God's grace
God's grace is the undeserved favor that God is willing to bestow upon all of creation. In the broadest sense, God's grace is expressed in every act of divine self-revelation. Thanks to grace, humanity and the entire cosmos are redeemed from sin and death through Jesus Christ, and thanks to grace, humanity gains the strength to know and love God and Jesus Christ and to enter into the joy of eternal salvation in the Kingdom of God.Kolosser 1,20; 1. Johannes 2,1-2; Römer 8,19-21; 3,24; 5,2.15-17.21; Johannes 1,12; Epheser 2,8-9; Titus 3,7)
Grace
“For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing,” Paul wrote in Galater 2,21. The only alternative, he says in the same verse, is "the grace of God." We are saved by grace, not by keeping the law.
These are alternatives that cannot be combined. We are not saved by grace plus works, but by grace alone. Paul makes it clear that we must choose one or the other. Choosing both is not an option. (Röm 11,6)“For if the inheritance were acquired through the law, it would not be given by promise; but God freely gave it to Abraham by promise.” (Gal 3,18)Salvation does not depend on the law, but on God's grace.
"For only if there were a law that could give life would righteousness really come from the law" (v. 21). If there had been any way to gain eternal life by keeping commandments, then God would have saved us by the law. But that was not possible. The law cannot save anyone.
God wants us to behave well. He wants us to love others and thereby fulfill the law. But He doesn't want us to think that our works are ever a reason for our salvation. His provision of grace implies that He has always known we would never be "good enough," despite our best efforts. If our works contributed to salvation, then we would have something to boast about. But God designed His plan of salvation so that we cannot claim any merit for our salvation. (Eph 2,8-9)We can never claim to deserve anything. We can never assert that God owes us anything.
This touches the core of the Christian faith and makes Christianity unique. Other religions claim that people can be good enough if they try hard enough. Christianity says we just can not be good enough. We need grace.
On our own, we will never be good enough, so other religions will never be good enough. The only way to be saved is by God's grace. We can never deserve to live forever, so the only way we can get eternal life is by God giving us something we do not deserve. That's what Paul wants out when he uses the word grace. Salvation is a gift from God, something we could never earn - not even by keeping the commandments for millennia.
Jesus and grace
“For the law was given through Moses,” writes John, and continues: “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Joh 1,17)John saw a contrast between law and grace, between what we do and what is given to us.
Nevertheless, Jesus did not use the word grace. But his whole life was an example of grace, and his parables illustrate grace. He sometimes used the word mercy to describe what God gives us. “Blessed are the merciful,” he said, “for they will receive mercy.” (Mt 5,7)With this statement, he suggested that we all need mercy. And he mentioned that in this respect we should be like God. If we value mercy, we will also show mercy to others.
Later, when Jesus was asked why he associated with notorious sinners, he said to the people: “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Mt 9,13, a quote from Hos 6,6). God cares more for us to show mercy than to be perfectionists in keeping the commandments.
We do not want people to sin. But since transgressions are inevitable, mercy is absolutely necessary. This applies to our relationships with each other and our relationship with God. God wants us to recognize our need for mercy, as well as to show mercy to other people. Jesus set an example of this when he ate with tax collectors and talked with sinners - by his behavior he showed that God wants to commune with us all. He has taken on all our sins and forgive us to have this fellowship.
Jesus told a parable about two debtors, one who owed a huge sum and the other who owed a much smaller amount. The master forgave the servant who owed him much, but that servant refused to forgive his fellow servant who owed him less. The master was angry and said, “Shouldn’t you have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had compassion on you?” (Mt 18,33).
The lesson of this parable: Each of us should see ourselves as the first servant to whom a huge sum has been forgiven. We all did not meet the requirements of the law by a long way, so God shows mercy to us - and he wants us to show mercy as well. Of course, both in the area of mercy and in the law, our actions fall short of expectations, so we must continue to trust in God's mercy.
The parable of the Good Samaritan ends with a call for mercy. (Lk 10,37)The tax collector who pleaded for mercy was the one who stood justified before God. (Lk 18,13-14)The prodigal son, who had squandered his fortune and then returned home, was accepted without having done anything to "earn" it. (Lk 15,20)Neither the widow of Nain nor her son did anything to deserve a resurrection; Jesus did it simply out of compassion. (Lk 7,11-15).
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
The miracles of Jesus served to quench temporary needs. The people who ate loaves of bread and fish became hungry again. The son who was raised eventually died. But the grace of Jesus Christ will be given to all of us through the highest act of divine grace: His sacrificial death on the cross. In this way, Jesus himself gave himself for us - with eternal, rather than merely temporary consequences.
As Peter said: “Rather, we believe that we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus.” (Apg 15,11)The Gospel is a message of God's grace (Apg 14,3; 20:24, 32). We are saved by grace “through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.” (Röm 3,24)Justified. God's grace is associated with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died for us, for our sins, and we are saved because of what he did on the cross (v. 25). We have redemption through his blood. (Eph 1,7).
But God's grace goes beyond forgiveness. Luke tells us that God's grace was with the disciples as they preached the gospel. (Apg 4,33)God showed them favor by giving them help they didn't deserve. But don't human fathers do the same? We not only give to our children when they've done nothing to deserve it, we also give them gifts they couldn't possibly earn. That's part of love, and it reflects the nature of God. Grace is generosity.
When the church members in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey, they commended them to the grace of God (Apg 14,26(15:40). In other words, they entrusted them to God's care and trusted that God would provide for the travelers and give them what they needed. That is part of his grace.
Spiritual gifts, too, are a work of grace. “We have different gifts,” writes Paul, “according to the grace given to each of us.” (Röm 12,6)“But to each of us grace has been given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” (Eph 4,7)“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve one another, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1Pt 4,10).
Paul thanked God for the spiritual gifts with which he had richly endowed the believers. (1Kor 1,4-5)He was confident that God's grace would be abundant among them, and would enable them to increase even further in every good work. (2Kor 9,8).
Every good gift is a gift from God, a result of grace instead of something we deserve. Therefore we should be grateful for the simplest blessings, for the singing of the birds, the scent of the flowers and the laughter of children. Even life is a luxury in itself, not a necessity.
Paul's own ministry was given to him by grace (Röm 1,5; 15,15; 1Kor 3,10; Gal 2,9; Eph 3,7Everything he did, he wanted to do according to the grace of God. (2Kor 1,12)His strength and abilities were a gift of grace. (2Kor 12,9)If God could save and use even the worst of sinners (as Paul described himself), surely he can forgive and use each of us. Nothing can separate us from his love, from his desire to bless us.
Our answer to grace
How should we respond to God's grace? With grace, of course. We should be merciful, just as God is full of mercy. (Lk 6,36)We should forgive others, just as we have been forgiven. We should serve others, just as we have been served. We should be kind to others by showing them goodwill and friendliness.
Our words should be full of grace (Kol 4,6)We should be kind and gracious, forgiving and giving in marriage, in business, at work, in church, towards friends, family and strangers.
Paul also described financial generosity as a work of grace: “Now we want you to know, brothers and sisters, the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia. For their joy abounded in their suffering, and although they were very poor, they gave generously in all simplicity. For I testify that they gave to the best of their ability, and even beyond their means.” (2Kor 8,1-3)They had received a lot and were consequently ready to give a lot in return.
Giving is an act of grace (v. 6) and generosity - whether in financial, time, respect, or otherwise - and it is an appropriate way for us to respond to the grace of Jesus Christ who gave himself for himself gave us that we might be blessed abundantly (v. 9).
by Joseph Tkach
