himself, to praise Him and bring Him glory, then God is obligated, yes obligated to provide for each and everyone, including devising a plan of salvation to keep them from being held in thralldom by Satan and his demons forever in Hell with them.
Conclusion
If God The Father, who is “love” is kind to the unthankful and to the evil (Luke 6:35) how can God label His goodness as being undeserving of mankind. Granted, in the eyes of man, the evil doesn’t deserve anything, but that’s not in the eyes of God. This is the same God who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Ordinary grace, remember! With God being this loving and kind (lovingkindness), it is seriously doubted that every favor or blessing He sends forth is labeled as undeserving. After all, if it’s undeserving, why bother sending it? That would not be love as demonstrated by God who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son to redeem mankind from the curse of the Law and reconcile them to Him. If what God gives is undeserving, God cannot be getting the satisfaction that comes out of giving. Grace as underserved favor from God is an unjust assessment of the nature of God’s moral fiber.
God is the epitome of holiness. He is the holy God. In His holiness is found His lovingkindness – His goodness, His love that the earth is full of.
the
earth is full of the goodness of the LORD (Psalm 33:5).
The earth is full of the goodness of God that is forever! In knowing this about God, it is shamefully unfair to label all that He does for mankind as “undeserving of them.” The false humility of The Church in maintaining that people are undeserving of God’s goodness does not earn The Church a single brownie point but instead paints a very ugly and undeserving picture of God whom The Church supposedly loves, and He doesn’t want to be seen in that light. There is a difference between the sovereign God and that of a snob. One so glorious would never intentionally make His creation, and then see them as undeserving of His infinite goodness. How snooty! God is not a snob!
all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear[reverence] and tremble [stand in awe] for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it (Jeremiah 33:9).
From this it can be seen that God gives with a good heart because He wants His creation to give Him high praises and to speak of His goodness to others so that they will reverence and stand in awe for all that He’s done. God doesn’t give with regret or resentment, and everything He gives is deserving of the recipient. He doesn’t give in the mind-set that the recipient is undeserving; He gives to bring happiness. God is not a snob.
As God has ordained, living holy as Believers should live, is deserving of something extraordinary – something like rewards – blessings – promises, otherwise, what’s the point in living holy? There is a reward for obedience and holy living before The Lord God and His blessings/promises/rewards means someone is deserving of them. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Jonah, were they deserving of God’s goodness? God never said that they weren’t because God doesn’t see His grace/lovingkindness/goodness as being undeserving of anyone. If He gives it, then it’s deserved and it’s deserved because He is Father Creator and must care and provide for His all. Praise God! Amen!
The Psalmist said that God’s…
lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I
bless thee while I live:
I will lift up my hands in thy name (Psalm 63:3-4)
The duty of the whole human
race is to praise and bless the Lord because of His lovingkindness that is
better than life. If God’s lovingkindness, His goodness, His grace, is
better than life, how can it be undeserved? If God wants praises to come
from mankind for His goodness toward them, why would His grace/lovingkindness/goodness
be undeserved? Just doesn’t add up. Church, the teaching of undeserved
grace from God isn’t fair to God and it isn’t of God. This false
teaching of God’s grace being undeserved kindness ■ favor ■ pity must cease
at once. God is sick of this! Related Must-Read Messages
Part 1 of Grace Series
Part 2 of Grace Series
Part 3 of Grace Series
Part 4 of Grace Series
The
Marriage Between "Jesus Did It All" And "Once Saved, Always Saved"
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