Grace

Scott brought up some interesting points about grace in his comment on one of my earlier posts, and I thought I would just answer these as my open post for this week, so here goes...

I used the phrase from the Genesis flood story “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”  In case you haven’t read the comment, Scott said this, “This idea of grace is unique to the story, it seems to me. Grace is something that Noah didn't necessarily earn; it comes from God. So why is it the Noah is the recipient of this grace? And what does the fact that grace is used in this sense seem to say about humanity as a whole in this story?”

Grace is defined by www.Dictionary.com as “a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior; mercy, clemency, pardon.”  The Lord obviously manifested his favor on Noah by warning him of the coming flood, and telling him what to do to escape the destruction.  I’ve heard grace also defined as “getting something you don’t deserve.”  Noah did not deserve to be saved from the flood; he may have been “just…and perfect in his generation,” but he was still a man, and a sinner.  The Bible says in Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”  Although Noah was in the world’s eyes a “good” man, he was still flawed, but God chose to show favor on him.

We all are just like Noah; we have sinned, and the Lord is prepared to pour out his wrath on us.  But the good news is that He is also ready and willing to save us, just like Noah.  Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Scott brought up the question of why Noah received God’s grace?  That is a good question, because we have already determined that Noah did not deserve this grace.  I believe it is because Noah was seeking the grace of God.  If you look at the passage again, it says that “Noah found grace.”  If you find something, that more than often means that you were searching for it.  None of us deserve God’s grace, but if we simply seek God’s face, and ask Him to save us from our sins, he will grant us the same grace that Noah experienced. It says in Jeremiah 29:13, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”  And in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

I believe humanity as a whole was very wicked as the text says, and this is why God had to destroy them.  But I believe if anyone else had sought the Lord, he would have poured out his grace to them as he did Noah.  They simply refused it, or were too busy to search.  There are many people that reject his grace today.  He is ready and willing to save them, but many still refuse.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16