Introduction (4318) (prosagoge from pros = toward + ago = bring, lead) literally means a bringing near, a leading or bringing into the presence of. The act of bringing to, a moving to. It means providing admission or access (freedom, permission and/or the ability to enter) with the associated thought that the one gaining access has freedom to enter by virtue of the assistance or favor of another. It includes the idea of the right to address someone, the one addressed being of higher status. It describes the approach to one we could never approach in our mortal unredeemed flesh. In the secular use a "status factor" is implied as in the statement "access to Cyrus for an audience". In secular Greek prosagoge was used to describe an "access point for ships". Moulton and Milligan state that it was sometimes used of "a landing stage". It was used to describe ground that offered no access to enemy forces. The only other uses of prosagoge are found in Ephesians... for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (Eph 2:18 see notes) in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. (Ephesians 3:12 [note]) From these NT uses notice that prosagoge always refers to the believer’s access to God through Jesus Christ. What was unthinkable to the OT Jew is now available to all who come. From the 3 NT uses of prosagoge we observe that... 1. We have access into grace (see note Romans 5:2) God’s throne is the throne of grace (He 4:16-note). 2. We have access to the Father (Ep 2:18-note). Though He is sovereign, we can still approach Him as a child does a father (Luke 11:11, 12, 13, Ro 8:5-note). 3. We have access through Jesus Christ (1Timothy 2:5). The blood gives us boldness (He 10:19- note). 4. We have access by our faith (Ro 5:2-note Ep 3:12-note). The essential ingredient is prayer (He 10:22-note). Prosagoge was the word used for the right granted someone to enter into the King's presence. You couldn't just waltz into a king's presence. To do so would invite death. Prosagoge pictures provision of access into the presence of One Whom we would normally be restricted from approaching. In the Orient, one who came to see a king needed both access—the right to come and an introduction—the proper presentation. The story of Esther in the Old Testament contains a beautiful illustration of this idea. Esther desires to plead with King Ahasuerus for the safety of her Jewish countrymen. But she knows what can happen if she goes into his presence without an introduction (Esther 4:11). Esther risked her life by doing this, not knowing beforehand whether Ahasuerus would grant her an "introduction." Fortunately for her, he granted her grace. Prosagoge pictures fellowship and communion eternally available to redeemed rebels! The French word for this is entree meaning freedom of entry or access. And that is exactly what our Lord Jesus provides for a believing sinner. He clothes him with Himself as his righteousness, cleanses him in His precious blood, and brings him into the full unmerited favor (grace) of God the Father. This is a believers entree. But for how long your ask? Aren't there rules we must keep or works we must do to guarantee this entree to God? See the next paragraph. Have obtained, as alluded to above, is perfect tense, which means we have obtained this entree in the past (a past completed action) when we were justified by faith with the effect (access) continuing into the present. The perfect tense then speaks of the permanency of our access to God, independent of human merit. This is a humbling thought which should cause us to bow low in worship at "so great a salvation". We enjoy access into an indescribable position of favor with God. We are accepted in the Beloved. Therefore we are near and dear to God. The Father extends the golden scepter to us and welcomes us as sons, not strangers. We cry out Abba, Daddy. The question then is not do we believe that you deserve this -- we don't. But more simply the question is "Do we believe this truth about our relationship now with the Almighty?" We are not to try to deserve it or intellectualize it. Wuest's translation picks up the sense conveyed by use of the perfect tense of the verb obtained... Through Whom also our entree we have as a permanent possession into this unmerited favor in which we have been placed permanently, and rejoice upon the basis of hope of the glory of God. Paul often prayed for the saints to appropriate (and know by experience) what they possessed in Christ. For example, after describing the greatness of the Ephesian saint's salvation, Paul prayed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. (see notes Ephesians 1:17; 1:18; 1:19) In a similar way he prayed for the saints at Colossae asking "that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience." (see note Colossians 1:9, 1:10, 1:11-12) Prosagoge was also used as a nautical term to describe the approach of a ship to a haven or harbor where it could land. Thus the idea would be access into and rest in a haven or harbor. In the case of Romans 5:2, God’s grace is there pictured as a haven for the soul. Have obtained as discussed is perfect tense in Greek which in the nautical context would picture a permanent haven for our soul. Think also of the OT Tabernacle and how "lay" Jews could never approach the Holy of Holies, the "throne of the King". Only the high priest had access and then only for a relatively briefly, once each year (the Day of Atonement). And then when Solomon and later Herod's Temple were built, the Jew was still kept from God’s presence by the veil in the temple. The Gentile was kept out by a wall in the temple with a warning on it that any Gentile who went beyond would be killed. When Jesus died, He tore the veil (Matthew 27:50, 51) and broke down the wall (Ep 2:14, 15-see notes 2:14; 15). In Christ, believing Jews and Gentiles have access to God (see the Veil has been torn) and they can draw on the inexhaustible riches of the grace of God. We stand “in grace” and not “under Law.” (Ro 6:14-note) Justification has to do with our standing (Click Ironside's note above); sanctification has to do with our state. The child of a king can enter his father’s presence no matter how the child looks. The word “access” here means “entrance to the king through the favor of another.” John Calvin reminds us that... Our reconciliation with God depends only on Christ; for He only is the beloved Son, and we are all by nature the children of wrath. But this favor is communicated to us by the Gospel; for the Gospel is the ministry of reconciliation, by the means of which we are in a manner brought into the Kingdom of God. Rightly then does Paul set before our eyes in Christ a sure pledge of God's favor, that he might more easily draw us away from every confidence in works. And as he teaches us by the word access (introduction) that salvation begins with Christ, he excludes those preparations by which foolish men imagine that they can anticipate God's mercy; as though he said, "Christ comes not to you, nor helps you, on account of your merits." (Romans 5) BY FAITH INTO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND: te pistei eis ten charin tauten en e estekamen (1PRAI): (Ro 5:9,10; 8:1,30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39; 14:4; Jn 5:24; 1Co 15:1; Ep 6:13; 1Pet 1:4) Grace is realized through Jesus (through the veil, His torn flesh, a new and living way, we have confidence to enter the Holy place - Heb 10:19, 20-note)