Theological Term of the Week: Grace

grace

God’s free, sovereign, undeserved favour or love to humans in their state of sin and guilt, which manifests itself in the forgiveness of sin and deliverence from its penalty;1 God’s unmerited favor toward the undeserving and ill-deserving. 

• From scripture: 

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:6 ESV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV).

… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…  (Romans 3:23-24 ESV).

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 428: 

The teachings of Scripture respecting the grace of God stress the fact that God distributes His blessings to men in a free and sovereign manner, and not in consideration of any inherent merit of men; that men owe all the blessings of life to a beneficent, forbearing, and longsuffering God; and especially that all the blessings of the work of salvation are freely given of God, and are in no way determined by supposed merits of men. This is clearly expressed by Paul in the following words: “For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory,” Eph. 2:8,9. He strongly emphasizes the fact that salvation is not by works, Rom. 3:20-28; 4:16; Gal. 2:16.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is the definition of grace? and What does it mean to be saved by grace?
2. R. C. Sproul: What Is Grace?
3. Ask Ligonier: What Is Grace?
4. Michael Reeves: Grace: What Does God Give Us?
5. J. I. Packer: The Grace of God
6. Jerry Bridges: What Is Grace?
7. Loraine Boettner: Salvation By Grace 

Related terms:

• common grace
• goodness
• grace alone
• love (as an attribute of God)
• mercy
• prevenient grace

1 Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 427.

Filed under Salvation

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Sunday Hymn: Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart

Rejoice, ye pure in heart,
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing:
Your festal banner wave on high,
The cross of Christ your King.

Refrain

Rejoice, rejoice,
Rejoice, give thanks and sing.

Bright youth and snow-crowned age,
Strong men and maidens meek,
Raise high your free, exulting song,
God’s wondrous praises speak.

With all the angel choirs,
With all the saints on earth,
Pour out the strains of joy and bliss,
True rapture, noblest mirth!

Yes, on through life’s long path,
Still chanting as ye go;
From youth to age, by night and day,
In gladness and in woe.

At last the march shall end,
The wearied ones shall rest,
The pilgrims find their Father’s house,
Jerusalem the blest.

Then on, ye pure in heart,
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing;
Your glorious banner wave on high,
The cross of Christ your King.

—Ed­ward H. Plump­tre

Another hymn for this Sunday:

• Higher Ground at The Happy Wonderer 

Theological Term of the Week: The Gospel

gospel (the)

The good news of what God has accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the story of what God has done to save his people from their sins.

• From scripture: 

Now I would remind you, brothers,  of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…. (I Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV) 

• From The Canons of Dordt, The Second Main Point of Doctrine: 

Article 1: The Punishment Which God’s Justice Requires

God is not only supremely merciful, but also supremely just. His justice requires (as he has revealed himself in the Word) that the sins we have committed against his infinite majesty be punished with both temporal and eternal punishments, of soul as well as body. We cannot escape these punishments unless satisfaction is given to God’s justice.

Article 2: The Satisfaction Made by Christ

Since, however, we ourselves cannot give this satisfaction or deliver ourselves from God’s anger, God in his boundless mercy has given us as a guarantee his only begotten Son, who was made to be sin and a curse for us, in our place, on the cross, in order that he might give satisfaction for us.

Article 3: The Infinite Value of Christ’s Death

This death of God’s Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins; it is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world.

Article 4: Reasons for This Infinite Value

This death is of such great value and worth for the reason that the person who suffered it is—as was necessary to be our Savior—not only a true and perfectly holy man, but also the only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Another reason is that this death was accompanied by the experience of God’s anger and curse, which we by our sins had fully deserved.

Article 5: The Mandate to Proclaim the Gospel to All

Moreover, it is the promise of the gospel that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discrimination to all nations and people, to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel. 

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham: 

[T]he heart of the gospel relates to Christ; all roads must eventually lead there. This is clear from the sermons to Jewish and Gentile audiences in Acts. Paul’s comment in 1 Timothy 1:15 is crucial: “Christ Jesus cam into the world to save sinners.” God has revealed good news; this central point is the gospel strictly speaking, and all other elements relate to it the way the rim and spokes of a bicycle whell are connected to the hub.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is the gospel? and What are the essentials of the gospel message?
2. Ligonier Ministries: The Gospel
3. Monergism.com: What Is the Gospel?
4. Jeffrey C. Nesbitt: A Gospel Summary
5. Southern Seminary: What Is the Gospel? (video)
6. R. C. Sproul and Sinclair Ferguson: What Is the Gospel? (video)
7. Burk Parsons: What Is the Gospel?
8. Ray Ortlund: What Is the Gospel?
9. Steve Lawson: What Is the Gospel?
10. Robert Godfrey: What Is the Gospel?
11. Don Carson: What Is the Gospel?
12. The Gospel Coalition: What Is the Gospel?

Related terms:

• active obedience of Christ
• Christ alone
• incarnation
• justification
• passive obedience of Christ
• propitiation
• reconciliation
• redemption
• resurrecton of Jesus
• substitutionary atonement

Filed under Salvation

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.