Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxjobox
This is the thing: Paul's teachings were in Greek, and the Greek words used had common meanings- this is what language is all about- terms with accepted common meanings. If Paul was trying to convey a WL definition, he would have written differently- different words. Paul used the saying "grace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" in all his epistles.
WL coming 1900 years later and trying to give an other than common definition to grace, and calling the common Greek definition low, is really saying that Paul had a low or incomplete understanding of grace. Particularly to those who view the scripture as "God breathed", of the Spirit, this would imply that Lee felt superior in understanding and his teachings were above original scripture. Do we see this thought carried out among Lee's disciples? Lee's definition actually alters the meaning Paul used in introducing his epistles. Paul did not use the phrase Grace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in a casual, hi, how are you, manner; it conveyed the Christian thought and the gospel.
I say myth, and distortion of truth, and the words of an upstart for Lee. Those who follow Lee and push LSM create their own reality, their own religion, and try to overlap their religion with actual scripture to gain converts.
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I guess we'd understand Paul better if we had transcripts of his speaking's to the churches. Then we'd be on the 'inside' of his words, of the little bit that have come down to us today.
There's been attempts to fill that missing information in. There's the 3rd Epistle to the Corinthians, and a letter back to Paul, from the Corinthians, that are pseudepigraphal and apocryphal, respectively.
But Evangelical has got it when it comes to the meaning(s) of grace. I can look up every use of the word grace in my Bible study software, and it verifies all the meanings Evangelical listed.
Maybe we can't know what Paul was thinking, concerning the word grace, but we do have context to help us understand what he prolly meant.
Personally, and I suppose subjectively, I'm delighted that I'm saved by grace. Cuz if it depended on me ... there'd be no hope.