What is the favor of God, and how can I get it?
The Bible speaks of God's favour as something people once begged for, and something the believer is now said to stand in permanently. That raises two questions: what exactly is this favour, and is it something you win, or something you receive?
Favour that no one deserves
Writers describe God's favour as grace — kindness given where there is no claim on it at all. One article on Romans 5 draws a line between grace and mercy, and then presses the point home:
The Bible TreasuryMercy is stirred into action by the weakness of its objects — their ignorance, their sorrows, their sufferings and their needs. But grace flows towards those who are completely undeserving, who have forfeited every claim by their sins. If we received the grace of God while we were ungodly, sinners, enemies, what favour is ours now that we are justified and reconciled!
Why it cannot be earned
Any attempt to buy God's favour by good behaviour destroys the thing itself. One writer puts the alternatives starkly:
C. StanleySalvation by works, of whatever kind, must set aside the free favour of God.
The order in Noah's story makes the same point. Scripture tells us Noah found favour first, and only afterwards describes the kind of man he was:
W. W. FeredayIt is written: "Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD." This comes before the statement, "Noah walked with God." This is always God's order. No one can walk with God until he has tasted the grace of God.
How a person gets in
If favour cannot be earned, it must be given — and commentators locate the whole entrance in the Person of Christ, received by faith:
The Bible TreasuryThe right of admission to this favour we have through Christ Jesus. What we could not possess in ourselves, He has secured to us so that it cannot be taken away. The wording implies that the access is ours continually, not on and off, as it well might be if it depended on ourselves. In ourselves we can offer no claim to such favour, but in Christ what claims there are!
How much favour
The believer is not squeezed in at the edge of God's kindness. Commenting on the phrase in Ephesians about being accepted in the Beloved — "the Beloved" being Christ — one writer says the usual English word is too weak:
A. J. Pollock"Accepted" is too cold a word. It means that and more. It takes in the idea of warmth and favour and delight. "In the Beloved" adds a thought that makes it richer and fuller to a very wonderful degree. For if God accepts the believer "in the Beloved," that acceptance can only be measured by the delight and favour in which Christ stands before the Father.
Something to enjoy, not to request
Because the favour is already given and fixed, it is no longer a request to be repeated. One writer notes that a prayer proper on the lips of a psalmist is not the Christian's prayer:
Truth & TestimonyWe do not have to ask God to be favourable to us, for He has abundantly shown His favour.
Nor does it grow or shrink with our performance:
F. B. HoleThis favour is a present reality. We shall never be more in favour than we are now, though our enjoyment of it will be greatly increased in the day when our hope becomes sight.
What it does for daily life
Favour is worth more than the visible prosperity people chase. Writing on a psalm where the godly look at the comfortable success of the wicked, one commentator observes:
Hamilton SmithFaith sees that the favour of God — the light of His face — enjoyed by a suffering remnant is far better than the outward prosperity of the wicked. The favour of God brings a gladness into the heart that far exceeds the enjoyment of material blessings.
Living up to it
A standing that cannot be lost is still a standing that can be contradicted by the way we live:
The Bible TreasuryThere is no ground for assuming that this standing goes together with indifference to sin, the indulgence of selfishness, and a course of practical unrighteousness. The justified believer is called to gather up his renewed energies and make sure his life and conduct match the privileged position he has been given.
Summary
- Undeserved. Favour is grace, and grace by definition flows to those who have forfeited every claim — the moment you try to earn it, you have set it aside.
- Received. Noah's order is God's order: favour first, walking with God afterwards. No one walks with God before tasting His grace.
- Through Christ. The access is His doing, not ours — in ourselves no claim, in Christ every claim, and admission that cannot be taken away.
- Measured by Christ. Accepted in the Beloved means the believer's favour is measured by the delight Christ Himself enjoys before the Father.
- Enjoyed now. It need not be prayed for and cannot increase; only our enjoyment grows — and that enjoyment shows in a life that matches the place we've been given.