A gracEmail subscriber writes: "Salvation is certainly a gift, in the sense that we cannot merit or earn it. But it is a conditional gift. For example, suppose a rich relative gave me a check for a substantial sum of money. I must endorse the check to receive the gift -- but endorsing the check does not mean that I earned, deserved, or merited it." * * * Your analogy is interesting, but I must ask how strongly your hypothetical benefactor wishes to bestow this gift. If you should break both hands in a fall, so that you could not endorse your name to the check, would your relative make other … [Read more...]
THE MANY-FACETED GOSPEL
The word "gospel" means good news, and it is the very best news we wandering and broken mortal creatures might ever hope to hear. There is only one true gospel, but New Testament writers proclaim it through many pictures and figures of speech. It is as if they lead us through the city and find examples and illustrations on every street. There is the courthouse -- reminding us that God the judge has "justified" us. For the sake of his Son Jesus Christ, he has acquitted us, pronounced us righteous as if we had never sinned (Rom. 3:24-26). There are the public baths -- and we remember that God … [Read more...]
WHAT, WHO, WHY, HOW
A gracEmail subscriber writes, "My 18-year-old daughter asked me exactly what Jesus did for us by his death on the cross. I told her that he took on our sins and died in our place. She then asked, 'But if the penalty for sin is eternal death, how did Jesus' death remove that penalty, since Jesus was raised from the dead and lives forever?'" * * * Because of his great mercy, and through the life and death of Jesus Christ his Son, God has graciously set us right with himself. New Testament writers use a variety of metaphors to express this divine act -- metaphors familiar to their readers … [Read more...]
“Propitiation/atonement”: LXX background to a NT verb
In Hebrews 2:17, the unknown author says that Jesus identified with his people as their high priest, “to make propitiation” for their sins. The Greek verb here (hilaskomai), which many English versions translate as “to make propitiation,” brings to the New Testament an interesting biblical background. That background comes from the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament that was the first “Bible” of the early church. Propitiation = atonement The verb hilaskomai, which is translated “to make propitiation” in Hebrews 2:17, appears 12 times in the Septuagint (Hatch-Redpath, 684). Three of those … [Read more...]
THE DRAGON SLAYER: A REVIEW
I have just read twice and highlighted The Dragon Slayer: Reflections On the Saving of the World (2004, privately published, 202 pages, paper), the latest book from my eloquent friend Jim McGuiggan of Northern Ireland. As usual, McGuiggan devotes his considerable mind and poignant pen to the profound realities that matter most, this time the atonement for sin which Jesus Christ accomplished once for all. For centuries the Irish have been noted as gifted story-tellers and McGuiggan maintains the Hibernian reputation, as seen in this passage reminiscent of Brennan Manning: "We built a wall that … [Read more...]
