God is Always Gracious -- to Everybody

Here is an interesting blog post about whether grace is imputed or imparted.

Thing is, God does not need to do any legal manipulations by which He can manage to regard us as righteous, before He can treat us well. He doesn't have to bestow a new legal status upon us before being good to us, as good as He is to the greatest saint. He doesn’t first have to kid Himself about who we are. He doesn’t need any justification to do whatever He pleases with His servants, including His unwilling ones. He is allowed to be merciful to whom He will be merciful.

In His ultimate self-revelation (in this life) He shows Himself the “Friend of sinners.” (Mark 11:19, Luke 7:34) He sends His sunshine and His rain upon the just and the unjust, alike. He loves those who hate Him; He is good to those who curse Him. (Matthew 5:44-45) “He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil.” (Luke 6:35) All these are Christ's own words, not mine.

And the Law? Has not God obliged Himself to be very much the opposite of all that to sinners? The New Covenant is not legally based. Christ fulfilled that Covenant and closed it out. God’s new covenant with mankind is a covenant of eternal, unbounded love. See more in an upcoming post.

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