When modern churches talk about grace it can have very different meanings depending upon the particular “brand” of faith. There are, however a few aspects of grace upon which the majority of Christians agree. We must identify those aspects of grace first before we can determine if any have strayed on this point.
In the Old Testament the word “grace” has one primary definition (except in Ezra 9:8). The Hebrew word for “grace” is: “Khane” (דסח) which means, “favor, or “preferential treatment.” In Ezra 9:8 the word “techinnah” which is basically “graciousness,” and is used when a person treats everyone with “favor,” or in the connotation of “supplication.”
Christians say it this way: “unmerited favor.”
In the New Testament the word grace has one primary meaning (except in James 1:11). The primary word for grace in Greek (Chaldean) is: “Khares” (χάρις). It actually is where we get the word “caress” from. It denotes a “free gift,” primarily God giving of himself freely without merit. In James he uses the word: euprepeia, (εὐπρέπεια ) which means- “goodly or beautiful in appearance or countenance.”
No matter how one defines grace, we soon discover that modern Christians regard “grace” as something that was brought in by the cross of Christ. It is almost unanimously taught this way. Christ brought grace and before that mankind was enslaved to the law. That is the basic gist of the modern “grace” teachers.
Yet, is this supported in scripture?
Did the Hebrews before Christ, under the law have “grace?”
The word “grace” appears 38 times in the Old Testament. The following people were said to have “found grace” before Christ was ever crucified.
1. Noah (Genesis 6:8) 2. Lot (Genesis 19: 19) 3. Moses (Exodus 33) 4. Gideon (Judges 6: 17)
5. The remnant of the House of Israel (Ezra 9: 8)
6. Christ- The Coming King (Psalms 45: 2) 7. All who walk uprightly (Psalms 84: 11)
8. The son who hears his father's instruction and forsakes not the law of his mother. (Proverbs 1: 9)
9. The man who seeks wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 3: 22) 10. The humble (Proverbs 3: 34)
11. He who exalts wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 4: 9)
12. He that loves pureness of heart (Proverbs 22: 11)
13. The survivors among the people of Israel in the wilderness (Jeremiah 31: 2)
15. Christ as a child (Luke 2: 40) 16. The Word made flesh (John 1: 14) 17. The disciples of Christ (John 1: 16-17)
Grace- Not Just For The Hebrews Anymore
Scriptures don't lie. Grace was in the world, and God was granting his grace to his people long before Christ ever died on the cross. In fact, it wasn't even known that grace was being offered to the gentiles after Christ's death. Not at first. Until Paul began to preach the gospel to the Gentiles it was thought that grace was only for the Hebrews.
The modern Christian dogma is that Christ ushered in grace when he died on the cross. They actually call the days following Christ's death and resurrection “the age of grace.” Yet, we now see that grace was in the world from the beginning. It did not begin with Christ.
There is one scripture above all that drives home just how in error popular teaching is on the subject of grace.
Romans 5: 14
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. “
Notice that it does not say that death reigned from Adam unto Christ! That is how it is being preached by Christians the world over. It's taught that the world was lost in the death of the sin curse, the curse of the law which brought only death, until Christ came, shed his blood, and brought grace.
Yet, see above, Paul says death only reigned from Adam to Moses. Why?
Because within the law of Moses was grace, atonement and forgiveness of sins, the blotting out of the handwriting of the ordinance. These things which Christians claim are exclusive to Christ, and only available through Christ's sacrifice were ALL available to the Hebrews under the law and under the blood sacrifices of animals for atonement and for cleansing of sins.
They are not just in error on this point, they outright deceive, calling God a liar. They teach that grace was not available under the law. They teach that the blood animals could never really “atone” for sin or bring forgiveness.
Evidently, God lied when he instituted these sacrifices (according to the teaching). When God told Israel that their sins would be forgiven and they would be granted “grace” through the blood sacrifice of lambs, and other creatures, God lied. They teach “atonement” didn't work and God couldn't forgive nor grant grace to anyone until after Christ died. those things really couldn't atone and bring grace to them who turned to them.
That is what is taught.
They teach that grace comes only through Christ's shed blood. Scripture, however, as we have already seen does not support this. Grace was in the world and was being shed abroad as far back as Genesis.
In fact, Christians have for centuries taught that everyone who lived before Christ, even the Jews all went to hell. Here is the scripture they use:
“13 And no man has ascended up to Heaven, but he that came down from Heaven, even the Son of man which is in Heaven. “
Christians unanimously use the above verse to prove that Jesus is actually God and that he literally “came down” from Heaven when he was born. Therefore, Jesus is saying here that “no man has ever gone to Heaven” at that point. In Christian theology there are two possible places you go when you die. Heaven, or Hell. Now, the Catholics used to have pergatory and limbo but those have been suspended. Even the Catholics now teach that you either go to Heaven or hell when you die.
Therefore, Christ has stated in John 3: 13 that none of the Jews who lived before him went to Heaven. No man had ever gone to Heaven. They, therefore, all went to hell according to basic Christian dogma. Indeed, Christians say openly that the blood sacrifices of old which Israel used to atone for their sins couldn't really atone for sins. They get this idea from the following verse in Hebrews:
Hebrews 10:
“4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore when he comes into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou would not, but a body hast thou prepared me:”
It is the Christian teaching that blood atonement under the law could not really “atone” nor could it “cleanse you of sin.” They teach that is why Christ had to come and die, so he could bring the real atonement, the real grace, the real forgiveness. This leads us to the
inescapable conclusion that all the Hebrews of the Old Testament, all who died under the old atonement of animal blood sacrifice, died without real atonement. They died without having “their sins taken away” by forgiveness. They died without grace.
That is the position of those in error!
For they teach that the blood of Christ “takes away sin” through grace and forgiveness and that the comers unto the blood of Christ are now “perfect” and “declared righteous,” by
forgiveness. They further teach that such a thing was not available under the Old Law of animal sacrifices.
The Christian position on this is horribly in error.
God promised the Israelites that they would have “atonement” and forgiveness under the old law of animal sacrifices. Was God lying?
So why did the author of Hebrews say “it is impossible for the blood of animals to take away sins?” Because the author is not talking about “atonement” alone there. He's not talking about “taking away the penalty of the sin.” He's not talking about “taking away the punishment of sin by forgiveness.” He's not talking here about our sins “no longer being imputed.” He's talking about having your sins “taken away,” so that you no longer sin, and are perfect and sinless before God.
That is what the blood of Christ promises that the law could not.
For you see, by the blood of Christ the Holy Spirit was sent into the world (and could not be sent without Christ's shedding of his own blood). The Holy Spirit brings the promise of us to “live” in righteousness by faith. It promises to make us “perfect” in deed, not just “declared perfect.” There is the promise of our “overcoming sin” completely.
The law never promised this, which is why there were “yearly” sacrifices set up in the law, until the end of time. God knew when he created the animal sacrifices that the people who used them were going to sin until the day they died and were going to have to repeat those
sacrifices over and over again because of the “new” sins.
If the author of Hebrews is saying that animal sacrifices could not provide grace,
atonement and forgiveness, if he's saying they could not “cleanse” a person from past sins, then he's contradicting himself, for in the previous chapter he said animal blood could provide purification of the flesh from past sins.
Hebrews 9:
“13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
The author here states quite clearly that animal blood sacrifice could indeed “sanctify” and “purify” the flesh from past sins! He also states that the only way Christ's blood could do the same is if animal blood could do it. In other words, if animal blood “can sanctify” then Christ's blood can sanctify “more.” The following contraposition can be stated from this: If animal blood can sanctify then so can Christ's blood, therefore, if animal blood cannot sanctify, then neither can Christ's blood.
The author of Hebrews states that the only way Christ's blood works for sanctification is if the principal of shed blood found in the law works. If that principal does not work and did not work (as Christians claim) then Christ's shed blood accomplishes nothing.
The only way Christ's blood sanctifies is if animal blood indeed could sanctify, for Christ is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Common sense dictates that if the figure, the literal lamb's blood does not atone then that which the figure represents, (Christ the lamb) does not work. If lamb's blood does not take away and cleanse the flesh of past sins, then neither can Christ's the Lamb of God's blood.
This all should be common sense.
Animal blood could “cleanse and purify” the flesh from the penalty of sin. If that' were all that Christ's blood does, his blood need not to have been shed. Yet, Christ's blood does more than that. What Christ's blood does that animal blood could not do is bring the promise of some day living without sin. The hope of having no more sin for which to atone. That is what the Hebrews author states.
Hebrews 10:
“1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.”
We are “made perfect” by the blood sacrifice of the Son of God, through the coming of the Holy Spirit and our submission to the same in faith.
Hebrews 11:
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Those without us will “not be made perfect” and those with us (in faith) shall be made made perfect.
The “grace” and the “forgiveness” they are teaching comes from the blood of Christ the same exact grace and forgiveness that was available to the house of Israel under the old law! The only thing that has changed, according to them, is Christ sheds his own blood once, rather than shedding animals year after year. So, Christ had to die simply to save us the “convenience” of having to shed animal blood every year? Really?
When they teach that atonement didn't really work under animal sacrifices, they nullify the purpose of the cross. Christ's death then makes no real sense. Why did he have to die, just to bring us the same atonement and forgiveness we already had under the law? If all we gain is “forgiveness” from sins (past, present and future) by Christ's shed blood then Christ died in vain for we could have gained the same thing by continuing to sacrifice animals year after year.
Therefore the forgiveness being offered in the modern Christian gospel is the same grace and forgiveness offered under the law. Whereby, blood is shed and then because we believe in this shed blood we are “imputed as righteous.” Paul said that if all we get is “imputed” righteousness, if the only righteousness we can expect from the blood of Christ is the same righteousness they could gain from the law (through animal sacrifices) then Christ died completely in vain.
Galatians 2:
“21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. “'
What does Paul mean by “I don't frustrate the grace of God?” He's saying that true grace through faith brings a changed heart and a changed life where we walk away from sin. He's saying that to continue in sin after you receive grace is to “frustrate grace.” That is precisely what they did under the old law. They sinned, were cleansed by blood, then went out and sinned again. It was built right into the law for the law has the blood being shed year after year.
Christ died once. He died to bring grace, true grace. Under the old law it was anticipated that sins would be repeated, hence the yearly sacrifice. Under the New Covenant in Christ's blood grace is sent and the Holy Spirit is sent to “purge” us of sin, so that we eventually are “without sin” by his grace and faith.
To say we only have “forgiveness” of sins and “imputed righteousness” is to revert back to the LAW, in which case Christ is then dead in vain for you could have sacrificed an animal to gain the forgiveness you are talking about. You nullify the cross.
True grace through Christ's atonement doesn't just promise forgiveness, it promises power to overcome the sin and put it behind you completely.
That is precisely why the author of Hebrews said that when they go back to their lives of sin after receiving Christ's sacrifice they “crucify the Lord afresh.”
Hebrews 6:
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.