Of Grace
By Rev. Herman Hoeksema
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The term grace denotes a subject that always occupied an important place of interest in the mind of the Church of the new dispensation from the very beginning of its history. It is also a term that occurs very frequently in the Word of God. The word "grace" one meets with everywhere, in the Old Testament as well as in the New. It is one of the keywords of the Bible. Without understanding its denotation and connotations one cannot understand Scripture. The more fully and clearly one understands the meaning of this term, the better he will understand Holy Writ. Take this word out of Scripture and you have taken the very heart out of the Word of God. It is because the Bible is the revelation of the grace of God that bringeth salvation, that it is dear to the heart of the child of God. By the contents and significance of that word the child of God lives and dies without it he could neither live nor die. It expresses in one word all the objective blessings of salvation often which the Christian has founded his hope; and at the same time it also denotes the subjective power, the power in him, by which he is liberated and delivered from sin and death and made partaker of eternal life. By grace he is saved; by grace he lives; by grace he believes, hopes, loves. By grace he is justified and sanctified, quickened and glorified; by grace he is a partaker of the sufferings of Christ, fights the good fight of faith, is patient, yea, glories in tribulation; by grace he hopes to the end for the salvation that is to be revealed in the last time. Grace is the keyword in the explanation of the mystery of salvation, and without grace you cannot explain the Christian.
Small wonder, then, that the Church always felt the importance of maintaining the proper and true, the Scriptural conception of the grace of God over against all human philosophy. And small wonder that many important controversies were carried on about the meaning of this important element in the Christian's confession. It was the desire to maintain the truth concerning the grace of God over against the false philosophy that would make it common, that gave rise to our Protestant Reformed Churches. It is not superfluous, therefore, always to be reminded of the teaching of Scripture on this part of our Confession.
The Word grace, as it occurs in Scripture, appears to have many different connotations, although we believe that they all refer to some underlying idea. Perhaps the most general and basic notion, from which all other connotations can be most readily explained, is that of gracefulness, pleasantness, attractiveness, and beauty. In this sense the word occurs both in the Old and the New Testament. Thus we read in Proverbs 22:11: "He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend". Here the word evidently has the signification of pleasantness, beauty. A man speaks pleasant and agreeable words, his speech is graceful, so that for the sake of it the king is his friend. The pleasantness and grace of his speech, however, is not superficial; it is not the vain beauty that characterizes the speech of the flatterer or boaster, but it is the beauty that expresses pureness of heart. It has an ethical basis. It is rooted in goodness. It is an ethically pure speech that is considered graceful and beautiful. Thus it also occurs in Psalm 45:3: "Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured out into thy lips, therefore, God hath blessed thee forever." Also here it is evident, that grace is used in the sense of beauty and attractiveness that is rooted in ethical goodness. In Proverbs 31:30 the word grace is even employed for the outward gracefulness of bodily form, of which it is, then, asserted that in itself is deceitful and vain. This is also in harmony with the root meaning of the Hebrew word, which signifies to incline gracefully toward anyone, to be pleasant toward someone and thus to favor that one. The word that is used in the New Testament for grace is derived from a verb that signifies to be pleasant and thus to afford joy, even as a thing of beauty is a joy forever. And so, also the New Testament word for grace has the fundamental notion of charm, gracefulness, attractiveness, and beauty. We read of the Lord, that all bear Him witness and wondered at the gracious words (in the original: words of grace) which proceeded out of His mouth, by which undoubtedly is meant, that the speech of the Lord was remarkably pleasant and in the true sense of the word beautiful, graceful. The Lord was a charming speaker. Luke 4:22. The same significance of the word we find in Colossians 4:6, where the apostle admonishes the Christians, that their speech must always be with grace, seasoned with salt, in order that they may know how they ought to answer every man. Their conversation, in other words, must always be characterized by the beauty of ethical purity. Perhaps the same meaning may be found in Ephesians 4:29: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, to the use of edifying, that it may give grace to the hearers", where "speech that giveth grace" or that is truly pleasant, stands over against corrupt communications. And the apostle Peter writes, I Peter 2:20: "For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God." Here the word for "acceptable" is "grace" in the original; so that the meaning is: patience in suffering for the sake of righteousness is beautiful in the eyes of God. So that, on the basis of Scripture we come first of all to the conclusion that, objectively, grace denotes the attribute, virtue or quality of beauty or pleasantness or charm; more especially of that ethical beauty or charm that is rooted in true goodness and purity, that is the expression of true perfection. For, only what is truly good is truly beautiful; while all that is corrupt and imperfect must be condemned as ugly and repulsive. It is only in the world of sin that the ethically corrupt can be considered charming and attractive; in the sight of God and according to the judgment of Scripture it is never so presented!
Hence, in the second place, we find the word grace in Scripture denoting subjectively an attitude of gracefulness or pleasantness, a gracious disposition, a friendly willingness or inclination of the heart one may assume over against or with reference to another. This is, no doubt, the meaning of the word in the frequently occurring phrase: to find grace in the eyes of someone. One who finds grace in the eyes of another reads in the latter's eyes that he is graciously disposed toward him, that he looks upon him with favor. Thus also it is used in Luke 1:30, where we read that the angel addresses the prospective mother of our Lord: "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor (grace) with God." The meaning is evidently, that God is favorably inclined, is graciously disposed toward her. In the same sense Stephen employs the word of David, concerning whom he declares that he found favor (grace) before God and desired to raise a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. And once more in Acts 14:26: "And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled." And also in Romans 5:15 the word grace has the meaning of gracious disposition, where we read: "much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
It will be readily seen, how from this, the meaning of the word grace is derived that is most generally and vividly in the mind of the Church, that, namely, of undeserved and forfeited favor. Essentially this is the same signification as the one we just called to your attention, only the free and undeserved character of it is now emphasized and emphatically revealed. Still the word has the meaning of friendly or gracious disposition, the gracious attitude of God toward His people, but now the freedom and sovereignty of this grace is emphasized by the state and condition of the subjects that receive and experience this grace of God. Grace is always free. It always has its basis only in God. But the freedom and independence of this favorable disposition of God is brought out more clearly and vividly, when the recipient is himself a sinner, who forfeited every claim to the favor of God and deserved, in fact, only His wrath and disfavor. Hence, the Word of God uses the term grace as standing opposed to debt or obligation; opposed also to work. When anything is out of works, or according to work, it is not out or according to grace and vice versa. Thus we read in Romans 4:4: "Now to him that worketh the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt." The wage earner does not receive a token of the gracious disposition of his employer when he receives his wages. But we are being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Romans 3:24. In our justification we have a manifestation of the free, gracious and friendly disposition of God to usward. Hence, if it is by grace, it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace; but if it be of works, it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work, Romans 11:6. But we have redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, not according to works, which would be impossible, but according to the riches of His grace, Ephesians 1:7. Grace, then, is such a friendly disposition, such a favorable attitude of God toward His people, as makes it possible even for those that are entirely undeservant, yea, that have wholly forfeited His kindness and favor, to receive it.
Hence, in the fourth place, the word grace is used in Scripture, to denote the operation of God, in this attitude of favor and friendly willingness, with respect to its objects; as well as the implication of all the spiritual blessings that by this operation of God are bestowed on them. Important in this connection is the all-comprehensive sense in which the term is employed in 1 Peter 5:10: "the God of all grace". This implies, in the first place, that God is gracious in Himself; He is an all gracious God; in the second place, that he is the Author of all grace, wherever you find grace, it is the grace of God; and in the third place, that he is the sole Author of grace; apart from Him there is no grace; He causes it, works it, bestows it as a manifestation of His own gracefulness. Thus we take it, is the meaning of the word grace in the apostolic greetings and benedictions at the beginning and at the close of the epistles to the churches. "Grace be to you", "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you" etc. can only signify, that God in His grace through Christ may work in and upon the Church and that He bestow grace, i.e. all the blessings of salvation upon her. For, when God is graciously inclined he blesses and the content of that blessing is grace; even as, when He is unfavorably disposed He curses and the contents of that cursing are wrath and misery. And thus we naturally find the word very frequently employed in the Scriptures, in fact, too often to quote all the passages in which it occurs with this signification. Just two passages for the purpose of illustrating the idea may suffice. The apostle writes in I Corinthians 15:10: "By the grace of God I am that I am", evidently meaning that the power of God's grace has made him what he is. And in I Peter 1:13 we read: "Hope to the end for the grace that is, to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ", which we understand as referring to all the blessings of grace that shall be showered upon the Church when Jesus Christ shall be revealed in glory.
So then, finally, it can be understood that the word grace also occurs in the sense of thanks. When we read, Romans 6:17: "But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you", the original reads: "But grace be to God." And when the apostle exclaims in Romans 7:25: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord", according to the Greek he literally says: Grace be to God. And in the well-known doxology of 1 Corinthians 15:57, the apostle rejoices according to the original: Grace be to God, who giveth us the victory. The same expression you may find in many other places, as II Corinthians 2:14; 9:15; II Tim. 1:3. And the meaning is probably: grace be ascribed to God; let us attribute all the blessings of salvation only to the grace of our God in Jesus Christ our Lord and thus render praise unto His holy Name!
In order, then, to arrive at the Scriptural conception denoted by the term grace, we must proceed from the fundamental truth that God is gracious, that He, as it is expressed in I Peter 5:10, is the God of all grace. All things are first in God, and are manifested in the creature only as a reflection of the divine perfections. They are in God absolutely, that is, without any relation to the creature. Thus it is with all the attributes of the Most High. God is love in Himself. He does not depend on the existence of a creature that can be the recipient of this love in order to possess or be this virtue actively, but He is love in Himself. So God is merciful, righteous, holy, true and faithful, a God of peace in the absolute sense of the word. If this were not so, He would not be God, seeing He would not be self-existent and independent. The same is true of the attribute of grace. God is eternally a God of all grace. He is all grace. Graciousness is an attribute of his very being, even though there never were a creature to whom this grace of God were revealed. Grace belongs to God's Name. Thus He proclaimed His holy Name to Moses on the mount, according to Ex. 34:6: "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth." Again, thus the psalmist addresses Him in Psalm 86:15: "But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." Thus he sings in Psalm 103:8: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. " And in Psalm 116:1: "Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea, the Lord is merciful."
Now, with respect to God in the absolute sense of the word, this, no doubt, implies that God is the perfection of all beauty, because He is the implication and eternal, infinite perfection of all goodness. God is good in the ethical sense of the word. Goodness is His very being. He is a light and there is no darkness in Him at all. His very being is righteousness and holiness and truth, He is peace and love and life; in Him there is no unrighteousness, no corruption, no lie, no war and no envy and hatred. He is very Goodness, ethical perfection in His very Being. For that reason God is also gracious in the sense of beautiful and charming, attractive and pleasant in His whole being. For true goodness is true beauty. And these are in God in the supreme, absolute and infinite sense of the word. So that we may conclude, that God is, indeed, the perfection of beauty. Even as the ethically evil is ugly, so the ethically perfect is beautiful and charming. Grace in God is, therefore, the perfection of His ethical beauty. For that reason we read in Psalm 27:4: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that l may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple." And in Psalm 16:11: "In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." And once more in Psalms 50:2: "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty God hath shined." God is altogether lovely. He is absolute loveliness. All that is in God is charming!
But this is not all. God is not only lovely and beautiful, so that the knowledge and contemplation of Him is a delight, but He also knows and contemplates Himself as beautiful. He knows Himself and eternally beholds Himself as beautiful. He has an eternal delight in His own beauty. For, He is the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Son is the Word and in Him the Father expresses all the goodness and beauty of His image. And in the Spirit the Son returns to the Father and the Father contemplates Himself as the perfection of beauty. Hence, God knows Himself as gracious. He has a delight in the beauty of His perfection. So that we may come to the conclusion, that grace, as it is in God in the absolute sense of the word, is that virtue of the divine Being according to which He is the perfection of beauty in Himself and contemplates Himself as such with infinite delight. The absolutely gracious God is graciously inclined toward Himself and rejoices in Himself with perfect joy!
This gracious God, then, has willed to reveal Himself in all the beauty of His divine Being and life. For this purpose He eternally conceived of a people, in His sovereign counsel, that would be a reflection of His own divine grace, a people in whom all the fullness of His beauty should be reflected in a creaturely way. To reach this purpose God conceived of His people as made like unto the image of His Son. For as the fullness of the Father dwells in the Son, as He is the express image of the Father in the infinite sense, the very effulgence of His glory, so the fullness of the Son must dwell in the Church, in such a way, that through all the multitude of them that are saved the glory and beauty may shine forth and be reflected. In his eternal counsel, therefore, God conceived of a people that would be the reflection of His grace, in order that in them as His own workmanship He might have His delight. But this is not all. God did not merely purpose to reflect His grace and beauty, but to reveal it. This people must know Him. They must receive in their hearts and minds the knowledge that God is good, the perfection of all goodness and as such the implication of all beauty and charm. They must taste Him. And tasting Him they must acknowledge that He is to be desired above all things, that His lovingkindness is better than life, that His grace is more than meat and drink. A people they are as God conceived them in His counsel, that are beautiful as He is beautiful, because He made them such, and in whom, for that reason He has His delight for His own Name's sake; a people that know and adore the beauty of the Lord their God and glorify His adorable name. Thus they are in the counsel of God from eternity. United in Christ, the Son of God, the effulgence of His glory, as their Head; in Christ all the fullness of the divine glory and grace dwelling bodily; and through Christ all the Church as His body filled with the divine grace, holy as he is holy, righteous as He is righteous, knowing as they are known, contemplating God and loving Him, even as they are the objects of His love and grace. To that people, as God has them eternally with Him, before Him in His eternal counsel, He is graciously inclined. Them He loves. Them He beautifies in the highest possible sense for His Name's sake. For whom He has foreknown, them He also did predestinate to be conformed according to the image of His Son; and whom He did predestinate them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified them He also glorified. And that people, as He has them perfected in His counsel, forever and ever say: Grace be to God! That is their thanksgiving! The acknowledgement that God is good and beautiful!
Hence, all history concentrates around the formation and glorification of that people, the beautiful people, that is the reflection of the grace of God, in Christ Jesus, their Lord. They are formed and led to that highest glory and perfection of heavenly beauty through the deep way of sin and death. There was no other way. An image of this beauty He creates in the first man Adam. But his was not the highest realization of the perfection of beauty to which God had destined His people. The first man is of the earth earthy. He is not the Lord from heaven. But he carries the glorious Church, the perfection of God's grace, in his loins. When he falls in the darkness of sin and death, they fall in and with him. And as they are, in their sin and death, they are not the objects of God's lovingkindness, but of His wrath and hatred. Neither do they taste and acknowledge that the Lord is good. God is not lovable and charming to the sin ner. The highest good is to him, in the foolishness of his sin, the object of his enmity. They hate Him. The carnal mind is enmity against God. They do not seek Him but flee from Him. All the light that is in them is darkness. Thus they are born, members of a race that is repulsive to God, and to whom God is repulsive. But God loves them, for He has chosen them and ordained them to be made like unto the image of His Son. And from that depth of misery he saves them, because He is graciously inclined toward them, until they shall have reached the height of glory in His eternal tabernacle, in which they shall taste and forevermore acknowledge that the Lord is good and the perfection of beauty, that at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Objectively He reveals and realizes this grace toward His people in Christ Jesus. He does so, when He sends His only begotten Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He becomes like unto His brethren in all things. He enters into their night. He stands as their representative. He takes upon Himself their sin and guilt. He dies their death, to satisfy the unchangeable justice of God. For Zion must be redeemed by justice. He enters into the depth of their shame and humiliation. He tastes death for them all. He could, for He was their Head, according to God's counsel. He could, for He was the Son of God, Who could taste death as no man could. He could, for He could taste death as an act, as an act of perfect love, and in the tasting of death He freely and perfectly acknowledged that God is good and the perfection of all beauty. He could, for as the Son of God He had life in Himself. He could die and live again. He could die and kill death in the dying. He could die through death into the glory of the resurrection. And so God reveals His grace to Him and realizes it in His resurrection. For, the resurrection is not a return to the present and earthly life, but a raising to the higher level of the glorious heavenly life of God's tabernacle. He is glorified. And being glorified He is received up into heaven, placed at the very pinnacle of all created things, at the right hand of God! Christ Jesus, the Head of the Church, glorified at the right hand of God, is the central realization of the grace of God, the firstfruits of the glory that shall be revealed in the day of His coming.
Hence, God's elect receive the grace of God only through Him. The grace of God is the same as the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, only the distinction implies that we receive this grace of God only through Him. For, when He was made glorious, He received the Spirit as the Head of the Church, and became the Life-giving Spirit. The first man was made a living soul, the last Adam is become a Life-giving Spirit. He imparts Himself to His brethren, given Him by the Father. He gives them grace. Grace is the power whereby they are saved. By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. For, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which He afore ordained that we should walk in them. By the power of that grace, they are made like unto Him. Through that grace they are regenerated and receive the beginning of His resurrection life. For, "blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3. By grace they are called, through the Word of God, from death into life, from darkness into light, from the sphere of enmity into that of the love of God. And when they are so called they have a different spiritual conception and evaluation of things, above all of God. For, positively, they now see and taste that the Lord is good and gracious, that He is the perfection of all beauty and, therefore, the supreme attraction for their heart. They long for Him. They thirst after Him more than a hart panteth after waterbrooks. They long for His favor, and His lovingkindness is more for them than life. And negatively, they see the horror of their sin, they do feel the load of their guilt, and the life of sin is become repulsive to them. They long to be delivered from the guilt and the power of their sin, that they may have fellowship with God. And by grace they receive faith, faith in the blood and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They behold that God is gracious toward them, and loved them while they were yet sinners. They apprehend by faith, that God has washed all the guilt of their sin away and was reconciling them unto Himself on the cross. They perceive that He justified them in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And they lay hold on Him by the power of grace. They know Him and they know themselves by faith as belonging to that corporation of the elect of which Jesus Christ is the head. They believe that their sins are forgiven, that they are justified; and they have peace with God. In Him they have died and risen again. Died unto the world, died unto sin; risen unto a new life, the life of the risen Lord. Henceforth their walk is in heaven, from which they look for the Saviour. By grace they, therefore, are justified, out of faith. And by grace they are sanctified through Jesus Christ their Lord. For, still they are in the body of this death. Still the old man of sin is in them. And it is by grace that they put off the old man and put on the new man, renewed after God in righteousness and holiness. By grace they seek the things that are above, are kept in the power of God, unto the inheritance incorruptible, that is reserved in heaven for them. And, knowing that it is all by the power of grace that they are saved and sanctified and glorified, they fall down in adoration and say: Thanks be to God ! Let grace be ascribed to God forevermore!
Still the end is not reached. And that end cannot be reached until all the elect shall have been born and gathered and drawn unto Christ. Then the power of the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, shall also deliver their bodies and make them like unto the glorious, heavenly and spiritual body of their Lord. And grace shall operate through all the wide creation. By the power of the grace of God in Christ, new heavens and a new earth shall be created for beauteous Zion to dwell in. Then God shall be all in all and all things shall be the highest reflection of the beauty of the Lord our God, manifested in Christ Jesus! If in this Scriptural light we conceive of the grace of God, it will be evident, that, with respect to its object, it is not general, neither is it common, but what we might call organically particular.
First of all, it is not general, by which we mean that it does not include within its scope every man, head for head and soul for soul. This is the implication of the doctrine of general grace. We can, indeed, distinguish between the doctrine of general and that of common grace, between what is designated in the Dutch language by "algemeene" and what is called "gemeene genade". And for the sake of clarity it is better that we maintain this distinction, though the two were hopelessly confused at the Synod of 1924. The former is the doctrine that denies God's sovereign election and reprobation, and, therefore, teaches that the saving grace of God pertains to every man. Christ atoned for all. God is graciously inclined to all. But the latter maintains that God from eternity made a distinction between elect and reprobate, and that this distinction is realized on earth in the righteous and the wicked. Only while it would maintain this distinction, it would hold also, that God's grace is common in this present life in the world, that is, that God is gracious to the righteous and the evil alike. Elect and reprobate, the righteous and the wicked are, as such, the objects of God's grace.
Now, maintaining this distinction and bearing it in mind, we assert first of all, that the grace of God is not general. I will take no time now to quote particular texts from Scripture to show that the Word of God stands opposed to this theory of general grace. But I do wish to point out, that in the light of the Scriptural conception of the grace of God, this theory is untenable, unless we will also hold, that all men are really saved. And this no one has the courage to maintain or teach. Not only is all the plain teaching of Scripture opposed to such a universalistic view of salvation, but also in reality condemns it. It is simply a fact, that all men are not saved, that, as far as we can see, the majority of men are lost. But, if this is true, general grace becomes an absurdity. It always amounts to this, that God is graciously, favorably inclined to the sinner, that he pities him and is willing to save him, if the sinner only consents to be an object of this grace of God. But this is impossible, for it is evident, that God is the God of all grace, and that His grace is surely free and sovereign. It cannot, therefore, depend on the will of the sinner, whether he shall receive grace or not. And on the other hand, if God is graciously inclined toward anyone, He surely causes His grace to operate in the heart of that sinner, as surely as Christ died and rose for him. Grace, in other words, is always first. And because it is first, it surely is always effective upon its objects; and because it is always effective, either of two things must be true: all men are surely saved or the grace of God is not general. And since all men are not saved, the grace of God surely cannot be general, including all men head for head individually.
In the second place, this grace of God cannot be common. It cannot have the righteous and the wicked for its object. Also in regard to this we shall not now quote the innumerable passages of Scripture that plainly prove the proposition that the grace of God is specific and not common. What I wish to point out is the fact, that it lies in the very nature of the grace of God that it cannot be common. For, if grace in God is the virtue, according to which He is beautiful in His very being as the perfection of ethical goodness and according to which He has a delight in Himself as the ethically good and beautiful, it is evident that in the deepest sense His grace can never have for its object what is wicked and evil. If it is objected, that He is, nevertheless, gracious to His people, and that they also are by nature wicked and sinful, I reply, that God beholds them, not as they are in themselves, but as they are in Christ Jesus from eternity. And then they are not wicked and evil, but righteous and holy. God beholds no sin in Jacob and no iniquity in Israel, but His people are precious and beautiful in His sight. It is true that their sin and iniquity as they are by nature is repulsive to Him, the reason why he removes those sins from His people, washes, cleanses and sanctifies them by the power of His grace. But they themselves are the object of His eternal delight in Christ Jesus, their Lord. But the grace of God is not and cannot be common. His face is against the wicked and He hates them every day!
But this grace of God, as to its object, is organically particular. It concerns, indeed, only the elect, those whom God has ordained from eternity to be made like unto the image of His Son. But it does not concern these elect merely as an arbitrary number of individuals and apart from the rest of creation. On the contrary, the elect are conceived as an organism, as one organic whole, as one body, the body of Christ, as a beautiful temple or building, expressing one idea. As a body is not merely a number of members, but an organic whole, in which all the members, each one in its own place, serve the purpose of the whole; or, as a building is not a pile of brick and stone and wood, but a well-planned whole, in which an idea is expressed and in which every part serves to bring out the unity and beauty of the idea; so also the elect Church of God is not an arbitrary number of saved persons, snatched from the human race and from the rest of creation, but one organic whole, expressing the one idea of the beauty of the Lord in Christ Jesus, and every member serves the one purpose to cause the beauty of the Lord to shine forth, each in His own way. And again, that organic whole of the elect and glorified Church of Christ does not stand alone, but in the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth, which shall be beautified by the power of God's grace, to fit the beauty of Christ and His Church. And all shall be to the praise and glory of Him, Who is the perfection of goodness and, therefore, the highest perfection of beauty: the God of all grace!
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