Defining Grace …

| randomwords330

Grace Graphic new

(Sadly this is a repost  – after attempting an edit I lost a good portion of my work and had to rework it.  Hopefully this is what it is supposed to be!)

I was recently challenged by a friend to define God’s grace so that a child could understand. Wow and just wow…

Since we are talking about God’s grace, how would you describe God, in all His enormity and glory?  After all no man has seen the father (1 John 4:12, John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:13-16). His grace flows from His character, who He is. Throughout scripture we have descriptions of His character:

and many more.

We have the different names of God throughout the bible which tell of His character:

and many more.

These names of God describe His character. But if we could know the sum total of the Bible, every jot and every tittle, even that would not be enough for us to truly know God in His entirety. John tells us the world could not contain the books that would be written about all Jesus did while on the earth (John 21:25). How much more would that be true about the eternal God, El Olam? And that compounds the issue of defining God’s grace so that a child could understand. It’s so deep and wide and vast (Ephesians 3:18-19) there is no simple definition, but it doesn’t mean we should not try!

So what is grace?  The first thing that comes to mind is over-the-top, overflowing, mind-blowing generosity!

You may have heard the definition of mercy as “NOT getting what you deserve”, as in punishment.  Having your guilty sentence commuted, forgiven, wiped out, obliterated, washed away, forgotten…  As in you no longer are considered a criminal, even though you committed the crime!  You are a citizen in good standing!  You walk out of court innocent but broke, penniless, without means of caring for yourself.

And grace defined as the unmerited favor of God or “Getting what you do not deserve”, as in a gift bestowed upon you for no reason, as in now that you are out of prison you are not just a citizen in good standing but a valued member of society, with an unlimited bank account, once you were an orphan and now you have been adopted by the king! And the king has given you full reign of his kingdom and it’s treasures. It’s over the top good, better than you ever imagined, too good to be true times 100,000.  It’s mind boggling and incomprehensible!  The human mind can not really conceive the goodness and generosity of the Grace of God.

The Greek word for grace (the word you would find in the New Testament) is Charis and is defined as:

  1. grace
    1. that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
  2. good will, loving-kindness, favour
    1. of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
  3. what is due to grace
    1. the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace
    2. the token or proof of grace, benefit
      1. a gift of grace
      2. benefit, bounty
    3. thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward

(Thayer and Smith. “Greek Lexicon entry for Charis”. “The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon“. . 1999.)

I love this portion of the definition, “of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”

Let’s break it down.

“of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, …”

He saves us with His grace! “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8) We were dead in our trespasses unable to save ourselves He reached down, saved us and made us alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5). This is the rebirth that Christ refers to in his discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:1-5). God in His mercy and by His Grace adopts us into His family! He justifies us and credits us with Christ’s righteousness.

And with this same  grace he “keeps” us.  He will not lose us, we are Christ’s – the father has given us to Christ and He will not lose one of His own (John 10:27-30).  We are safe and secure in His grip (John 10:28). Isaiah says we are engraved on the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16). Pick up a coin and squeeze your hand around it as tight as you can, then squeeze a little harder. Now open your hand and look at the impression the coin made in the palm of your hand. You are engraved in His hand because He holds you that tightly. He is with you (Joshua 1:9), God is for you (Romans 8:31) .

He strengthens us with His grace.  Got problems, concerns or even just a few cares? His grace strengthens you (Philippians 4:13). Do you feel weak and unable to go on? His power is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)! “He is our refuge and our strength a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength … they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:29-31).

He increases us in the Christian faith!  He gives us faith when He saves us (1 Peter 1:21) and continues to grow our faith in Him. “…Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1-2).  Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17) and He grows our faith through trials of all kinds (1 Peter 1:6-9).

He increases our Christian knowledge. He is our greatest and best teacher (Psalm 32:8), and provides earthly teachers, mentors and pastors (Hebrews 13:7) to grow our knowledge of Him through His Word (Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16), Jesus prayed for the Father to sanctify us with His word (John 17:17) and sent His Holy Spirit to teach us (John 16:13-15, John 14:26). Jesus promises to give us rest and teach us (Matthew 11:28-29).

He increases our Christian affection, teaching us, causing us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18, Luke 10:25-28, Galatians 5:14)! Jesus defines love this way, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). In 1 John we see that Christ laid down His life for us and we ought to be willing to do the same and at a minimum provide assistance for those in need (1 John 3:16). His word teaches us to do good to everyone (Galatians 6:9-10). With this Christian affection the world should know we belong to Him by our love (John 13:34-35). We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:7-10,19)!

And the icing on the cake!  He kindles us to the exercise of the Christian virtues!  He causes us to act out our faith, to grow in Christ-likeness (Romans 8:29). He causes us to exhibit the fruit of the spirit, Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23); He gives us spiritual gifts that when used in humility build up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). This growth in Christ-likeness is on display in us when we demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit, use our spiritual gifts in humility and exercise Christian virtues. What are these Christian virtues, I believe they are any thing you would consider a virtue and are used to bring God glory.  The following is a short list of possible Christian virtues:

Paul tells us to put off the old self and put on the new self in Colossians 3:1-17; then he tells us in verse 14 to “put on love,” which binds the qualities of the new self in perfect harmony. The twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians on spiritual gifts interestingly enough comes directly before what Paul calls “a more excellent way.” That more excellent way, … using these gifts in love! “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13. Love, is not only a virtue it’s necessary for all of the gifts and virtues. The two greatest commandments according to Jesus are “to Love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and the second is like it to Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:34-40). Please don’t consider this list of virtues complete or a to do list! There is therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) God will work these things in your life as He continues to sanctify you (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

Because I like alliteration and because it helps us to remember here is my home grown version of the definition of God’s grace:

Grace is God exercising His sovereignty to:

  • save us,
  • secure us,
  • strengthen us, and
  • sanctify us! (sanctify – increase our Christian faith, knowledge and affection, and give us the desire to exercise the Christian virtues)

We need His grace – we can’t live this Christian life out without it!  We would never choose Him on our own and there is no way we could live for Him without His help.  It’s all God!

He is your shield and your very great reward! (Genesis 15:1 EVS, Genesis 15:1 NIV )

God is the reward, not eternal life, oh, we get eternal life but so much more than that, we get to be with God for eternity! We get to be with Emmanuel the minute He saves us. He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in us – God with us! God within us! Forever! It’s over the top-good, better than you ever imagined, too good to be true times 100,000.  That’s over-the-top, overflowing, mind-blowing generosity! It’s mind boggling and incomprehensible!

It is God’s Grace!

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Leave a comment