What is “grace”? For the churchgoing Christian, we hear this word regularly, but we often fail to grasp its deep and profound meaning. What effect does grace have? How does it change our life? How is it given and received?
Well, according to Oxford Languages, grace is “courteous goodwill.” But for us Christians, grace is defined as “the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.” Simply put, grace is extended favor even though the person you’re giving it to does not deserve it and could never earn it.
There are four aspects of grace as defined by God’s word.
First is saving grace: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). By grace we are saved, not of works. It is not by what you have done, but by what Jesus did on the cross.
Second is justifying grace: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Justification is a sovereign act of God where He declares the believing sinner righteous while they’re still in a sinning state. So even though I still sin periodically, and I find myself unable to stop sinning permanently, God nonetheless declared me righteous when I believed.
Third is teaching grace: “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:11-12). Grace teaches us to deny ungodly, worldly lusts, and pulls us further from our sinful lifestyle, making us more like Jesus.
Fourth is enabling grace: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). God enables us to deal with the challenges in our life, for he says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), allowing us, as Paul says, to “boast all the more gladly” about our weaknesses.
For us to grasp the beauty and reality of life with saving, justifying, teaching, and enabling grace, we must first imagine life without grace. Many of us are living this life right now, and we don’t even know it — we are grace-killers shackled to a heart of legalism.
When we don’t have grace, we will over-emphasize our works. Operating as though it is our works which bring us to salvation and rightness with God is the ultimate killer of grace, and it causes us to view God as being in debt to us and that he owes us for all the “good” things we’ve done. But the beauty of grace is that He owes us nothing and yet gives so much to us out of His infinite love (Romans 4:4-5).
By living without grace, we compartmentalize sin and act as legalistic rule keepers. The Lord is gracious enough to give us His word, which helps us understand sin better. But we often run into gray areas that aren’t explicitly referenced in the Bible, so the Lord guides us through our convictions and life experiences. For example, although social media isn’t itself a sin, it can lead some to sin. Therefore, we must allow the Lord to convict and submit to that conviction. If social media causes me to sin, I need to lay that before the Lord. But if I can use social media in a Kingdom-glorifying way, then I don’t have that same conviction. The same goes for anything in our lives that we may idolize.
Because these issues aren’t always black and white, it is easy to give into the legalistic view of Christianity. It is unfortunately common for us to put our convictions on others and expect them to live exactly how we believe is right. This is a sign of spiritual immaturity (Hebrews 5:14). The spiritually mature, though, know how to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit because God has written the law on their hearts, allowing them to “distinguish good from evil.”
When people trapped in their sin and unable to distinguish good from evil show up on Sunday, at small group, or at Bible study, don’t be the person who says, “I can’t believe they’re here.” That’s a grace-killer. Instead, be the one who says, “I’m glad you’re here.” We shouldn’t be so sin-conscious that we lose our ability to be grace-conscious.
How does God give us grace? Simply put, God gives us grace through Christ. We owe God so much because of our sins. While reading through the Old Testament this year, I found myself getting frustrated with the Israelites. How can they turn to idols and other gods when they see the Lord so obviously working in their lives? But one day, I realized I am Israel. God has so clearly worked in my life and moved me in unexplainable ways. He has been my provision and protector each day, and I haven’t done a thing to earn it. And He even sent His son, who was perfect in every way, to come and walk on earth, to know what it is to be human, to reveal God to us. He even took on the punishment we deserve by being horrifically beaten, bruised, assaulted, mocked, and nailed to wooden beams for all to see as He died for you and for me. It is through Jesus that God gave us grace. He gave us the ability to be forgiven and saved by bridging the gap between His ultimate glory and righteousness and our inability to ever be worthy.
But how do we accept this amazing gift of grace? We must believe! We must believe that Jesus is who He says, and through that, we recognize our fallen nature, repent of our wrongdoings, and accept the forgiveness we are extended. It is then that we may live a life in submission to the Lord that is characterized by love and grace for ourselves and others. As Jesus said in a parable, “‘Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’” (Matthew 18:33).
God has given us ultimate grace through His son. This is a gift; it’s completely FREE. There is nothing we can do to pay for it, nothing we can do to earn it, and we most certainly do not deserve it. But God, out of His never-ending love, gives us this gift. This grace saves us from our sins, justifies us and makes us righteous even in our sinning state, teaches us to turn away from the world, and enables us to go through the challenges of this life with God.
If you haven’t already accepted God’s grace, I encourage you to take that step today. If you have accepted God’s gracious gift of salvation, I encourage you to live out that grace, claiming it for yourself and extending it to others. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Caily Shriver serves as an intern at Family Research Council.
