4.11.26 ~ Grace-Filled Individuals


We have come to the end of the first seven days of teaching on grace. We have taken modern-day Christianity's definition of "unmerited favor" and rotated it just a little bit to bring some clarity to the topic. This is not a rejection of the Christian understanding of grace; it is an expansion of it. What we have inherited from Western theology is in no way wrong about what you did not earn, but it is incomplete because it is going to miss some things about the One who did earn it.

So here we are with merited favor that leads to solidarity, not substitution—the tzadik (righteous individual) binding himself to the people. He refuses individual favor. He stands with them. His standing becomes their standing! Moses earned it, and God, the Giver of grace, obliges his request, and many are saved.

Most people reading what I am saying believe that Yeshua is the ultimate tzadik—the righteous man. It is true! The One who stands before God covers us. But when most people think of grace, they think only of Jesus Christ. Grace is salvation. Salvation comes through the cross. That is the whole picture for most believers, but that is not what we have seen this past week.

Moses had earned favor that covered and saved the nation. Israel was saved physically, not metaphorically. God forgave them and saved them! The relationship that was about to be destroyed was saved, yet no one died. Moses secured salvation for his people through demonstrated faithfulness and solidarity. So if grace is misunderstood—and I think it is—part of the misunderstanding is that we skip straight to the cross and miss everything that came before it. And everything that came before it is going to matter a great deal as we move forward in expanding our understanding of grace (1 Cor. 15:10):

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
(1 Cor. 15:10)

Moses, and every other grace-filled individual, is more than an individual who showed up and performed a rescue mission. He was a man who lived a life tested, proved faithful, and demonstrated something that, with the Father, carried weight—because of his righteousness, which comes from obedience to God (Deut. 6:23–25):

And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
(Deut. 6:25)

If, with Yeshua, we throw out all the consistent patterns throughout God's Word of righteous individuals who merited faith and brought salvation—if it does not apply—we need to change the way we speak of Him. If it does apply, then we might need to talk about Him differently than we have been taught in some circles. And that is where we are going in the weeks ahead!

I hope your understanding is expanding :-)

Shabbat Shalom and happy seventh day of counting the Omer!

Alan 

Holy Fire and Strange Fire – Which one is burning on your altar? How do I know? 
More details at: Holy Fire and Strange Fire – Light In Torah 

Divine Commandments and Spiritual Growth: Lessons from Leviticus and the Omer Counting



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