Bible Question:
Ok, so a few weeks ago at a church I just started going to, the pastor called people up to the front who wanted prayer, and I went up. A person came to each of us individually, put oil on our heads (first time for me), and they prayed for us. But when the guy got to me, he said "I don't mean to prophesize over you, but God has put a question on my heart about you. Do you feel you have a calliing on your heart?" I said "yes sir" He said "I can see you have found favor in God, and by His special grace you will accomplish your calling." I'm kind of a new christian, so could anyone explain to me exactly what the favor of God is, and how one would get it, cause I admit I don't seee how He could have it for me. Also a side question, is special grace actually special, or just regular grace. |
Bible Answer: Dear Jrod74086, Welcome to the forum! Historically, theologians have thought of grace in Scripture as having two senses: (1) Common Grace -- the granting of general blessings to God's creation; e.g., life, provision, etc. (2) Special Grace -- the granting of special blessings unto His own in salvation I have used the phrase "common grace" over the years, understanding the sense in which the old theologians meant it. However, I do not find in Scripture the term grace used in association with lost people. Consequently, I tend to prefer using the phrase "God's sovereign goodness" when speaking of the general ways in which He brings that which is good to His creation. Relative to special grace, it seems to me that that is what you are talking about. Here are a couple of quotes that might be helpful to you: "Ascribed to God, grace is His voluntary, unrestrained, unmerited favor toward guilty sinners, granting them justification and life instead of the penalty of death, which they deserved." --Herman Bavinck "The grace of God is love freely shown towards guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed in defiance of their demerit. It is God showing goodness to persons who deserve only severity, and had no reason to expect anything but severity." --James I. Packer "Grace is defined Biblically as the demonstration of love/favor that is unearned, undeserved, and unrepayable; God imputes merit where none previously existed and declares no debt to be where one had been before. Grace is not dispensed on the basis of good works, including the good work of baptism." --Michael Horton You might also find the following article, "What is Grace?" by Jerry Bridges informative: http://rq.rts.edu/fall98/grace.html In Him, Doc |