Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Romans 3:24 – As A Gift
“The word translated freely (or as a gift – PDH) carries with it a rich connotation. It is found nine times in the New Testament and is revealed to man `without price, without return, without cause.’ It is the word that is twice used in the well known verse, `Freely ye have received, freely give’ (Matthew 10:8). It is the word that is twice used at the end of the Bible to tell all men that they may take of the water of life freely (Revelation 21:6; 22:17).
“But the richest meaning is to be found in a verse that speaks of the manner in which men hated Christ when He was here on earth. In the upper room when the Lord Jesus talked about the hatred which the world would bear to the believer, because the world already bore the same hatred to Him, He concludes the passage with the word: “This cometh to pass, that the word might be fullfilled which was written in their law, They hated me without a cause (John 15:25). The translators have three English words – without a cause – to translate the one Greek word.” (Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure, Barnhouse, v.2, pp.95-96.)
Just as Jesus did not earn their hatred, we do not earn God’s justification of ourselves. Ironically, just as Jesus did something to bring their hatred, we also must do something to bring God’s grace. It doesn’t mean our hearing, believing, repenting, and being baptized earns us and makes us deserving of forgiveness and justification any more than Jesus’ life and teachings earn Him and made Him deserving of their hatred.
Comments