The preachers quoted here define grace as God's unmerited favour: God doing good to people who deserve the opposite, and giving freely. Several add that grace is more than pardon, since it is also God at work in a person, enabling what he could not do himself.
Grace translates the Greek charis and the Hebrew chen, both meaning favour.12 The word first appears where the world is under judgment: "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Genesis 6:8). From the start it is favour shown where it is not owed.
Paul sets grace against earning. "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Sinners are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). The two cannot be mixed: "if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace" (Romans 11:6).
Grace is not an abstraction but comes in a person. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor" (2 Corinthians 8:9). The Bible dictionaries accordingly define it both as God's disposition of favour and as the gifts that flow from it.3
The great controversies of the church have been about grace. The church has long held, against the view that people can turn to God unaided, that grace does not merely assist a will that is already good but goes before and makes it so. Luther took up the same ground against Erasmus in The Bondage of the Will, where he states the question: "to inquire what free will can do, in what it is passive, and how it stands with reference to the grace of God."4
Grace also trains and strengthens. It teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly, righteously and godly (Titus 2:11-12). To Paul in weakness the Lord said, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9), and Paul could say, "by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). For that reason it can never be an excuse for sin (Romans 6:1-2).
Grace, in short, is God's free favour to the undeserving, given in Christ, which both pardons and changes those who receive it. Spurgeon's little book on the subject, All of Grace, tells the reader who owns himself a sinner "that grace is ordained for such as you are."5
- Strong's Greek 5485, cháris: "graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual...".
- Strong's Hebrew 2580, chên: "graciousness, i.e. subjective (kindness, favor) or objective (beauty)".
- "Grace," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia and Theological Dictionary (with 21 other reference works).
- Martin Luther, Bondage of the Will, "Sections 1-8: Erasmus' Preface, Scepticism, Knowledge of God".
- C.H. Spurgeon, All of Grace, "Chapter 03: God Justifieth the Ungodly".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Grace is God's unmerited favor to those who have merited the very opposite.
Harry Ironside
in Repentance: Its Nature and Importance
Read in context
And grace is God doing things for people who don't deserve it.
Roy Hession
in (Suffering in the Christian Life) 3. the Grace of the Chastener
Listen at 14:46
Grace is that divine favor to those who are thoroughly ill-deserving and hell-deserving.
Jeff Noblit
in (Ephesians) Grace, Life, and Glory
Listen at 4:36
Grace is God pouring out gifts freely, undeserved.
Jim Cymbala
in The Throne of Grace
Listen at 19:03
Grace is God's Hand reaching down to us loaded with the blessings of heaven.
Zac Poonen
in Faith to Receive God's Gifts
Read in context
Where they differ
Most of these preachers define grace as undeserved favour. Some stress that it is also God's enabling power in the believer, and that it is meant to be shown as well as received.
Grace is God's heart extending itself towards us as he initiates in us the ability to overcome our weaknesses, failures, and inadequacies.
Major Ian Thomas
in Grace: Freedom Not to Sin
Read in context
Grace is not something simply to be claimed; it is meant to be demonstrated.
Chuck Swindoll
in Undeserving, Yet Unconditionally Loved
Read in context
What Scripture says
- Ephesians 2:8-9 saved by grace through faith, not of works
- Romans 3:24 justified freely by his grace
- Titus 2:11-12 the grace of God that brings salvation also teaches us how to live
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 my grace is sufficient for thee
- John 1:17 grace and truth came by Jesus Christ
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