Last week, as we continued in our series in Galatians, we defined grace as “giving a gift of favor motivated by delight,” and said the issue in the Galatian churches was not about one group preaching grace and another side preaching salvation by works. Rather, the issue is between two different concepts of grace.
Those who were opposed to Paul’s radical message did so because of their cultural and theological understanding of grace or “gift” (the word the New Testament uses for grace is kharis which literally translated means gift). Their understanding of grace was not based on works (i.e. an individual can do righteous deeds to earn the gift), but status (an individual is worthy of receiving the gift).
Theologian John Barclay, who has done extensive research on the understanding of grace in the ancient world, identifies 4 characteristics of grace people of Paul’s time would have been familiar with. For those living in and around the time of Jesus and Paul the idea of grace included:
Superabundance- the size or duration of the gift; the largeness, lavishness, or long-lastingness of the gift makes it grace.
Singularity- a gift was considered grace because the gift giver’s attitude is solely focused on acting in ways that benefit others.
Priority- something was considered a gift because it was given before any initiative was taken by the recipient. The gift was not asked for nor earned.
Incongruity- a gift was given without regard to the status of the recipient. The recipient is not worthy of receiving the gift from the giver.
Barclay’s research concludes that while all of these ideas were known to the ancient world, the characteristic of incongruity, the idea that an unworthy individual would receive a gift or grace, was very uncommon. Barclay points out that Philo, a Jewish philosopher who lived in the 1st century, made clear that a recipient's worthiness was a condition of the gift. Unworthy people would not receive the gift (grace) because it would be improper for God to give to those unfit to receive such honor.
So, what was happening in Galatia and why was Paul so frustrated? Likely, those opposed to Paul were preaching that people needed to first be worthy to receive God’s grace, and one was worthy based on their status as a Jew. Therefore, according to Paul’s opponents, to receive the grace offered by Jesus, individuals must first be circumcised, follow the Jewish dietary laws, and keep the Jewish feasts and festivals. This would make someone worthy of receiving grace. This did not mean someone had earned grace but was in a position to receive grace.
What makes Paul frustrated is that although this was the cultural and well-known understanding of grace in his day, it was completely contradictory to the grace Jesus preached.
“Paul’s gospel announces that God’s definitive gift in Jesus…is given without regard to worth and grants the only worth that truly counts. It was common to imagine that God’s generosity…would be limited to those who were worthy, in one way or another, of his gifts. But Paul announces the divine gift given without regard to worth.” -John Barclay
According to Jesus, God’s grace was not earned by merit, nor was it given based on status or worth. That is what is so stunning, and to some, offensive, about the grace of God. God freely gives grace to those who are unworthy.
Think about how this would apply in our churches today. If someone says they are ready to follow Jesus and wants to be baptized, but still struggles with addiction do we believe God still grants them grace? What if someone says they are compelled by Jesus, want to follow him, but has a sexuality that isn’t in line with what we believe about sexuality. Does God still extend his grace?
We may not be like the churches in Galatia and say, “to be a Christian you first have to be circumcised.” But we do say things like, “if you’re a true Christian you need to attend church so many times a month. “If you want to be a Christian you can’t be involved with these kinds of lifestyles.” “If you’re a good Christian, then you will think certain ways about cultural and societal issues.”
But again, God’s grace is not only free, it is not based on worth! So why does God extend grace to unworthy dishonorable people? Because grace is a gift of favor motivated by delight. God shows grace, even to the unworthy, because he is a good father who delights in giving good gifts to his children. God shows you grace because he not only loves you, he actually likes you and delights in you.
Food for thought:
Where have you observed tendencies in your life to live as if God’s love is conditional?
What might be the significance for your life, and our church, to embrace Paul's understanding of grace regardless of worth?
Yorumlar