Grace
What does the concept of "grace" mean from a Hebraic perspective?
Jared L., Baltimore, MD
Jared,
As we know, grace was not a new concept that was invented when Jesus came. It was an established idea that can even be seen in the Hebrew Scriptures. But what does it mean?
The Hebrew word for grace is chen (pronounced like "hain" with a scratchy H). In Hebrew thought, grace is not an undeserved gift. Instead, grace is a positive quality that others find attractive or endearing. For example, in Proverbs 31:30, many translations render the word chen as "charm," and it is paralleled with "beauty."
A common idiom in Hebrew is for someone or something "to find grace in one's eyes." That means that the object drew some sort of positive attention and merited a favorable response. (When this idiom appears, many translations use the term "favor" to translate chen, the same word that appears as "grace" and "charm" elsewhere.)
We find this idiom in Exodus 33. Moses pleads before God on behalf of the Jewish people after the sin of the golden calf. Given that the people sinned quite gravely, they are not entitled to any kind of friendly response from God.
Moses plea, however, was not for God's unmerited mercy. Instead, he bases his request on the fact that God had said, "you [Moses] have also found favor in my sight" (Exodus 33:12), and God grants it for the very same reason (v. 17).
Thus, the forgiveness that resulted from Moses' intercession stemmed from the righteousness of Moses himself. Moses' merit before God was enough to balance the sin of the entire people.
In this way, Moses prefigures Jesus and demonstrates the same principle whereby we gain forgiveness with God. While we did not earn grace before God, that does not mean that it was unearned. In fact, it was earned by Jesus, who found favor (that is, grace) in the eyes of the Father by leading a perfect and sinless life, not to mention his torturous death. The merit that he gained from this is able to completely counteract our sin, leading to our justification. Just as Moses brought reconciliation between Israel and God through his own merit, so has Jesus done for the world.