We’re still discussing the Hebrew concept of CHESED.
Although most English Bibles translate this term into “grace,” that hardly brings justice to the true meaning of this word.
And here’s another thing you should know.
Just as there’s no English equivalent for CHESED, there’s no Greek equivalent either.
Again, CHESED is multi-faceted and carries a wide variety of meanings.
Lemme show you what I mean.
Out of all of these attributes, which one do you think best represents the God of Israel?
Wisdom.
Mercy.
Wrath.
Judge.
Warrior.
Love.
Lawgiver.
Now, I know the gentile Christian church has this ridiculous tendency to reduce complex Biblical concepts into bite-sized, one-word doctrines that don’t really mean anything.
So if you ask them this question, they’ll probably just answer, “God is love.”
Is that answer wrong?
No, but it’s incomplete.
The truth is that God’s character is represented by all of the above attributes, and probably more.
When you assert that God is love and leave it at that, you’re holding to a very limited understanding of His nature.
Ya feel me, homie?
Understand that your saving relationship with the Lord is based on CHESED.
That means your salvation is NOT just based on God’s Grace.
It’s based on all His other qualities as well, such as His Wisdom, His Justice, His Mercy, and so on.
Or to go back to my airplane analogy from yesterday.
You don’t just fly from one place to another via an engine.
You’re able to fly from one place to another because an airplane contains not just an engine, but also possesses wings, pilots, fuel, etcetera.
Or as Dr. Michael Brown likes to say when he tries to defend the Christian idea of the trinity: “God is complex in His unity.”
I agree with his statement, but I ain’t applying it the way he is.
Grace may be a key component of your airplane of salvation that enables you to travel from hell to heaven, so to speak.
But grace ain’t the whole airplane.
Ya feel me?
Once we really get this…
Then we can see that regardless of the era…
Or regardless of the new or old covenant…
God’s CHESED has always been the key linchpin that undergirds our relationship with the Lord.
And why?
Because the Lord our God never changes.
He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Done.
What Christianity, stating that God is love and leaving it at that, is missing is that if we cannot trust God to punish the sinners, we cannot trust God to save the righteous.
Good point, Steven.