GRACE
GRACE
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not by necessity or force, but by the freeness of His love, Ito 5*- "'. Tliia is the reason why grace is not only one of the ijerfcctions of (lod, but one of the distinctive features of the Christian revelation. Revelation is marked by progress. The God who is at tir.st hidden from men, so that they seek Him, if haply they may feel after Him and lind Him, isat lenjjth made known, but lirst as a, jealous God {ipyv 6eou}, only afterwards as a (jraciuiis God. And the revelation is completed when ' the Loud, the LoED, a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and truth ; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iiii(iuily and trans- gression and sin, and that will bv no means clear the guilty' (Ex 34''- ' KV), which is the loftiest OT conception of God, hecimies in the NT ' the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.' We proceed, therefore, to consider somewhat more minutely the elements which enter into the con- ception of grace and the forms which it assumes in OT and NT respectively.
i. Old Testame.vt. — ' The law was given by Mo.ses,' says St. Jolm (1") ; ' grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.' Yet the relation of OT to NT is misconceived when it is apprehended as one of antithesis rather than development. There is no doubt that the religion of O'i is ordinarily repre- sented as founded upon law, and that the very considerable element of grace which enters into it is ignored. But OT piety recognizes that wliat righteousness it has is founded in divine grace and imparted through divine revelation. It is grace which gives the law itself (cf. Gal 3'""^), and faith, which is that by which grace is received and. made ellective, is not overlooked — Gn 15", Kx U^', Nu 20'-, Dt P- 9=3, 2Ch 2U=", Ps 100'-- «, Is 7" 2S'«, Hab 2*. It is true that as grace gives the law, so through the law it seems to give men a rifjlit or llairn in virtue of their com|)liance with the law, m-hich is inconsistent with the later revelation of faith as the princijile of the new life. The favour (in the Psalmist and Propliets, the righteousness) of God gives to the obedient (or the rejientant, cf. Ps 17 and 26, also Ps 7) a claim, as it were, against God, Ps ll'J'^'^ etc. At the same time OT fuUv recojjTiizes that it is the divine grace which forgives sin (Ps 32. 51. 130. 143). Grace, as an attribute of God, appears in OT in conjunction with truth or faithfulness (Ps Srj'" 89'^ 98' etc.), but also with riglUcuusncss and ju</ifi>f>it (Hos 2'"). God is gracious as hearing prayer (Ex 22-''), as departing from His anger (Ex 32'-'), and as exercising freely His choice of love (Ex 33'"); He lifts upon the pious the light of His counten- ance (Nu G^). It is by the divine acts that this attitude of forbearance and conciliation is more particularly m.anife.sted. Even in tlie midst of the ruin occasioned l(y the Fall, the purjiose of mercy Is represented as being dcdjucd and its work begun, words of promise mingle with wor<ls of condemnation, the divine solicitude shines amidst the clouds of divine anger (Gn 3"- -'). Througli the same tenderness Abel and Enocli linil favour in the sight of God, Noah is warned and escapes the general doom (Gn 0"), Abraham is selecteu to t)e the bearer of the new revelation (Gn 12. 15), and the promises made to him are repeated to his descendants ((in 20. 28). Through it Moses is chosen and fitted for his work (Ex 33"). In all that concerns Israel as a |)eoplo the same free choice is exhibited and cxercii*ed. The promises freely made to the fathers are fullilled when, through .Moses, Israel is cIidscu from among all nations (Ex 19^, cf. 1)1 10'^) to be the people of God, and that from im merit of its own (Nu 11. 12. 14. 21, etc. ; cf. 1)1 9' etc. ). This choice is evidenced by the deliverance from Eu'VJ't (Ex 15""), and is a pure act of grace (Dt V 8"-'" 9*'). In the
Prophets we have a further dcveloijment of this point of view. Their whole religious attitude i» determined by it. That God had chosen Israel to be His people is their most sincere conviction, and the problems which perplexed them, and gave birth to some of their most profound and spiritual suggestions, arose out of the relation of the sins of the people and the consequent divine ch.asti.sements, to this hrmly held conviction (cf. Is 55" 03" 05', Jon 4", Mie 7'"-"'). It is true that as, on the one baud, the unworthincss of the mass of the people led them to distinguish from the nation at large the true Israel, the faithful renmant ; so, on the otiier hand, they were led to conceive the possi- bility of God's gracious purpose as embracing those wlio were not of Israel, and of the heathen being brought through Israel into the enjoyment of some of Israel's privileges. At the same time, all their wealth of metaphor is employed to depict God's loving care and guidance. His de- liverances and compassions !is illustrated in the history of the people, and to emiihasize His continued patience. His touching appeals and generous oilers, and the glory of His declared \i\iT- poses. Even in His anger God remembers mercy (La 3'", Jl 2", Hab S-), and yet all that He does is on behalf of those who are too often ungiateful and rebellious (Is 43-'-" 44'-=> 48»-", Jer 18"-", Ezk IG'*-, cf. Ps 78). In the relation of the individual to the nation we find an important modilicatiun of the idea of grace. Grace is mediated to the indi- vidual througli the nation. His imjierfections are forgiven because he is a member of a chosen people ; as belonging to an elect nation he is himself elect. The Pss express this assurance of the believer, which finds utterance in his prayers when adlicted and his thanksgivings after deliverance (Ps 3''- ' 4' 7'" IV 10. 17'-" 18. 32. 51. 103, etc.). If thus in the view of the Psalmists and Prophets there is no limit to (Jod's willingness to be reconciled, if even His judgment has a core of mercy, and His love always proves itself stronger than human sin, the other side of OT religion is, in turn, not to bo minimized. If God ha.s a special love to Israel, it is through a corcmint that this love finds expression, and the covenant takes the form of law. The peojde are bound to obedience, and the blessings ot the covenant can be enjoyed only on this condition. So far from grace being ignored in OT, it permeates it, as we have seen, throughout, liut grace is not yet fully revealed ; it is still dominated by the ideas of righteousness and re- trilnition. It speaks the language of law, and the law is, as already noted, its own ^'reatest gift. Israel has rea.son to boast it.self of its law ; the possession of it is an honour and a privilege dis- tinguishing Israel from other nations (Ex 19''', Dl 33'-''''). Thus, though by no means the sole element, law remains the distinctive element in or. Obedience is pre-eminently the condition of blessing. God in giving the law is emjihatically the God of Israel (Ex 20-). In OT His anger against sin is declared. His mercy and long- sullering are proclaimed ; but the-e rest side by side, an unsolved antinomy, waiting the fuller revelation.