Grace is unmerited favor — God giving to humanity what humanity does not deserve. Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), apart from works. Christians grow by grace, serve by grace, and rest in grace. The whole Christian life is grace from beginning to end.
Grace is the central word in Christian theology. Greek charis means favor freely given without earning. The whole Bible's story can be told as the story of God's grace toward an undeserving humanity. Several dimensions of grace appear in Scripture. (1) Common grace. God's good gifts to all humanity — sun, rain, breath, ordinary mercies (Matthew 5:45). (2) Saving grace. The unmerited rescue of sinners through Christ's atoning death. Ephesians 2:8-9 — 'For 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.' (3) Sustaining grace. The ongoing supply of God's strength through trial. 2 Corinthians 12:9 — 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' (4) Sanctifying grace. The progressive transformation into Christ's likeness. Titus 2:11-12 — 'The grace of God that bringeth salvation... teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly.' Grace is foundational to the gospel. The Reformation's five solas centered on grace alone (sola gratia) as the source of salvation. The believer is justified by faith, but the faith itself is a gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8). Even the believer's good works are 'created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them' (Ephesians 2:10) — works are the fruit, not the root. Several common misunderstandings of grace need correction. (1) Grace is not opposed to effort but to earning. Christians work hard — but not to earn what is already given. (2) Grace is not a license to sin. Romans 6:1-2 — 'Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.' (3) Grace does not deny moral standards. Titus 2:11-12 shows grace TEACHES holiness, it does not abolish it. (4) Grace is not cheap. It cost Christ his life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's phrase 'costly grace' captures the truth — grace is free to the recipient but cost the Giver everything. The Christian's appropriate response to grace is gratitude expressed in faithful living. 1 Corinthians 15:10 — 'But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.' Paul's grace-driven labor is the model: grace produces work, not lazy resting on what is given.
“For 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.”
“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly.”
“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.”
Receive grace daily. Confess specific sin and receive forgiveness. Refuse to earn what is given. Walk in grace-driven obedience — your works are the fruit of grace, not the price of it. Extend grace to others — forgive as you have been forgiven (Ephesians 4:32).
Grace is unmerited favor — God giving to humanity what humanity does not deserve. The Greek charis means favor freely given without earning. Grace is the central word of Christian theology: salvation is by grace through faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Bible distinguishes common grace (good gifts to all humanity), saving grace (rescue through Christ), sustaining grace (strength through trial), and sanctifying grace (transformation into Christ's likeness).
Ephesians 2:8-9 — 'For 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.' Salvation is received as gift, not earned. Christ's death on the cross paid the penalty for sin (Romans 6:23); his righteousness is credited to the believer (2 Corinthians 5:21); the believer is declared righteous before God on the basis of Christ's work, not their own. Faith receives what grace gives.
No — Romans 6:1-2 explicitly rejects this. 'Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?' Paul's argument: the believer has died to sin's penalty AND power through union with Christ. To use grace as license is to misunderstand what grace accomplishes. Titus 2:11-12 says grace TEACHES holiness, not the abandonment of it.
Both terms describe God's kindness to undeserving humanity, but with different emphases. Grace is giving the unworthy what they have NOT earned (favor, blessing, salvation). Mercy is withholding from the guilty what they HAVE earned (judgment, punishment). At the cross, both meet: mercy withholds the judgment we deserved; grace gives the salvation we did not earn. Ephesians 2:4-5 — 'God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us... by grace ye are saved.'