What is Grace?

The word grace is commonly used by Christians and in the church. Many church names include the word grace. My youngest daughter’s middle name is Grace. In the New Testament, the favorite salutation of the apostle Paul is grace and peace. One of the most memorized passages in the Bible is about grace (Ephesians 2:8). The term grace is a big deal. It’s a theological term that has massive practical implications. In this blog post, I want to define grace as used in Holy Scripture, and then I want to show how the grace of God impacts a person’s everyday life. The word grace is more than a Christian buzzword, but it impacts everyday life.  

It’s All Greek to Me

The Greek word for grace is χάρις. It has the sense of favor or someone freely giving a gift to another person. You cannot merit grace, but it’s a one-way transaction. χάρις can also be translated to demonstrate a person’s thankfulness. In particular, χάρις is used to express a person’s thankfulness to God. Romans 7:25 captures the essence well. We read, 

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! – Romans 7:25

When χάρις is reflecting a person’s gratitude thanks is an appropriate translation. However, when χάρις is used with God as the source, grace is often the better translation. There are two senses of grace when it’s used in conjunction with God. First, God extends common grace to all people. Second, God offers saving grace to some people.

Common Grace

Here is a helpful definition of common grace. 

Common grace is God’s general favor by which he restrains sin and its consequences, maintains human life and culture, and bestows a variety of gifts and blessings to all people indiscriminately.– Gayle Doornbos, “The Spirit and Common Grace.”

Matthew 5:45 captures God’s indiscriminate common grace well. 

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.– Matthew 5:45

It does not matter if a person is a Christian, atheist, or agnostic. God’s common grace (whether a person realizes it or not) is for all to enjoy. The Christian and nonChristian farmers equally benefit from the rain.

Saving Grace 

Grace is also used in a more narrow sense, and it’s this sense that receives more attention in the pages of the New Testament. God extends saving grace to some people. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. – Ephesians 2:8–9

In so many ways, the grace of God to save and sustain sinners is what makes Christianity not only distinct, but I think, altogether appealing. There is no concept of grace in other religious traditions, at least not in the way grace is defined in the Bible. When God freely extends saving grace to a person, complete transformation takes place. The change begins in the heart, and then a person’s actions follow the heart. The first few lines of the iconic song Amazing Grace describe the change due to salvific grace.