Reimagining Grace:

Tit 2:11-12  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,  (12)  training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,

One of the misunderstood and misinterpreted concepts in the Christian gospel is grace. Grace is the driving force of the gospel. Grace has always been the case! Grace means favor. The first mention of grace is in Genesis 6:8. It's meaning is Noah found FAVOR. If one looks at the Septuagint, one sees that in Genesis 6:8 the Greek word for grace is Charis. It is important then that we understand that whenever you read the word grace in the New Testament it means favor. So then, the driving force of the gospel message is God's FAVOR bestowed on humanity. The above passage from Titus chapter two could read, "For the FAVOR of God has brought salvation to ALL, training us to be loving (like God) in this present age" (my emphasis and translation.) Evangelical orthodoxy has treated grace like an undeserved step child. That is simply not the case. God, has always been gracious. To be clear, when I use the term God, I mean the creative source of the universe, the Logos, the Tao. I also want to emphasize from the post on reimagining the Godhead that the creative source has three aspects. It is Papa, Son, and Spirit.

Look at this verse from John's gospel: Joh 1:14 " And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus was full of grace and truth or in other words favor and truth. When John goes on to say that the Law was given by Moses but favor and truth came through Jesus, one can correctly conclude that the Law was neither favor nor truth. The Law showed how important the truth of God's favor really was. Humanity needed and deserved God's favor because of Papa's love.

Now when we look again at the passage in Titus chapter two, it is evident that the FAVOR of God brought salvation to ALL! It does not say salvation to some. The true favor is salvation for all. This brings me to the point of explaining how I see the importance of grace and how it operates supernaturally to bring about godliness. This has seemed so clear to me for years and years, but sometimes I wonder if I properly communicate the idea. An idea by the way that flies in the face of human reason and what seems reasonable. And, of course the scripture says that there is a way which seems right to humanity but the end of that way brings death. So grace is the concept where one must suspend reason and yet, the truth is, that grace being the driver of godliness is really the most reasonable concept of all.

Here is the supernatural operation of grace/favor: God grants favor and has brought salvation and reconciliation to all. It is simply a declaration of God. Truly believing and apprehending this knowledge immediately brings peace with God. In turn, peace with God promotes genuine love for God. The reason being is that the favor/grace of God has removed fear. This genuine love for God not based in any type of fear promotes love and peace within us. This is the mindset in which to begin to look at love your neighbor, love your enemies, take care of the less fortunate, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and do unto other as one would want done. It is so simple, oh if it would only be believed!