All definitions are from the original
language of the New Testement, which was Greek, the
language held by the Roman Empire at the time. They are the closest we can get to
the original meaning
Matthew13:46
In
the Old Testament, through Jeremiah, Grace was most always
worded as 'found'
or 'find' No more
in the New Testament,
was grace ever worded
as 'found' and only one instance
of 'find grace'
Hebrews4:16-
Because
grace came to us, through the truth and love shown
in the person of
God as Jesus.
And the Word was made 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. John 1:14
No
more
did we have to find grace,
because Grace
found us.
The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Corinthians 16:23
And of His fulness have
all we received, and grace for grace. John 1:16
For the law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1:17
Being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Romans 3:24
Now to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. Romans 4:4
But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Romans 4:5
"By whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of
the glory of God." Romans 5:2
What
is the
'glory
of God'?
1)
opinion, judgment, view
2)
opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning someone
2(a) Inthe NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise,
honour, and glory
3)
splendour, brightness
3(a) of the moon, sun, stars
3(b) magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace
3(c) majesty
3(c1) a thing belonging to God
3(c1a) the kingly majesty which belongs to him as supreme ruler, majesty
in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity
3(c2) a thing belonging to Christ
3(c2a) the kingly majesty of the Messiah
3(c2b) the absolutely perfect inward or personal excellency of Christ;
the majesty
3(c3) of the angels
3c3a) as apparent in their exterior brightness
4)
a most glorious condition, most exalted state
4(a) of that condition with God the Father in heaven to which Christ was
raised after he had achieved his work on earth
4(b) the glorious condition of blessedness into which is appointed and
promised that true Christians shall enter after their Saviour's return
from heaven
So we
could say that these describe the characteristics of God,
in the person of Jesus.
We could
then say that the
'glory of God'
Is
the
character of God
For
all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving
of many redound to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15
But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness. Romans 4:5
"And God is able to
make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency
in all things, may abound to every good work" 2 Corinthians 9:8
Ah,
now
what does
'Good
Work' or Works,
really
mean, uhmmmm.
In
the
new testament, it almost always means
2041-the original
Greek-ergon- pronounced {er'-gon} from a primary
(but obsolete) ergo (to work)
(1)
business, employment, that which any one is occupied
(1.a)
that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking
(2)
any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or
mind
(3)
an act, deed, thing done, the idea of working is emphasized in opp. to
that which is less than work.
or---- the Greek 3408
-misthos-pronounced {mis-thos'} apparently
a primary word
(1)
dues paid for work
(1.a)
wages, hire
(2)
reward, used of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and endeavours
(2.a)
in both senses, rewards and punishments
(2.b)
of the rewards which God bestows, or will bestow, upon good deeds and endeavours
(2.c)
of punishments
I
know,
they're very close in meaning.
But
you get the idea*s*
and of course
'Good'
means
good,
doesn't it??!!
or, most commonly
used, from the new testament original Greek
2570-kalos- pronounced
{kal-os'} of uncertain affinity
(1)
beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious,
useful, suitable, commendable, admirable
(1.a)
beautiful to look at, shapely, magnificent
(1.b)
good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted
to its ends
(1.b.1)
genuine, approved
(1.b.2)
precious
(1.b.3)
joined to names of men designated by their office, competent, able, such
as one ought to be
(1.b.4)
praiseworthy, noble
(1.c)
beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, and hence praiseworthy
(1.c.1)
morally good, noble
(1.d)
honourable, conferring honour
(1.e)
affecting the mind agreeably, comforting and confirming.
or sometimes, the original
Greek 0018 agathos pronounced
{ag-ath-os'} primary word
(1)
of good constitution or nature
(2)
useful, salutary
(3)
good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy
(4)
excellent, distinguished
(5)
upright, honourable
Well,
like I said up there,
good
is good !
well, maybe, very
good !
Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of
the law: for by the works of the
law shall no flesh be justified. Galations2:16
OK, now
I know what 'works' means,
but
I'm
no lawyer,
so what's
'Works of the
law' ?
There's
a
whole lot about the 'law',
but
to
(bottom line it) here, for the sake of brevity,
it holds no weight
to our salvation. In
fact,
it can take away the grace
bestowed upon
us by Jesus.
3681 In the
original Greek, law means -nomos-
pronounced {nom'-os} from a primary
nemo
(to parcel out,
especially food or grazing to animals)
(1)
anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command
(1.a)
of any law whatsoever
(1.a.1)
a law or rule producing a state approved of God
(1.a.1.a)
by the observance of which is approved of God
(1.a.2)
a precept or injunction
(1.a.3)
the rule of action prescribed by reason
(1.b)
of the Mosaic law, and referring, acc. to the context. either to the volume
of the law or to its contents
(1.c)
the Christian religion, the law demanding faith, the moral instruction
given by Christ, esp. the precept concerning love
(1.d)
the name of the more important part (the Pentateuch), is put for the entire
collection of the sacred books of the OT and giveth life unto the world.
And
further,
there's no work or good works, that we can, have to,
must, should,
could, or try to do, that will get us closer to God or heaven,
get us into heaven,
or the kingdom of heaven, here or there, nothing whatsoever.
Nor
can we do any good work or ministry, that will get us more loved by God.
HE
GAVE US HIS SON!
What
more do we want.
So
watch out for those who would do this:
And
that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us
into bondage: Galations2:4
because,
well,
lets go back to the
'Pearl
Of Great Price' Matthew 13:45-46
Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, 'seeking' goodly pearls: Matthew 13:45
Who, when he had found
one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:46
This is the
kingdom of heaven, we're talking about here.
But, remember
that famous prayer, you know, the Lord's Prayer, the line:
thy kingdom come--
THROUGH GRACE--
But
by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not
in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not
I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10
uhmmm,
Paul
says
that he laboured more abundantly than anyone?
True,
and this labour really means labour
as in original
Greek 2872 kopiao pronounced
{kop-ee-ah'-o}
2873
and 2875 (1) to grow weary, tired, exhausted (with toil or burdens or grief)
(2)
to labour with wearisome effort, to toil
(2.a)
of bodily labour
KJV:
labour 16, bestow labour 3, toil 3, be wearied
from
a derivative of 2873 -kopos- pronounced {kop'-os}
(1)
a beating
(2)
a beating of the breast with grief, sorrow
(3)
labour
(3.a)
trouble
(3.a.1)
to cause one trouble, make work for him
(3.b)
intense labour united with trouble and toil
Part
of the key here is this:
Paul
did
not do the laboring, he stepped aside,
to let the grace
of God through him, do the work,
and yet Paul always
counted it joy.
Joy
! in pain and suffering ! How is that possible?
OK,
let's look at
GRACE
from the NT
Greek 5485 -charis- pronounced
{khar'-ece} from 5463
(1)
grace
(1.a)
that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness,
grace of speech
(2)
good will, loving-kindness, favour
(2.a)
of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon
souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian
faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian
virtues
(3)
what is due to grace
(3.a)
the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace
(3.b)
the token or proof of grace, benefit
(3.b.1)
a gift of grace
(3.b.2)
benefit, bounty
(4)
thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward
If the 'Glory
of God'
is manifested by
His characteristics,
then the 'Grace
of God' is manifested by
His
love
and mercy, toward us.
He
gave to man, His son, or you could say
God
came to man in the form of Jesus, a
holy
man
of flesh, who, in the flesh, had the grace to give His life
to release us
from the bondage of sin,
or one might say
the
'old
nature' that under the law, was captive to sin.
Now,
under the grace of God, the
old nature, old
man, sin,
or by any other
name, is separated from us,
by the love of
God, and not recompensed against us,
because
of the mercy of God.
Are
you telling me that God sent His Son to us,
to
show
us the truth of how to be really free, and then died for us,
in place of all
of our occurred sins, for ever and ever,
and that we don't
have to do anything in return for this?
That
He loved us enough in our bondage of sin under the law,
to let that bondage
be nailed to the cross in the
flesh of His only
Son, just for us?
and He wants nothing
more from us in return for this
gift
of 'life' forever,?
There
must be something we have to do to deserve this?
That
is just exactly what I am telling you,
and it's there
for everyone on earth.
Still
we have to know this gift is for us,
with the
measure of faith/belief, given us from God.
It is reveled
to us through the Holy Spirit.
That
is by 'faith',
that it is so;
and it is so,
because
of God's grace to us.
God has given
to every man a measure of faith. Romans 12:3
so we are without
excuse, for lack of faith.
His
Glory and grace, shown by His holy extreme love and mercy for us,
and to us.
We don't at all,
deserve this kind of liberty of salvation,
through grace,
but God is rewarded, or you could say, blessed,
or as the scripture
says, you could say pleased, (ref Hebrews11:6)
by our faith in
His Son's total sacrificial work of the cross.
That's how much
He loved us, loves us, and will continue to love us.
It's
all
love, of man, as we are, or were, or will be,
and all men have
fallen short of the glory of God,
and this is true
even after we are saved.
We
still fall short of God's glory.
But
by
our faith we please God. And that's it----
Once believed
by faith, we see through spiritual eyes, and heart,
and we change
by desire of the heart, only when God's grace is with us.
We will be so
thankful for His unspeakably great work through the cross.
We desire knowledge
about Him, in order to become more like Him.
"But
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever". 2 Peter 3:18 So
His
grace becomes ours to receive.
Once received, it
becomes our gift of grace to share,
because God's grace
is now with us.
And
of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:16-17
Every
man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed
by fire; and the fire shall try
every man's work of what sort it is. 1CO 3:13
If any man's work abide
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 1CO 3:14
If any man's work
shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be
saved; yet so as by fire. 1CO 3:15
Paul's
labour
will stand the test of fire, because it was not Paul.
He stepped aside, for the
grace of God to work through him,
because as he said, "yet
not I, but the grace of God which was with me".
Paul knew how much he was
loved, well as much as any man
can know that of God, and
how much mercy had been bestowed upon him.
He was
always so thankful, that he was always joyous,
so God was able to work through
his completely submitted vessel,
with all of the 'PAUL' missing
from his will.
The
above
mentioned works, are done, some, by the person,
still thinking 'under the
law' and in this world, that will puff up the
person with pride, ever so
covertly, and it will be burned up,
the work itself.
There is no good work from
us.
The man who stepped aside,
in his flesh and will, and let the Grace of god work through him,
had a good work, because it
wasn't his work, it was 'really'
God's
grace working through him, and only God's grace.
That man will receive a reward
one day.
All
these
laborers who are laboring because they think
God needs them, or that they
have to do, for God, their works will burn.
God does not need us, we need
Him. God loves us, that's all.
We
of
faith, have all been 'called' by the grace of God, to His glory.
What is the 'First
Love' not our love for God, but His love of us,
manifested through His grace.
That is
the FIRST LOVE. It always was, and always will be.
"We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19
Herein
is love, not that we loved God,
but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10
Who
hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works,
but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began, 2 Timothy 1:9
Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
So, now getting back
to Matthew 13:46 the parable of the 'Kingdom
of God' and 'The pearl of great
price'
Matthew 13:45 Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
So Jesus tells us that the
'kingdom of Heaven'
is likened to a merchant.
.
Then He tells us that this
merchant is looking for something!
PEARLS and not just
any pearls,
but good pearls, and because
He tells us
it's like a merchant, we can
know
that he is willing to pay
a high price for these good pearls.
then he, (the merchant man)
Matthew 13:46 Who,
when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had,
and bought it.
One has to ask oneself, 'What
is this one pearl of great price?'
and
'Who sold everything, so he
could pay the price, for this single pearl?'
One misguided view is that
the pearl is Christ,
further, some think
that a good Christian
would have to sell his all, for Christ,
just as told of the 'merchant
man'
but
no matter how much we sacrifice
for it,
our salvation
is a completely free and unconditional
gift,
cannot be earned, bought,
or paidback.
While others believe that the
'pearl of great price'
is the church. (the body of
Christ)
but
the church wasn't yet formed,
till after the cross,
by the Holy spirit's teaching
the apostles.
So who really sold out, everything,
and paid the price,
for the good pearl. .
and why one great pearl?,
when the 'Merchant Man'
was looking for 'goodly pearls'?
From the view of man,
how could mankind be a good
pearl?
But to God, who created the
earth and man on it,
that discovery is likened
to mankind,
who He loved, as His creation,
in His image.
and Jesus through the grace
of God,
paid the highest price for
each man on earth.
"As the writer of this page,
I believe, that Jesus,
would have paid this highest
price,
for even one man, had
earth had only one inhabitant.
2 Peter 3:9 ¶The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance.
The ('merchant man'/kingdom
of heaven)
is likened to God in Christ,
through grace;
the 'pearl of great price'
is mankind,
and that is how much we are
loved
by our creator
Thank you Tim for your voluntery help to me, in making these pages easier
for others to read.
Visit Tim's very nice Christian
sites, starting at http://www.praise4thee.com/
all writings
are copyrighted by j.anaja harriman, except the scriptures and definitions,
but all may be freely shared. 2000-2003AD