ECT Is God's favor conditioned upon anything?

[Cross Reference]

I read favor to be something more than blessing. Blessing does not imply acceptance of the person. Favor, to my mind, does.

God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
Psalm 7:11

God makes the rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked. But He is still angry with the wicked every day.

And in anticipation...Cain's sacrifice was not acceptable for much deeper reasons than what the sacrifice was (i.e. produce as opposed to animals).

You read wrongly, with a twist, to make it say what you need it to say.

 

[nikolai_42]

You read wrongly, with a twist, to make it say what you need it to say.

If by that you mean my reading of "favor", your own OP made a similar statement - that God's favor is upon His own. But then you asked what favor means. And since I assume you aren't looking for a dictionary definition, I extended that to my understanding of favor in scripture. Favor is not equivalent to blessing (though blessing may come of it), but rather preference or acceptance.

Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.
Psalm 106:4-5

And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Genesis 18:1-3

 

[Cross Reference]

If by that you mean my reading of "favor", your own OP made a similar statement - that God's favor is upon His own. But then you asked what favor means. And since I assume you aren't looking for a dictionary definition, I extended that to my understanding of favor in scripture. Favor is not equivalent to blessing (though blessing may come of it), but rather preference or acceptance.

Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.
Psalm 106:4-5

And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Genesis 18:1-3

No. I mean eveything about your 'understanding' of the scriptures is twisted and seems to demand a twisted agreement in return.. Sorry, I don't have one to give you.

 

[nikolai_42]

No. I mean eveything about your 'understanding' of the scriptures is twisted and seems to demand a twisted agreement in return.. Sorry, I don't have one to give you.

So in this instance, what is it that you disagree with and why? What is it about those scriptures that implies favor is simply blessing? What is it that indicates it is upon anyone other than God's own?

 

[Cross Reference]

So in this instance, what is it that you disagree with and why? What is it about those scriptures that implies favor is simply blessing? What is it that indicates it is upon anyone other than God's own?

<its over>

 

[nikolai_42]

The word "favor" is not found in the King James Bible.

The Websters 1828 dictionary defines it as such:

1. Kind regard; kindness; countenance; propitious aspect; friendly disposition.

2. Support; defense; vindication; or disposition to aid, befriend, support, promote or justify. To be in favor of a measure, is to have a disposition or inclination to support it or carry it into effect. To be in favor or a party, is to be disposed or inclined to support it, to justify its proceedings, and to promote its interests.

3. A kind act or office; kindness done or granted; benevolence shown by word or deed; any act of grace or good will, as distinguished from acts of justice or renumeration. To pardon the guilty is a favor; to punish them is an act of justice.


So, if you want to discuss God's kindness, I suggest you look at this!


Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Don't forget...the KJV was not an American translation but a British one. Spelling is different and if you look up "favour" on Bible Gateway, you find 89 verses in which it (or variants) appear.

When I did a word search on Exodus 11:3, it showed that the word essentially meant acceptance. It is also found sometimes in the English word "grace" as in "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord". So the word used for favour is usually in the sense of acceptance or preference. There are a handful of times in which the OT "favour" comes from a different word - and it means to be favourably inclined towards but also to give graciously. So while there are times a favour is given...while there are times God acts favourably towards certain men, it seems to me that the majority of uses imply finding favor - that is, acceptance with God.

It isn't used a lot in the NT and sometimes the phrasing is "found favour" and sometimes it is "given favour".