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3. A Matter of God’s Grace

God’s goal of bringing forth many sons is accomplished not by man’s work but by God’s grace. What is God’s grace? Contrary to the concept of many, God’s grace is not merely unmerited favor. According to the divine revelation in the New Testament, grace is actually God Himself given to His chosen people for their enjoyment, and this enjoyment will make them God’s sons.

This understanding of the grace of God is found in the Gospel of John. In John 1 we see that the Word, who is the very God, became flesh (vv. 1, 14) and that grace came with Him (v. 17). This means that He came as grace. According to John 1, God came as grace to be received by His chosen ones. Verses 12 and 13 say, “As many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Whoever believes in Him and receives Him will be born of Him to become one of His children. Therefore, by giving Himself to His chosen people as grace, God brings forth many sons.

Two other verses which indicate that grace is God Himself are Galatians 2:20 and 1 Corinthians 15:10. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” In 1 Corinthians 15:10 he says, “Not I, but the grace of God with me.” Taken together, these verses indicate that grace is Christ Himself as the embodiment of the processed Triune God. Hence, grace is nothing less than the processed Triune God given to His chosen people to bring forth many sons.

When God called Abraham, He called him with the intention of producing many sons. Because these sons are brought forth by God’s grace, God did not ask Abraham to work for Him. God desired only that Abraham would agree with Him to believe in what He intended to do. Abraham did believe this, and his believing was considered by God to be righteousness. “He believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Here we have the base for the teaching concerning justification by faith. Paul expounded this basic teaching in the New Testament (Rom. 3:21-31; Gal. 3:6-9). God’s intention is to produce many sons by dispensing Himself into His chosen people as grace. At least to some extent, this was made known to Abraham, and he accepted it and believed in it. As a result, he was counted as righteous in the eyes of God.

In Genesis 15 God promised Abraham that he would have an heir, and Abraham believed God. However, in the very next chapter, because Abraham did not have a child by Sarah, he followed Sarah’s suggestion to have a child by Hagar, her handmaid. Hagar gave birth to a son, and he was called Ishmael. Abraham’s having a child by Hagar was displeasing to God, and He did not appear again to Abraham for thirteen years. When the Lord appeared to Abraham again, He said to him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly” (Gen. 17:1-2). The Lord indicated to Abraham that His grace would produce a son by him. But what Abraham had done by himself was of the flesh and as such was condemned by God. Nevertheless, Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before thee!” (v. 18). The Lord then said to Abraham, “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him” (v. 19).

In Genesis 18 the Lord appeared to Abraham again and said to him, “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son” (v. 10a). This indicates that the bringing forth of Isaac would be of the Lord’s coming. This may be compared to Mary’s bringing forth of Jesus being the coming of the Triune God. Eventually, Sarah did give birth to Isaac (Gen. 21:1-3).
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Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 254-264)   pg 4