§ 13.]

The Christian Faith.

175 'I am the truth.' All that the Jews had to believe under the old dispensation was summed up in Christ. If they believed Moses, they would believe Him. If they rejected Him, they were doing dishonour to God, and were condemning themselves as loving darkness more than light. Sin sprang from a disbelief of God's word. "Yea, hath God said?' this was the poison in which the first fiery dart of the Wicked One was dipped. The Truth' came to manifest, in a life of love and purity, and in a death of self-sacrifice, what God had really said, and what his feelings towards man actually were. Those that accepted the Truth, as it was revealed in Jesus Christ, entered into life.

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles carries this teaching a stage further by exhibiting the special facts which were prominently put forward as objects of faith. These facts were the Divine Mission, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the means of pardon, of living to God, and of rising from the dead to have a share in Christ's kingdom.

The Epistles enter more fully into details, answer different questions, expound doctrines, apply sacred truths to the exigencies of daily life. But all is summed up in Christ, 6 Whosoever takes him to be amen or true shall not be ashamed' (Rom. 9. 33, quoted from Is. 28. 16).

§ 14. Two Old Testament expressions which are taken up in the N. T. may be referred to in conclusion. In Rom. 15. 12, the Apostle quotes from the LXX version of Is. 11. 10, the words, In him shall the Gentiles hope,'' and then proceeds, 'Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.' In the A. V. the point of the connection is missed by the substitution of the word trust for hope, just as a parallel connection has been observed in an earlier part of the chapter. See Chap. 7. § 9. It cannot be said, however, that there is any objection to this rendering in

Here the Hebrew word is darash, to seek.

itself, for though iw represents trust with reference to the future, while Teiloμaι represents confidence with regard to the present, yet they are both renderings of one Hebrew word, as we have just seen, and cannot be separated by a very strong line.

In Acts 2. 26, St. Peter quotes from the Sixteenth Psalm the words, 'My flesh also shall rest in hope' (AтаσKηVάσει Tπid); and this expression, 'in hope,' is repeated several times, being applied to Abraham (Rom. 4. 18), to Christians (Acts 26. 6; Rom. 5. 2; Tit. 1. 2), to the ministry (1 Cor. 9. 10), and to creation itself (Rom. 8. 20). All hope is concentrated in Christ (1 Tim. 1. 1; Col. 1. 27), and looks for the unseen realities of another world (Rom. 8. 24), even the resurrection (Acts 24. 15), eternal life (Tit. 3. 7), and glory (Rom. 5. 2).

§§ 1. 2.] Words rendered Grace in the O. T.

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CHAPTER X.

GRACE, PITY, LOVE, AND MERCY.

§ 1. The Scripture mainly occupied in setting forth the loving aspect of the Divine character.--§ 2. Words rendered grace in the O. T.— § 3. The same, according to the N. T.-§ 4. Racham, or pity.— § 5. Ahav, or love.-§ 6. Other words rendered love.-§ 7. Love, according to the N. T.-§ 8. Chesed, or mercy.-§ 9. Meaning of chasid, usually rendered saint.-§ 10. Examination of special passages in which it is used. § 11. The same in the N. T.-§ 12. General usage of the word in the N. T.

THE Bible is pre-eminently occupied in setting forth the tender feelings with which God regards the children of men even when dead in sin; it depicts them not in the abstract, but as manifested in action; and it everywhere teaches that those who have tasted of God's grace and love and mercy, are bound by the very constitution of their nature to exercise towards their fellow men those dispositions which He has shown so marvellously towards them. They thus become in reality what all believers in Christ are by professionchildren of God; drinking the Divine sunshine of love into their hearts, and being stimulated by its living power into thought and action, in harmony with the nature of Him from whom their new life is drawn.

Only the leading words which express the Divine lovingkindness towards man are here brought under discussion; but one of them, the last to be noticed, requires careful consideration.

§ 2. Grace is the free bestowal of kindness on one who has neither claim upon our bounty, nor adequate compensation to make for it. Throughout the O. T., with the

N

exception of Hos. 14. 2, where the word rendered 'graciously' signifies 'goodness' (2), it stands for the Hebrew Chanan (), to show favour. It is often coupled with racham (on), a word which signifies a tender feeling of love or pity. The adjectival form, chanun (1), gracious, is used only of God, and denotes the action which springs from His free and unmerited love to His creatures. The verb is rendered 'pity' in Prov. 19. 17, 'He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord'; where the writer is not speaking of commiseration, but rather of the kindly dealing of one who hopes for nothing again.' It is also used in Job 19. 21, and Prov. 28. 8, where it might be rendered, 'deal graciously.' Other renderings for this word in the A.V. are to be favourable,' and 'to be merciful,' and (in the causative form), to beseech, supplicate, and pray. The Greek xápis, and the English 'grace' or 'favour,' well represent the word, only we have to be on our guard against the supposition that grace is an abstract quality; it is an active working principle, showing itself in our dealings with those by whom we are surrounded.

The adverb 'graciously' is usually rendered Swpɛav in the LXX; and this word reappears in the N. T., being rendered freely,' as in Matt. 10. 8, Freely ye have received, freely give'; Rom. 3. 24, Being justified freely by his grace'; Rev. 22. 17, 'Let him take the water of life freely.' A secondary meaning which the adverb has received is without a cause.' In this sense we meet with it in John 15. 25, 'They hated me without a cause,' words quoted from Ps. 69. 4; also Gal. 2. 21, Then Christ died in vain, or causelessly.' We occasionally use the English word gratuitous in this sense, as when we speak of 'a gratuitous insult.'

§ 3. The verbal form is rendered xapitoμar in the LXX; and this word occurs several time in the N. T. to indicate an

$ 3.]

The Same, according to the N. T.

179

exhibition of free grace, whether in the form of healing (Luke 7. 21), or of remitting a debt (Luke 7. 42), or of the loosing of a prisoner (Acts 3. 14), of making a gift (Rom. 8. 32, 1 Cor. 2. 12), or of pardon (2 Cor. 2. 10, Eph. 4. 32), or even of the privilege of suffering for Christ (Phil. 1. 29).

An act done with any expectation of a return from the object on which it is wrought, or one which is meted out as a matter of justice, recompense, or reward, is not an act of grace. This is specially noted in Rom. 11. 6; compare also the words of our Lord, If ye love them that love you, what grace (A. V. reward) have you?' Luke 6. 32, 33, 34. So St. Peter says, 'This is grace (A. V. thankworthy), if a man through consciousness of God endure pains, suffering unjustly,' 1 Pet. 2. 19. The renderings ‘reward' and ‘thankworthy,' adopted in the A. V., tend to obscure the sense in these passages.

In the great proportion of passages in which the word grace is found in the N. T., it signifies the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit. We have gradually come to speak of grace as an inherent quality in man, just as we talk of gifts; whereas it is in reality the communication of Divine goodness by the inworking of the Spirit, and through the medium of Him who is full of Grace and Truth.'

§ 4. Racham expresses a deep and tender feeling of compassion, such as is aroused by the sight of weakness or suffering in those that are dear to us or need our help. It is rendered pity or pitiful in a few passages. Thus Ps. 103. 13, Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him'; Ps. 106. 46, 'He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives'; Lam. 4. 10, The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children.' It is curious that the word 'pitiful' should