There is a theological problem of importance raised by these passages — What is it that consti- tutes the ground of our acceptance with God ? The full treatment of this problem must be sought under the art. JUSTIFICATION, but the following considerations may be properly adduced here. Unquestionably the Christian religion is a religion of Grace, as contra-distinguished from Judaism and other faiths, which are religions of Law. Salvation, according to the NT throughout (explicitly in the writings of St. Paul, more or less implicitly else- where), is of God, and not of man ; not our own doings, but willingness to accept ivhat He has done for us, and what He is ready to do in us, is the condition of initial inclusion within the Kingdom of Divine love and life. This is the watershed which determines the direction and flow of all subsequent doctrinal developments in Christian theology ; it is what settles the question whether our thoughts and practice are distinctively Christian or not. There are, however, two alternative perils to be carefully avoided — antinomianism, on the one hand, which assumes our continued accei)tance with God irrespective of our moral conduct after- wards ; and the doctrine of salvation by works, on the other, which makes moral conduct the condi- tion of acceptance, thus surreptitiously introduc- ing the legal view of religion once more. This ' Either — Or ' is, however, a false antithesis, from which we are saved by the recognition of the ' mystical union ' of the l)eliever with God in Christ. By that act of faith, in virtue of which the sinner ' accepts ' Christ and ajipropriates all that He is and has done, he passes from a state of condemna- tion into a state of grace (Ro 8'), and is henceforth ' in Christ ' — organically united to Him as the member is to the body (1 Co 12'-'-), as the branch is to tiie vine (Jn 15'"'*). This 'justifying faith' is, however, not an isolated act ; it is an act that brings us into a [lermanent relation witli the source of spiritual life. Now, 'good works' in the Cliristian sense are a necessary proof and outcome of this relation, and as such are well-pleasing or ' acce])table' to God, because (a) they are a mani- festation of the spirit of Christ in us (Gal 2-" ; cf. V.-'); and (6) a demonstration of the continuance of the believer 'in Christ' (Jn 15« ; cf. Mt 5'8, Ph P"'-)- The relation of the believer to Christ, in other words, while it is religious in its root, ia
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ethical in its fruit, and the quality and abundance of the latter naturally show the quality and potency of the faith-life of ■which it is the expression and outcome. Thus our ' works ' do not constitute our claim for acceptance with God after entering the Kingdom of Grace any more than before ; but they determine our place vjithin tlie Kingdom. There is an aristocracy of the spiritual as well as of the natural life ; the saved are one in the fact of salva- tion, but not in the magnitude of their attainments or the quality of their influence ; and they are more or less acceptable to God according to the entireness of their consecration and the value of their service. There is thus an adequate motive presented to us for perpetual striving after perfection, and St. Paul's spiritual attitude — ' not as though I had already attained, but I follow after' (Ph 3^-) — is the normal attitude of every true believer (cf. Col po-'-, 1 Th 41-^ 1 Jn 3-'2). It was given only to One to be altogether well-pleasing to God ; but it is the unfading ideal, and tiie constant endeavour of His true diisciples to follow in His steps, and in all things to become more and more like Him, as well as 'well-pleasing' to Him.
See, further, artt. JUSTIFICATION, etc., and Litera- ture there specified. E. Griffith- J ONES.
ACCESS.— This word in the Epistles of the NT is the translation of the Greek word irpoa-ayooyTj (Ro 5-, Eph 2's 3'- ; cf. 1 P 3'», where the verb is used actively). It has been treated very thoroughly in DCG {s.v. ). Here we shall conhne ourselves to —
1. The connotation of the word. — In classical Greek, the term Trpoaayuyevs was used primarily for ' one who brings to,' ' introduces to another as an intermediary,' mainly in a derogatory sense (cf. TTpocraywyevs Xrj/jL/jidTwv, one wlio liunts for another's licnefit — a jackal [Dem. 750. 21 ; cf. Aristid. ii. 369, 395] ; the spies of the Sicilian kings were called Trpo(Tayo}-/€h, ' tale-bearers ' [Plut. ii. 522 D]). It was, however, used later in a technical sense, the court wpoaayuyevs being a functionary whose business it was to bring visitors or suppliants into the king's presence. Trpocrayoryrj came thus to mean access to the royal presence and favour. It is from this association of ideas that the word derives its religious connotation in the NT. God is con- ceived in the kingly relation (as frequently in the OT), as one who.se favour is sought and found, and Christ as the irpoaay^jiyevs who introduces the sinner into the Divine presence. It is thus a form of words representing Him in the light of a Mediator between God and man ; and it throws light on the relation of the three parties in the transaction.