What is grace of God

1. "Whatis Grace of God?" -17th
November2016
“ But Godcontinuesto give us more grace. That’s why Scripture says,“Godopposesthosewho are
proud.But he gives grace to those who are humble”(James4:6),
The gospel message isthe goodnewsof salivationthatwasbroughtto usby JesusChristgiventhrough
the Grace of God. What ismeantwhenwe say or refertothe wordGrace and it isimportanttoknow
whatgrace is and the needforChristians toconstantlyseek soasto geta betterunderstandingof what
grace doesinour lives.
The word Grace comesfromthe GreekNew Testamentword charis. Itrefersto God's unmeritedfavor.
It iskindnessfromGodthat we don't deserve.There isnothingwe have done,norcaneverdo to earn
thisfavor.It isa giftfree fromGod.Grace isdivine assistancegiventohumansfortheirregeneration or
sanctification.Itisavirtue comingfromGod whichisa state of sanctificationenjoyedthroughdivine
favor. In the theological sense,thingsare sanctifiedwhentheyare usedforthe purpose Godintends.A
humanbeingissanctified,therefore,whenhe orshe livesaccordingtoGod's designandpurpose.
Webster's NewWorld CollegeDictionary providesthistheologicaldefinitionof grace as follows:"The
unmeritedlove andfavorof Godtowardhuman beings;divine influence actinginapersontomake the
personpure,morallystrong;the conditionof apersonbroughtto God's favorthroughthisinfluence;a
special virtue,gift,orhelpgiventoa personbyGod."
Grace is an essentialpartof God’s character.Grace is closelyrelatedtoGod’sbenevolence,love,and
mercy.Grace can be variouslydefinedas“God’sfavortoward the unworthy”or “God’sbenevolence on
the undeserving.”InHisgrace,God is willingto forgive usandblessusabundantly,inspiteof the fact
that we don’tdeserve tobe treatedwell ordealtwithsogenerously.
To fullyunderstand Grace,we needtoconsiderwhowe were withoutChristandwhowe become with
Christ. We needto knowthatwe were borninsin as we can learnfrom Psalm51:5, I knowI’ve been a
sinner ever since I was born. I’ve been a sinner ever since my mother became pregnant withme”.
Secondis that we were guiltyof breakingGod’sholylaws andbehavedas enemiesof God.We were
unrighteousandwithoutmeansof justifyingourselves.Spiritually,we were destitute,blind,unclean,
and dead.Oursoulswere inperil of everlastingpunishment. ButGodextendedHisfavortous through
grace. It isGrace is whatsavesus as we can learnfrom Ephesians2:8, “God’sgracehas saved you
because ofyour faithin Christ.Your salvationdoesn’tcome fromanythingyou do.It isGod’sgift”.
God’sGrace isthe essence of the gospel aswe readfrom Acts 20:24, “But my lifemeans nothingtome.
My onlygoal is to finishthe race. I want to completethe work the Lord Jesushas givenme. He wants
me to tell others about the goodnews of God’sgrace”. We can learnthat it isGod’s Grace thatgivesus
victoryoversin as statedin James4:6, “ But Godcontinuesto give us more grace. That’s why Scripture
says,“Godopposesthose whoare proud.But he givesgrace to those whoare humble” assaid in
Proverbs3:34.We can also learnthatGod’s grace givesus“eternal encouragementandgoodhope”.
Apostle Paul repeatedlyidentifiedgrace asthe basisof his callingasan apostle.JesusChrististhe
embodimentof grace,coupledwithtruth aswe can learnfrom John1:14, “The Wordbecame a human
being.He made hishome with us. Wehave seen hisglory.It isthe gloryof the One and Only,who
came from the Father. And the Wordwas full of grace andtruth”.
The Bible repeatedlycallsgrace a“gift”.This isan importantanalogybecause itteachesussome key

2. thingsaboutgrace: First,anyone whohaseverreceivedagiftunderstandsthatagiftis muchdifferent
froma loan,whichrequiresrepaymentorreturnbythe recipient.The factthatgrace is a giftmeansthat
nothingisowedinreturn.Second,there isnocost to the personwhoreceivesagift.A giftisfree to the
recipient,althoughitisnotfree to the giver,whobearsthe expense.The giftof salvationcostsus
sinnersnothing.Butthe price of suchan extravagantgiftcame at a great costfor our Lord Jesus,who
diedinour place. Third,once a gifthas beengiven,ownershipof the gifthastransferredanditisnow
ours to keep.There is permanenceinagiftthat doesnotexistwithloansoradvances.Whena gift
changeshands,the giverpermanentlyrelinquishesall rightstorenege ortake backthe giftinfuture.
God’sgrace is oursforever.
Fourth,inthe givingof a gift,the givervoluntarilyforfeitssomethinghe owns,willinglylosingwhat
belongstohim so that the recipientwill profitfromit.The giverbecomespoorersothe recipientcan
become richer.This generousand voluntary exchange fromthe givertothe recipientisvisiblewhenwe
read2 Corinthians8:9: “Youknow the grace shownby our Lord Jesus Christ.Even thoughhe was rich,
he became poor to help you.Because he became poor,you can become rich.” Finally,the Bible teaches
that grace iscompletely unmerited.The giftandthe act of givinghave nothingatall to dowithour merit
or innate quality.Infact,the Bible saysquite clearlythatwe don’tdeserveGod’ssalvation butyetHe
alloweditforus.Romans5:8–10 says,“Goddemonstrateshis ownlove for us inthis: Whilewe were
still sinners,Christdied for us”.While we were God’senemies,we werereconciledtohimthroughthe
deathof hisSon.”
Grace is activelyandcontinuallyworkinginthe livesof God’speople.Paul creditedthe successof his
ministrynotto hisownsubstantial laborsbutto“the grace of God that waswithme” as we learnfrom 1
Corinthians15:10, But because of God’sgrace I am whatI am.And his grace was notwasted on me.
No,I have worked harder thanall the other apostles.But I didn’tdo the work. God’sgrace was with
me”. Grace is the ongoing,benevolentactof God workinginus,withoutwhichwe cando nothing
because Jesussaid: “Iamthe vine.You are the branches.If you remainjoinedto me, andI to you, you
will bear a lot of fruit.You can’tdo anythingwithoutme”(John15:5).
As Christianswe needtorememberthatGod’s Grace isgreaterthan our sin as statedin Romans 5:20,
“The law wasgiven so that sinwouldincrease. But where sinincreased, God’sgrace increasedeven
more”. We can also learnthat Grace isabundantthan we expect.Thoughttobe writtenby the apostle
Paul where ittellsus thatalong withGrace comesincreasedFaithandLove:“Our Lord pouredout more
and more ofhis grace on me. Alongwith it came faithand lovefrom ChristJesus”.Therefore as
recipientsof God’sgrace,Christiansare tobe gracious to eachother.We mustknow that God’s Grace is
giventous to serve othersandto exercise ourspiritualgiftsforthe buildingupof the church.We can
learnfromRomans 12:6, “Weall havegifts. They differaccordingto the grace Godhas givento each
of us”.Therefore asChristianswe shouldbearinmindthat: “God’sgiftsofgracecome in many forms.
Each of youhas received a gift inorder to serve others.You shoulduse it faithfully” (1Peter 4:10).