By Lewis Sperry Chafer
C. The Riches of Divine Grace
5. Forgiven All Trespasses. In the sense that there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, believers are forgiven all trespasses. The declaration of Colossians 2:13—”having forgiven you all trespasses”—covers all trespasses, past, present, and future (cf. Eph 1:7; 4:32; Col 1:14; 3:13). In no other way than to be wholly absolved before God, could a Christian be on an abiding peace footing with God or could he be, as he is, justified forever.
The divine dealing with sin is doubtless difficult for the human mind to grasp, especially such sins as have not yet been committed. However, it will be remembered that all sin of this age was yet future when Christ died. Its power to condemn is disannulled forever. In this connection the Holy Spirit inquires, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” and, “Who is he that condemneth?” The inspired answers are conclusive: God justifies rather than charges with sin; and condemnation has been laid upon Another, who died, who is risen, who is at the right hand of God for us, and who also maketh intercession for us (Rom 8:33–34). This chapter of Romans which begins with “no condemnation” ends with “no separation”; but such complete forgiveness is possible only on the ground of Christ’s work in bearing sin and in releasing His merit to those who are saved through His mediation and are in Him. Men either stand in their own merit or in the merit of Christ. If they stand in their own merit—the only conception that is within the range of reason and that which is advocated by the Arminian system—there is only condemnation for each individual before God; but if they stand in the merit of Christ, being in Him—whether all its righteous ground is comprehended or not, there remains naught but continued union with God and therefore no condemnation and no separation.
At this point a distinction is called for between this abiding judicial forgiveness and the oft-repeated forgiveness within the family of God. The seeming paradox that one is forgiven and yet must be forgiven, is explained on the ground of the truth that there are two whole and unrelated spheres of relationship between the believer and God. Regarding his standing, which like his sonship is immutable since it is secured by his place in Christ, he is not subject to condemnation and will never be unjustified or separated from God. Regarding his state, which like the daily conduct of a son is wholly within the family relationship, he must be both forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9). The writer to the Hebrews declares that, had the old order of sacrifices been as efficacious as the sacrifice of Christ, those presenting an animal sacrifice for their sin would “have had no more conscience of sins” (10:2). On the other hand, it is the believer’s portion to be free from the sense of the condemnation of sin—he never thinks of himself as a lost soul, if at all instructed in God’s Word; however, this is not to say that the Christian will not be conscious of the sins he commits. Sin, to the believer, is more abhorrent than ever it could have been before he was saved; but, when sinning, he will not have broken the abiding fact of his union with God though he has injured his communion with Him. Within the family relation—which relation cannot be broken—he may sin as a child (without ceasing to be a child) and be forgiven, and restored back into the Father’s fellowship on the basis of his own confession of his sin and the deeper truth that Christ has borne the sin which otherwise would condemn.
None of the believer’s positions before God, when rightly apprehended, is more a blessing to the heart than the fact that all condemnation is removed forever, God for Christ’s sake having forgiven all trespasses.
6. Vitally Conjoined to Christ for the Judgment of the Old Man “Unto a New Walk.” The essential doctrine of union with Christ appears as the basis of many of these riches of divine grace. In the present aspect of truth, only that which has to do with the death of Christ unto the sin nature is in view, and the central passage which declares this truth is Romans 6:1–10. This important Scripture will be brought forward in various places in this work on theology, but always it will be pointed out that it refers neither to self-judgment by self-crucifixion nor to a mode of ritual baptism. If the passage does not contemplate more than these interpretations imply, one of the most vital truths of the New Testament is deprived of its most important affirmation. The death of Christ, quite apart from its achievement as a final dealing with sins, is a judgment of the sin nature, which judgment does not mean that that nature is rendered incapable of action or that it is changed in its character; it does mean that a perfect judgment is gained against it and that God is now righteously free to deal with that nature as a judged thing. The evil character of that nature does not, after it is judged, restrain the Holy Spirit from curbing its power for us. Thus, by faith in the indwelling Spirit, the believer may be delivered from the reigning power of sin and on the ground of Christ’s death as a judgment of the sin nature. This feature of Christ’s death is substitutionary to the last degree. The central passage asserts that the death of Christ is so definitely an act in behalf of the believer, that it is a cocrucifixion, a codeath, a coburial, and a coresurrection (cf. Col 2:12). The application of this truth is not an injunction to enact all or any part of it; it is rather something about himself which the Christian is to believe or reckon to be true, being, as it is, the ground upon which he may by an intelligent faith claim deliverance from the power of the inbred sin nature.
To be placed thus permanently before God as one for whom Christ has died a judgment death against the sin nature is a position of privilege of infinite blessedness.
7. Free from the Law. As now considered, the law is more than a code or set of rules governing conduct. Too often it is thought that to be free from the law is to be excused from doing the things which the law prescribes, and, because the law is “holy, and just, and good,” it is difficult for many to accept the New Testament teaching that the law is not the prescribed rule of life for the believer. Why, indeed, it is inquired, should the believer do other than to pursue that which is holy, just, and good? Over against this idea is the uncompromising warning to the Christian that he by the death of Christ is free from the law (cf. John 1:17; Acts 15:24–29; Rom 6:14; 7:2–6; 2 Cor 3:6–13; Gal 5:18). In one passage alone—Romans 6:14—the child of God is told that he is not under the law, and in another—Romans 7:2–6—he is said to be both dead to the law and delivered from the law. Since every ideal or principle of the law, except the fourth commandment, is carried forward and restated and incorporated in the grace manner of life, it hardly seems reasonable to contend that the believer should be warned so positively against doing the things contained in the law. The solution of the problem is to be found in the fact that the law is a system demanding human merit, while the injunctions addressed to the Christian under grace are unrelated to human merit. Since the child of God is already accepted in the Beloved and stands forever in the merit of Christ, application of the merit system to him is both unreasonable and unscriptural. When the principles contained in the merit system reappear in the grace injunctions, it is always with this vital change in their character. It is one thing to do a thing that is contained in the law in order that one may be accepted or blessed; it is a wholly different thing to do those same things because one is accepted and blessed. Freedom from the merit obligation is that “liberty” to which reference is made in Galatians 5:1. It is not liberty to do evil; but it is a perfect relief from the crushing burden—the yoke of bondage (Acts 15:10)—of works of merit.
To be “free from the law” (Rom 8:2), to be “dead to the law” (Rom 7:4), and to be “delivered from the law” (Rom 7:6; cf. Rom 6:14; 2 Cor 3:11; Gal 3:25), describe a position in grace before God which is rich and full unto everlasting blessing.
8. Children of God. To be born anew by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit into a relationship in which God the First Person becomes a legitimate Father and the saved one becomes a legitimate child, is a position which is but dimly apprehended by any human being in this world. This far-flung reality is more a matter of heavenly values than of the earth. Nevertheless, this very regeneration is one of the foundational realities of everyone who has believed upon Christ as Savior. This birth from above accomplishes a measureless transformation. To be born into an earthly home of outstanding character is of great advantage, but to be born of God with every right and title belonging to that position—an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ—passes the range of human understanding. This new existence is not only intensely real, but it, like all begotten life, is everlasting in its very nature. The theme is so vast that it includes other positions and possessions which, in turn, will be mentioned as this analysis progresses.
Varied terms are used in the New Testament to identify this new birth. Each of these is distinct in itself and revealing.
Born again. It is of more than passing import that the Lord Jesus Christ selected Nicodemus, the most religious and ideal man of his day in Judaism, to whom and as applied to himself Christ declared the necessity of the new birth. The word ἄνωθεν is rendered anew, and its implication is that it is not only an actual birth, but it is new in the sense that it is no part of that first birth which is after the flesh. It is not a reordering or revising of the birth by the flesh. It is new in the sense that it is complete in itself and no product of the flesh. Of this distinction Christ said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Other confirming passages are John 1:12–13; 1 Peter 1:23.
Regenerated. This expressive term which appears in Titus 3:5—”by the washing of regeneration”—conveys the same idea of a rebirth. The passage relates a cleansing to this birth, but the birth does not consist in a mere cleansing of the old being; it is rather that a cleansing, like forgiveness, accompanies the regeneration.
Quickened. The word quickened expresses the thought that an object is made alive that did not possess that life before. Through regeneration by the Spirit, as in the case with the flesh, there is an impartation of life. Regeneration imparts the divine nature. Attention should be given also to Ephesians 2:1 and Colossians 2:13.
Sons of God. This title, used many times (cf. 2 Cor 6:18; Gal 3:26, R.V.; 1 John 3:2), publishes the true relationship between God and those who are saved. They are sons of God, not by a mere title or pretense, but by actual generation the offspring of God. The reality which the title designates cannot be taken too literally.
A new creation. Thus again, and by language both appropriate and emphatic, the mighty creative power of God is seen to be engaged in the salvation of men. As respects their salvation it is said that they are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. That exalted new creation is not only the direct work of God, but owes all that it is to its vital relation to Christ Jesus.
9. Adopted. The peculiar position of one who is adopted is an important feature of the riches of divine grace. Its unique place in the following passage indicates its major import: “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Eph 1:4–5). In attempting to discover what this position really is, it is needful to recognize that divine adoption has almost nothing in common with that form of it as accepted and practiced among men. According to human custom, adoption is a means whereby an outsider may become a member of a family. It is a legal way to create father and son relationship as a substitute for father and son reality. On the other hand, divine adoption, while referring both to Israel’s kinship to God (Rom 9:4) and to redemption of the believer’s body (Rom 8:23), is primarily a divine act by which one already a child by actual birth through the Spirit of God is placed forward as an adult son in his relation to God. At the moment of regeneration, the believer, being born of God and therefore the legitimate offspring of God, is advanced in relationship and responsibility to the position of an adult son. All childhood and adolescent years, which are normal in human experience, are excluded in spiritual sonship and the newly born believer is at once in possession of freedom from tutors and governors—who symbolize the law principle—and is responsible to live the full-orbed spiritual life of an adult son in the Father’s household. No period of irresponsible childhood is recognized. There is no body of Scripture which undertakes to direct the conduct of beginners in the Christian life as in distinction to those who are mature. Whatever God says to the old and established saint, He says to every believer—including those most recently regenerated. There should be no misunderstanding respecting the “babe in Christ,” mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:1, who is a babe because of carnality and not because of immaturity of years in the Christian life. In human experience legitimate birth and adoption never combine in the same person. There is no occasion for a father to adopt his own child. In the realm of divine adoption, every child born of God is adopted at the moment he is born. He is placed before God as a mature, responsible son. Thus adoption becomes one of the important divine undertakings in the salvation of men and is a position of great importance.
10. Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. As a position before God, none could be more elevated or consummating than that a believer should be “made accepted in the beloved” (Eph 1:6) and “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5). Such an estate is closely akin to that already mentioned wherein there is no condemnation, and to that, yet to be considered, of justification; but this aspect of truth not only announces the marvelous fact that the Christian is accepted, but grounds that acceptance on the position which he holds in Christ. As definitely as any member that might be joined to a human body would partake of all that the person is to whom it is joined—in honor and position—so perfectly and rightfully a member joined to Christ by the baptism of the Spirit partakes of all that Christ is. In respect to this union with Christ and that which it provides, wonderful declarations are made:
a. Made Righteous. Reference here is neither to any merit nor good works on the part of the individual believer, nor has it the slightest reference to the unquestioned truth that God is Himself a righteous Being. It rather represents that standing or quality which Christ released by His death according to the sweet-savor aspect of it, and which rightfully becomes the believer’s portion through his living union with Christ. It is righteousness imputed to the believer on the sole condition that he has believed on Christ as his Savior. Two major realities which constitute a Christian are: imparted eternal life (John 20:31) and imputed righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Of the two great salvation books in the New Testament, it may be said of John’s Gospel that it stresses the gift of eternal life, and it may be said of the Epistle to the Romans that it stresses imputed righteousness. Eternal life is defined as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27), and imputed righteousness is based on the truth that the believer is in Christ. These two supreme truths are compressed by Christ into seven brief and simple words, when He said: “ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). Whether it be the reception of eternal life or of imputed righteousness, but one condition is imposed on the human side, namely, to believe on Christ as Savior (John 3:16; Rom 3:22).
In an earlier treatment of this theme the essential features of imputed righteousness have been recorded and the extended body of Scripture bearing on this doctrine has been cited. The believer is “acceptable to God,” even the infinitely holy God, since he has been made accepted in the Beloved; and this constitutes a transforming feature of the riches of divine grace.
b. Sanctified Positionally. That there is a positional sanctification which is secured by union with Christ has too often been overlooked, and, because of this neglect, theories of a supposed sinless perfection in daily life have been inferred from those Scriptures which assert the truth that the believer has been “perfected forever” through his sanctification. The point of misunderstanding is with regard to the design of sanctification, which may be defined as the setting apart of a person or thing, a classifying. It is thus that Christ sanctified Himself by becoming the Savior of the lost with all that that involved (John 17:19), which sanctification certainly could not imply any improvement in moral character on His part. Likewise, the sanctification of an inanimate object, such as the gold of the temple or the gift on the altar (Matt 23:17, 19), indicates that a moral change in the thing sanctified is not demanded. Thus, in the case of the sanctification of a person, the moral change in that person’s life may not be the result of sanctification; but no person or thing is sanctified without being set apart or classified thereby. Christ has been “made unto us…sanctification” (1 Cor 1:30), and the Corinthians—even when being corrected for evil practices—are assured that they were not only “washed” and “justifled,” but that they were “sanctified” (1 Cor 6:11). Such sanctification was neither the state of those believers nor did it refer to their ultimate transformation when they would appear in glory (Eph 5:27; 1 John 3:2). It evidently indicated that greatest of all classifications, which resulted in the standing and position of every believer when he enters the New Creation through being joined to Christ and partakes of all that Christ is. This truth is declared in the phrase,
C. Perfected Forever. This consummating phrase appears in Hebrews 10:14 and applies equally to every believer. It, too, relates to the Christian’s standing and position in Christ. Such a union with Christ secures the perfection of the Son of God for the child of God.
d. Made Accepted in the Beloved. The student would do well to observe the force of the word made as it appears in a considerable number of passages, where it indicates that the thing accomplished is not wrought by the believer for himself, but is the work of God for him. If he is made something which he was not before, it is evidently the work of another in his behalf. In this instance, the believer is said to be made accepted. He is accepted on the part of God who, because of His infinite holiness, could accept no one less perfect than Himself. All of this is provided for on the basis of the truth that the believer is made accepted “in the beloved” (Eph 1:6). Without the slightest strain upon His holiness, God accepts those who are in union with His Son; and this glorious fact, that the one who is saved is accepted, constitutes a measureless feature of divine grace.
e. Made Meet. Here, again, the word made with all its significance appears, but with respect to that requirement which must be demanded of all who would appear in the presence of God in heaven. The text in which this assuring phrase occurs is Colossians 1:12, and it asserts that the believer is, even now, fitted for that celestial glory: “giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” No mere pretense or bold assumption is indicated in this passage. The least believer, being in Christ, is even now made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. It therefore becomes no arrogance or vainglory to accept this staternent of God’s Word as true, and as true from the moment one believes on Christ as Savior.
To be acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Pet 2:5), is a reality in every aspect of it and this truth, incomprehensible as it is, constitutes an important item in the whole field of the riches of grace in Christ Jesus.
11, Justified. No present position in which the believer is placed is more exalted and consummating than that of being justified by God. By justification the saved one is lifted far above the position of one who depends on divine generosity and magnanimity, to the estate of one whom God has declared justified forever, which estate the holy justice of God is as much committed to defend as ever that holy justice was before committed to condemn. Theological definitions respecting justification are more traditional than Biblical. Only inattention to Scripture can account for the confusion of justification with divine forgiveness of sin. It is true that each of these is an act of God in response to saving faith, that none are forgiven who are not justified, and that none are justified who are not forgiven; but in no particular do these great divine undertakings coalesce. Likewise, though they are translated from the same Greek root, the terms righteousness (imputed) and justification represent wholly different conceptions. The believer is constituted righteous by virtue of his position in Christ, but he is justified by a declaratory decree of God. Righteousness imputed is the abiding fact, and justification is the divine recognition of that fact. In other considerations of the doctrine of justification incorporated in this general work, a more exhaustive treatment is undertaken, including the scope of this divine enterprise in which God justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5) without a cause (Rom 3:24), and on a ground so worthy, so laudable, and so unblemished that He Himself remains just when He justifies. He reserves every aspect of this measureless benefit to Himself, for the only human obligation is that of believing in Jesus (Rom 3:26). It is the Christian’s right to count this work done and to say, as in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith…” Though language may describe it, only the Spirit of God can cause the mind to realize this essential position so elevated and so glorified.
12. Made Nigh. The saved one, according to Ephesians 2:13, is said to be “made nigh.” This text states: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” As seen before, the word made is significant in that it assigns the whole undertaking to another than the one who receives the blessing. Various terms are employed in the New Testament to describe the close relation which is set up and exists between God and the believer. To be “made nigh” is not only a work of God, but is to be brought into a relationship to God which is of infinite perfection and completeness. To it nothing could be added in time or eternity. What such a nearness may mean to the Christian when he is present with the Lord cannot be anticipated in this life; nevertheless, the reality which the phrase made nigh connotes is as cogent an acquirement at the inception of the Christian’s salvation as it will be at any point in eternity.
Divinely wrought positions are often accompanied by a corresponding Christian experience. This is true of the subject in hand. While, as has been stated, the position which is described as nigh to God is itself complete and final, the one who is thus nigh is exhorted to “draw nigh” to God. It is written: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (James 4:8); “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22). These exhortations belong wholly in the realm of Christian experience, in which realm there may be a consciousness, more or less real, of personal fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3). The process by which a believer may draw nigh—as required by James and in response to which God will Himself draw nigh to the believer—is that of a confession of sin and an adjustment of one’s life to the will of God. Over against this it will be observed that, whether in fellowship or out of fellowship as respects conscious experience, the Christian is, because of his position in Christ, ever and always made nigh.
13. Delivered from the Power of Darkness. As declared in Colossians 1:13, this special position, described here in this passage, may be taken as representative of all the Scripture bearing on the Christian’s deliverance from the power of Satan and his evil spirits. Previously, certain passages have been cited relative to the power of Satan over the unsaved. One passage, 2 Corinthians 4:3–4, reveals the blinding power of Satan over the unregenerate person’s mind respecting the gospel; Ephesians 2:1–2 declares the whole company of the lost—designated “children of disobedience” (disobedient in the headship of disobedient Adam)—to be energized by Satan; 1 John 5:19 states that the cosmos world, in contrast to believers who are of God, “lieth in” the wicked one. The passage under consideration—Colossians 1:13—reads: “who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” It will be observed that all these passages, to which reference is made, assert that the unsaved are under the power of Satan and that the believer is delivered from that power, though he must continue to wage a warfare against these powers of darkness; and the Apostle assures the Christian of the victory made possible by an attitude of faith in the Lord (Eph 6:10–12). The same Apostle, when relating his own divine commission, mentions one certain result of his ministry, namely, that the unsaved were to be turned “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18).
To be liberated thus is a great reality and constitutes one of the major positions into which the believer is brought through divine grace.
14. Translated into the Kingdom of the Son of His Love. As Dean Alford points out in exposition of Colossians 1:13 (N.T. for English Readers, new ed., in loc.), the translation into the kingdom is “strictly local”; that is, it is now that it is accomplished, when saving faith is exercised, and the entrance is into the present form of the kingdom of God and Christ. Two other passages shed light upon this great change which is experienced by all who pass from the lost estate to the saved estate: “that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thess 2:12); “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:11). In Colossians 1:13, the term “translated” evidently refers to the removal from the sphere of Satan’s dominion to that of Christ. The kingdom is that of God, which may be considered also the kingdom of the Son of His love. Entrance into the kingdom of God is by the new birth (John 3:5). Such a position is far more than merely to be delivered from darkness, however much the advantage of that may be; it is to be inducted into and established in the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
15. On the Rock, Christ Jesus. In the consideration of divine grace as exercised in behalf of the lost, it is essential, as in other matters of similar import, to distinguish between the foundation and the superstructure. In the parable of the two houses—one built upon the rock and one built upon the sand (Matt 7:24–27)—Christ made no reference to the superstructure, but rather emphasized the importance of the foundation. The smallest edifice built on the rock will endure the tests which try foundations, and only because the rock endures. Over against this, the Apostle writes (1 Cor 3:9–15) of the superstructure which is built upon the rock, which superstructure is to be tested by fire. Reference is thus made, not to salvation, but to the works in which the Christian engages. It is not character building, but Christian service. There are, again, two general classes of superstructure being built upon Christ the Rock, and these are likened to gold, silver, and precious stones, on the one hand, and to wood, hay, and stubble, on the other hand. As gold and silver are refined by fire, and wood, hay, and stubble are consumed by fire, so the judgment of Christian service is likened to fire in which the gold and silver will stand the test and receive a reward, while that which corresponds to wood, hay, and stubble will suffer loss. It is declared, however, that the believer who suffers loss in respect to his reward for service will himself be saved, though passing through that fire which destroys his unworthy service.
The important truth to be recognized at this point is that, while the unsaved build upon the sand, all Christians are standing and building on the Rock, Christ Jesus. They are thus secure with respect to salvation through the merit of Christ, apart from their own worthiness or faithfulness. While this figure used by Christ does not lend itself to a literal development in every particular, it is clearly stated by this object lesson that Christ is the Foundation on which the Christian stands and on which he builds. To be taken off the sand foundation and to be placed on the enduring Rock which is Christ, constitutes one of the richest treasures of divine grace.
16. A Gift from God the Father to Christ. No moment in the history of the saints could be more laden with reality than that time when, as a consummation of His redemptive mission—foreseen from all eternity and itself the determining factor in the character of all ages to come, the Lord Jesus Christ reviewed in prayer to the Father that which He had achieved by His advent into this cosmos world. He fully intended for His own who are in this world to hear what He said in that incomparable prayer (John 17:13). Devout minds will ponder eagerly every word spoken concerning themselves under such august and solemn circumstances. What, indeed, would be the designation by which believers will be identified by the Son? What appellation is proper in such converse? What cognomen answers the highest ideal and conception in the mind of Deity with respect to Christians? Assuredly, the superlative title, whatever it is, would be employed by the Son when He presents formally His own, and petitions the Father in their belief. Seven times in this prayer by one form or another and quite exclusively His saved ones are referred to as those whom Thou hast given Me. Nothing but ignorance of the great transaction which is intimated in this title will explain the inattention of Christians to this descriptive name. When it is considered, it is seen that in the background are two important doctrines namely, that all creatures belong inherently to their Creator and, hence, that in sovereign election He has determined in past ages a company designed to be a peculiar treasure for His Son; but the title itself tells its own story of surpassing interest and importance, which is, that the Father has given each believer to the Son. This is not the only instance in which the Father gives a company of people to the Son. In Psalm 2:6–9 it is predicted that, at His second advent and when He is seated upon the Davidic throne, the then rebellious and raging nations will be given by Jehovah to the Messiah. The imagination will not have gone far astray if it pictures a situation in eternity past when the Father presents individual believers separately to the Son—each representing a particular import and value not approached by another. Like a chest of jewels, collected one by one and wholly diverse, these love gifts appear before the eyes of the Son of God. Should one be missing, He, the Savior, would be rendered inexpressibly poor. Immeasurable and unknowable riches of grace are latent in that superlative cognomen, those whom Thou hast given Me.
Dr. C. I. Scofield’s comment on this truth is clear and forceful: “Seven times Jesus speaks of believers as given to Him by the Father (vs. 2, 6 [twice], 9, 11, 12, 24). Jesus Christ is God’s love-gift to the world (John 3:16), and believers are the Father’s love-gift to Jesus Christ. It is Christ who commits the believer to the Father for safe-keeping, so that the believer’s security rests upon the Father’s faithfulness to His Son Jesus Christ” (Scofield Reference Bible, p. 1139).
17. Circumcised in Christ. One of the Apostle’s threefold divisions of humanity is the “Uncircumcision” with reference to unregenerate Gentiles, “the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands” with reference to Israel, and the “circumcision made without hands” with reference to Christians (Eph 2:11; Col 2:11). However, the important truth that the believer has been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands and wholly apart from the flesh, is the grace position which is now in view. In the Colossians passage (2:11), the believer’s spiritual circumcision is said to be the “putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” Two closely related words occur in this passage, namely, body (σῶμα) and flesh (σάρξ). The physical body does not commit sin except as it is dominated by the flesh—which flesh includes the soul and spirit, and manifests that fallen nature which all possess, saved and unsaved alike. The physical body is not put off in a literal sense, but, being the instrument or sphere of sin’s manifestation, the flesh with its “body of sin” may be annulled (Rom 6:6), or rendered inoperative for the time being. As the sin nature was judged by Christ in His death, so the believer, because of his vital place in Christ, partakes of that “putting off” which Christ accomplished, and which fell as a circumcision upon Him and becomes a spiritual circumcision to the one for whom Christ substituted. It is a circumcision made “without hands.” To stand thus before God as one whose sin nature, or flesh, has been judged and for whom a way of deliverance from the dominion of the flesh has been secured, is a position which grace has provided, and is blessed indeed.
18. Partakers of the Holy and Royal Priesthood. In his First Epistle, Peter declares that the believers form a holy priesthood (2:5) and a royal priesthood (2:9), and their royalty is again asserted by John when in Revelation 1:6 (R.V.) they are titled “a kingdom…priests,” or according to another reading (A.V.), “kings and priests.” The truth that Christ is a king-priest is reflected here. The believer derives all his positions and possessions from Christ. The child of God is therefore a priest now because of his relation to Christ the High Priest, and he will yet reign with Christ a thousand years—when Christ takes His earthly throne (Rev 5:10; cf. 2 Tim 2:12).
Priesthood has passed through certain well-defined stages or aspects. The patriarchs were priests over their households. Later, to Israel was offered the privilege of becoming a kingdom of priests (Exod 19:6); but it was conditional and Israel failed in the realization of this blessing, and the priesthood was restricted to one tribe or family. On a grace basis, in which God undertakes through the merit of His Son, in the New Testament is introduced the true and final realization of a kingdom of priests. Every saved person in the present age is a priest unto God. The Old Testament priest is the type of the New Testament priest. Israel had a priesthood; the Church is a priesthood. To be a priest unto God with the certainty of a kingly reign is a position to which the one who believes on Christ is brought through the saving grace of God.
19. A Chosen Generation, a Holy Nation, a Peculiar People. All three of these designations (1 Pet 2:9) refer to the same general idea, namely, that the company of believers of this age—individuals called out from the Jews and Gentiles alike—are different from the unsaved Jew and Gentile to the extent to which thirty-three stupendous miracles transform them. They are a generation, not in the sense that they are restricted to one span of human life, but in the sense that they are the offspring of God. They are a nation in the sense that they are separate, a distinct grouping among all the peoples of the earth. They are a peculiar people in the sense that they are born of God and are therefore not of this cosmos world. They are not enjoined to try to be peculiar; any people in this world who are citizens of heaven, perfected in Christ, and appointed to live in the power of and the glory of God, cannot but be peculiar.
These three designations represent permanent positions to which the believer has been brought and they, likewise, make a large contribution to the sum total of all the riches of divine grace.
20. Heavenly Citizens. Under this consideration, commonwealth privilege, or what is better known as citizenship, is in view. Writing of the estate of the Ephesians, who were Gentiles before they were saved, the Apostle states that they were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.” Israel’s citizenship, though earthly, was specifically recognized by God as separate from all other peoples. Into this position no Gentile could come except as a proselyte. Thus it is said that the Gentile, being a stranger to Israel’s commonwealth, had not so much as any divine recognition; yet immeasurably removed and heaven-high above even Israel’s commonwealth is the Christian’s citizenship in heaven. Of Christians it is written, “For our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20, R.V.); their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20), and they are said to have “come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb 12:22). To enforce the same truth, the Apostle also writes, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). Actual presence in heaven is an assured experience for all who are saved (2 Cor 5:8); but citizenship itself—whether realized at the present moment or not—is an abiding position accorded to all who believe. In truth, the occupation of that citizenship by instant removal from this sphere would be the normal experience for each Christian when he is saved. To remain here after citizenship has been acquired in heaven creates a peculiar situation. In recognition of this abnormal condition, the child of God is styled a “stranger and pilgrim” (1 Pet 2:11; cf. Heb 11:13) as related to this cosmos world-system. In like manner, he is said to be an “ambassador” for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). To remain here as a witness, a stranger, a pilgrim, and an ambassador is but a momentary experience; the heavenly citizenship will be enjoyed forever. It is a glorious feature of the riches of divine grace.
21. Of the Family and Household of God. Closely akin to citizenship and yet more restricted in their extent, are the positions the Christian is said to occupy in the family and household of God. As has been observed, there are various fatherhood relations which God sustains; but none in relation to His creatures is so perfect, so enriching, or so enduring as that which He bears to the household and family of the saints. So great a change has been wrought in the estate of those who are saved respecting their kinship to God, that it is written of them: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). With this position an obligation arises which makes its claim upon every member of the household. Of this claim the Apostle writes: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:10). In the present human relationship sustained in the cosmos world, there is, of necessity, but a limited difference observable between the saved and unsaved; yet those who comprise the household of faith are completely separated unto God, and into that family none could ever enter who sustains no true relation to Gold as his Father. Human organizations, including the visible church, may include a mixed multitude, but “the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Tim 2:19). In a great house there are some vessels to honor and some dishonor, some of gold and silver, and some of wood and of earth. If a man purge himself from vessels of dishonor, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work (2 Tim 2:20–21). This picture of household relationships does not imply that there are those in the family of God who are not saved; the truth set forth is that not all believers are, in their daily life, as yielded to God as they might be, and that by self-dedication they may be advanced from the position of vessels of dishonor—of wood or of earth—to the position and substance of vessels of honor—of gold and of silver.
Like citizenship in heaven, a participation in the household and family of God is a position exalted as high as heaven itself, and honorable to the degree of infinity. Thus there is correspondence with all other features of the riches of divine grace.
22. In the Fellowship of the Saints. A Christian citizenship pertains to a relation to heaven, and as the household pertains to God, so the fellowship of the saints pertains to their relation the one to the other. The fact of this kinship and the obligation it engenders is stressed in the New Testament. The fact of kinship reaches out to incomparable realities. Through the baptism of the Spirit—by which believers are, at the time they are saved, joined to the Lord as members in His Body—an affinity is created which answers the prayer of Christ when He petitioned the Father that the believers might all be one. Being begotten of the same Father, the family tie is of no small import, but to be fellow members in the Body of Christ surpasses all other such conceptions. To be begotten of God results in sonship; but to be in Christ results in a standing as exalted as the standing of God’s Son. To be partners in this standing added to regeneration’s brotherhood, constitutes that vital relationship for which Christ prayed when He asked “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee” (John 17:21). A repetition of any statement as it occurs in the Bible is for emphasis. It would seem, however, that, when speaking to His Father, there would be little occasion for reiteration; yet in that one priestly prayer Christ prays four times directly and separately that believers may be one, and once that they may be one in their relation to the Father and to Himself (John 17:11, 21–23). With all this in view, it must be conceded that few, if any, truths are so emphasized in the Word of God as the unity of believers. This prayer of Christ’s began to be answered on the Day of Pentecost when those then saved were fused into one corporate Body, and it has been answered continuously as, at the moment of believing, those saved are also joined to Christ’s Body by the same operation of the Holy Spirit.
An unknowable unity exists between the Father and the Son. It is the mystery of the Trinity itself; yet it is on this very level that Christ has requested that believers may stand in relation to each other—”that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee…that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:21–23). This prayer, as all that Christ ever prays, is answered, and the fact of oneness between the saints of God is a present truth whether anyone ever comprehends it in this world or not.
This marvelous unity between believers becomes the logical ground for all Christian action, one toward another. Such action should be consistent with the unity which exists. Never are Christians exhorted to make a unity by organization or combines; they are rather besought to keep the unity which God by His Spirit has created (Eph 4:1–3). This can be done in but one way, namely, by recognizing and receiving, as well as loving and honoring, every other child of God. The spirit of separation from, and of exclusion of, other believers is a sin that can be measured only in the light of that ineffable union which separation and exclusion disregard.
To be in the fellowship of the saints is a position in grace too exalted and too dignified for mere human understanding.
Dallas, Texas
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