God’s favor
The Greek charis
(Strong’s 5485) usually translated as “grace,” simply means “favor.” And since
it means “favor” then it should have been translated consistently as “favor”
rather than “grace” throughout the New Testament. Why use the generic word
“grace” to obscure its more specific and descriptive meaning?
In translation work, it’s relatively easy for subjective
bias to creep into Paul’s doctrinal letters but not as easy in the four Gospels
and Acts. This is because the historical narratives of the Gospels and Acts
many times force a context which ties the translators’ hands so to speak. But
doctrinal writings, unfortunately, can allow them to have quite a heyday in
superimposing their own doctrinal bias by fudging certain words. Some of the
biggest culprits are rendering the Greek pneuma
[4151] as “spirit” rather than “breath,” pistis
[4102] as “faith” rather than “faithfulness,” pisteuo [4100] as “believe” rather than “trust,” and charis [5485] as “grace” rather than “favor.”
Many have noted a supposed inconsistency in the gospel
message Paul preached as compared with what Jesus Christ Himself preached. John
MacArthur’s two books “The Gospel According to Jesus” and “The Gospel According
to Paul” made an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile this issue. But the true
cause is simply translator bias in Paul’s letters. Christ’s parables about
faithful servants set a context in which there’s no doubt as to the message of
the gospel. But rather than being true to Christ’s message and rendering pistis as “faithfulness” in Paul’s
doctrinal teachings, the translators cloaked it with the word “faith” instead.
Now they can claim that Paul taught we’re saved by believing some facts about
the Lord Jesus Christ are true rather than being faithful servants as the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself taught.
In the King James Version, several times charis is translated as “favour” in Luke
and Acts: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour [charis]
with God” (Luk 1:30); “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour [charis]
with God and man” (Luk 2:52); “Praising God, and having favour [charis] with all
the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved”
(Act 2:47); “And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour [charis]
and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over
Egypt and all his house ... Who found favour
[charis] before God, and desired
to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob” (Act 7:10, 46); “And desired favour [charis]
against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to
kill him” (Act 25:3). However, in the epistles charis isn’t translated “favour” even once! Why not? It’s because
the doctrinal genre of the epistles allowed the translators this liberty.
This word is used 78 times in the Greek Septuagint and more
than half of its occurrences speak of someone being favored in the eyes or the
sight of another. These quotations are from the KJV but they contain charis in the Septuagint: “But Noah
found grace [charis] in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen 6:8), “My Lord, if now I
have found favour [charis] in thy sight” (Gen 18:3), “that I may find grace [charis]
in thy sight” (Gen 32:5), “These are
to find grace [charis] in the sight of my lord” (Gen 33:8), “if now I have
found grace [charis] in thy sight” (Gen 33:10), “let me find grace [charis]
in the sight of my lord” (Gen 33:15), “Let me find grace [charis] in your
eyes” (Gen 34:11), “And Joseph found grace
[charis] in his sight” (Gen
39:4), “and gave him favour [charis] in the sight of the keeper
of the prison” (Gen 39:21), “And God Almighty give you mercy [charis] before the
man” (Gen 43:14), “let us find grace [charis] in the sight of my lord”
(Gen 47:25), “If now I have found grace [charis] in thy sight” (Gen 47:29), “If
now I have found grace [charis] in your eyes” (Gen 50:4), “And
I will give this people favour [charis] in the sight of the
Egyptians” (Exo 3:21), “And the LORD gave the people favour [charis] in the
sight of the Egyptians” (Exo 11:3), “And the LORD gave the people favour [charis]
in the sight of the Egyptians” (Exo 12:36), “and thou hast also found grace [charis]
in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace [charis] in thy sight,
shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace [charis] in thy
sight” (Exo 33:12-13), “For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy
people have found grace [charis] in thy sight?” (Exo 33:16),
“for thou hast found grace [charis] in my sight” (Exo 33:17), “If
now I have found grace [charis] in thy sight” (Exo 34:9), “wherefore
have I not found favour [charis] in thy sight” (Num 11:11), “if
we have found grace [charis] in thy sight” (Num 32:5), “she
find no favour [charis] in his eyes” (Deu 24:1), “If now I have found grace [charis]
in thy sight” (Jdg 6:17), “in whose sight I shall find grace [charis]” (Rth
2:2), “Why have I found grace [charis] in thine eyes” (Rth 2:10),
“Let me find favour [charis] in thy sight, my lord” (Rth
2:13), “Let thine handmaid find grace [charis] in thy sight” (1Sa 1:18), “for
he hath found favour [charis] in my sight” (1Sa 16:22), “I
have found grace [charis] in thine eyes” (1Sa 20:3), “if I have found favour [charis]
in thine eyes” (1Sa 20:29), “Wherefore let the young men find favour [charis]
in thine eyes” (1Sa 25:8), “If I have now found grace [charis] in thine
eyes” (1Sa 27:5), “I have found grace [charis] in thy sight” (2Sa 14:22), “if
I shall find favour [charis] in the eyes of the LORD”
(2Sa 15:25), “I may find grace [charis] in thy sight” (2Sa 16:4), “And
Hadad found great favour [charis] in the sight of Pharaoh”
(1Ki 11:19), “And Esther obtained favour
[charis] in the sight of all them
that looked upon her” (Est 2:15), “she obtained grace and favour [charis] in his
sight” (Est 2:17), “she obtained favour [charis] in his sight” (Est 5:2), “If
I have found favour [charis] in the sight of the king”
(Est 5:8), “If I have found favour [charis] in thy sight” (Est 7:3), “if
I have found favour [charis] in his sight” (Est 8:5).
The translators of the Septuagint used this word for Moses’
statement about God’s favor toward him and His chosen people, “For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy
people have found grace [charis] in
thy sight? is it not in that thou
goest with us? so shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth. And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this
thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou
hast found grace [charis] in my
sight, and I know thee by name.” (Exo 33:16-17). Our English “cherish”
hints at its etymology from the Greek charis.
Therefore, God favors and cherishes His people!
God’s chosen people found charis or favor in His sight. Moses defined this favor as them
being separated from all other people on earth and this is also how they are
described in other places: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a
peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine” (Exo 19:5); “For from the top
of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not
be reckoned among the nations” (Num 23:9); “For what nation is there so
great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?”
(Deu 4:7); “And what one nation in the
earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a
name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy
people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?” (2Sa 7:23); “For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth,
to be thine inheritance, as thou
spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out
of Egypt, O Lord GOD” (1Ki 8:53); “He
hath not dealt so with any nation: and as
for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.” (Psa
147:20); “Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2Co
6:17).
To be favored in God’s sight is to be treated differently by
Him in comparison with other people. God sees His chosen people distinctly from
all other people. They are His peculiar treasure. He doesn’t reckon them among
other nations and doesn’t deal with them like He does with other nations. They
are separate and favored by Him.
God’s favored people
Once we recognize that charis
is simply favor, then when it concerns salvation it’s about God favoring His
people above all other people. Recorded in Acts chapter 13 is the time when
Paul and Barnabas went into the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia and taught the
Jews forgiveness of sins through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. These Jews then had to embrace this truth to continue as one of God’s
favored people, “Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace [favor] of God” (Act 13:43). After they were no longer ignorant
of the truth about Jesus Christ, they were required to embrace this truth in
order to continue being favored by God as His chosen people.
This is what John meant by, “And of his fulness have all we
received, and grace [favor] for grace [favor]. For the law was given by Moses, but grace [favor]
and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (Jhn
1:16-17). Other translations have, “grace
[favor] upon grace [favor]” (DBY), “grace [favor]
in place of grace [favor] already given” (NIV), “grace [favor]
over-against grace [favor]” (YLT). The Law of Moses didn’t bring God’s favor—Jesus
Christ did. God’s chosen people were favored under the Old Covenant yet had to
receive Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah under the New Covenant for favor in
place of favor already given. Rejecting God’s own Son would be rejecting His
favor and no longer being favored as one of His people.
When writing to the Galatians, Paul expressed that the Jews
are rejecting God’s favor if righteousness comes by the law, “I do not frustrate the grace [favor] of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal 2:21). The Greek
atheteo translated as “frustrate” is
rendered several other places in the New Testament as “reject” or “despise.” He
wrote later, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law; ye are fallen from
grace [favor]” (Gal 5:4). We
could say the last phrase as “fallen out of favor.” His point was that God’s
people the Jews were being favored by God but for them to now seek
righteousness or justification through the law instead of through Christ would
reject God’s favor and fall from being favored.
Recognizing that charis
simply means favor now opens our understanding of Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians in particular because God purposed from the beginning the salvation
of a chosen people to Himself, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). He
would favor these people above all other people and save them by sending His
Son Jesus Christ to shed His blood for their sins, “To the praise of the glory
of his grace [favor], wherein he hath made us accepted [favored] in the
beloved. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace [favor]” (Eph 1:6-7).
God’s only begotten Son was seen figuratively and
prophetically in Adam, while His chosen people the ekklesia (church, assembly, congregation) were seen in Adam’s wife
taken out of him, “And Adam said, This is
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of Man. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen 2:23-24).
Paul quoted from this passage and said it was a mystery that foretold of Christ
and the church, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined unto his wife, and
they two shall be one flesh. This is a
great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ
and the church [ekklesia 1577].”
(Eph 5:31-32). This is what he meant by, “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4).
The church is a Jewish body
The Greek ekklesia
is an assembly, gathering, or congregation of people. This word was used once
in the New Testament for God’s people under the Old Covenant, “This is he, that
was in the church [ekklesia] in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him
in the mount Sina, and with our
fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us” (Act 7:38). The very
first time Israel was called a congregation or assembly was during the Exodus on
the very first Passover, “Speak ye unto all the congregation [edah 5712]
of Israel, saying, In the tenth day
of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb
for an house” (Exo 12:3), “And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day
of the same month: and the whole assembly
[qahal 6951] of the congregation [edah 5712] of Israel shall kill
it in the evening” (Exo 12:6). Thus, the true Passover Lamb shed His
precious blood for this assembly of God’s people.
We’re told several times that Gentiles partake of the salvation
God provided for His chosen people: “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what
we worship: for salvation is of the Jews”
(Jhn 4:22); “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild
olive tree, wert graffed in among them,
and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree” (Rom 11:17);
“It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of
their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal
things.” (Rom 15:27); “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God” (Eph 2:19); “That
the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of
his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Eph 3:6); “Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col 1:12); “For finding fault
with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Heb 8:8).
Salvation was provided for the Jews and the gospel message
was sent to them first: “And that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem” (Luk 24:47); “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Act 1:8); “Unto you first God, having raised up
his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his
iniquities” (Act 3:26); “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was
necessary that the word of God should
first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” (Act
13:46); “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16); “Tribulation
and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and
peace, to every man that worketh good, to
the Jew first, and also to the Gentile” (Rom 2:9-10).
Christ’s faithfulness
“For by grace [favor]
are ye saved through faith [faithfulness]; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast.” (Eph 2:8-9). Here Paul was not speaking of our faith but Christ’s
faithfulness. We can be sure of this because he will go on to say a little
later, “by the faith [faithfulness]
of him” (Eph 3:11-12), “because of Christ’s faithfulness” (NET). He was
teaching salvation by Christ’s faithfulness, not by the works of the law, “through faith [faithfulness]; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not
of works” (Eph 2:8-9). This corresponds to what he also taught the
Galatians and Romans:
We
are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that no one is justified
by the works of the law but by
the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in
Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by
the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law,
because by the works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:15-16
NET).
For
no one is declared righteous before him by
the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of
sin. But now apart from the law the
righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been
disclosed - namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.
(Romans 3:20-22 NET)
The gift of God
“For by grace [favor] are ye saved through faith [faithfulness]; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”
(Eph 2:8). Calvinists insist that we believe because we’re saved and not that
we’re saved because we believe. This is because in their soteriological system
it’s necessary to get the cart before the horse to stay logically consistent. Therefore,
they must maintain that “the gift of God” in this verse is our faith. But Paul
wasn’t even talking about our faith but Christ’s faithfulness. Therefore, all
of this wrangling about faith being a gift is a complete non-issue that distracts
and wastes our time, “strive not about words
to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers” (2Ti 2:14).
Paul himself settled what he meant by “the gift of God”
later in his letter: “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace [favor] of God which is given me to you-ward” (Eph 3:2); “Whereof
I was made a minister, according to the
gift of the grace [favor] of God given
unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than
the least of all saints, is this grace [favor] given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;” (Eph 3:7-8); “But
unto every one of us is given
grace [favor] according to the
measure of the gift of Christ”
(Eph 4:7). He stated several times that the gift is God’s favor—His favor toward
His people.
Christ pleads in our favor
“And
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter [Parakletos],
that he may abide with you for ever.” (Jhn 14:16)
“But
the Comforter [Parakletos], which is
the Holy Ghost [Breath], whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you.” (Jhn 14:26)
“But
when the Comforter [Parakletos] is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit [Breath] of truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” (Jhn 15:26)
“Nevertheless
I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter [Parakletos] will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (Jhn 16:7)
Just before His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension
back to His Father, Christ taught His disciples about the Advocate which is the
Holy Breath. Most English translations render the Greek parakletos either as “Comforter,” “Counselor,” or “Helper,” but the
New International Version renders it more accurately as “Advocate.” John later
writes that the parakletos is Jesus
Christ Himself in His role as our Advocate with the Father, “My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin,
we have an advocate [parakletos] with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous” (1Jo 2:1).
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the noun advocate as “one who pleads the cause of
another,” and the verb as “to plead in
favor of.” Dictionary.com defines the noun as “a person who pleads for or
in behalf of another; intercessor,”
and the verb “to speak or write in favor
of.” As God’s people, the favor we’re shown is that His Son advocates or
intercedes for us at His right hand. When we sin and confess it, He advocates on
our behalf and the Father forgives us, “If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins … And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father” (1Jo 1:9, 2:1).
Also, when we’re falsely accused and condemned by our enemies, He intercedes
and the Father justifies or vindicates us from the charges, “Who shall lay any
thing to the charge of God’s elect [chosen]? It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ
that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
(Rom 8:33-34). God’s people are blessed with this favor before Him.
This is also what Paul taught the Ephesians, “Which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead, and set him at his own
right hand in the heavenly places”
(Eph 1:20), “Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace [favor] ye are
saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:5-6).
It’s by God’s favor that we’re saved—the favor of being represented by His Son
seated at His right hand. Paul then went on to reiterate this favor by which we
are saved, “For by grace [favor] are ye saved through faith [faithfulness]; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast” (Eph 2:8-9). God’s people are saved, not by their works under the law,
but by God’s favor through Christ’s faithfulness to die for their sins.
Conclusion
Bible translations have effectively expunged the idea of
God’s favor toward His chosen people by rendering charis as “grace” throughout the New Testament. Rather than salvation
coming to the world by God favoring His people and sending His Son to die for
them, the gospel has become a generalized salvation to everyone that is severed
from the promises made to Abraham.
Jesus Christ was talking about Himself as the Advocate
through God’s Holy Breath (Jhn 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:7). An advocate pleads in
favor of another and this is what He does. He doesn’t intercede for the rest of
the world but only for God’s people. Therefore, His people are shown favor over
everyone else. But the good news is that all nations and ethnicities of people
can join themselves to this assembly of people and partake of this favor!