What does grace stand for in the Bible?

If asked, What is grace, how shall I explain it? Theological definitions are objectionable, because incomplete, imperfect. If I say grace is unmerited favour, a free gift, it would be the truth, but not the whole truth. The grace of God — the gospel of the grace of God — means much more than that — to say that it is unmerited favour is inadequate, incomplete. What is grace? The grace of God, what does it imply? What it does — what it holds out is shown in these two portions, Rom. 5:21 and Titus 2:11. In the Epistle to Titus the Apostle uses a milder word than in Rom. 5:21. In Titus he speaks of grace appearing — in Romans of grace reigning. This is a much stronger term.

chen, χάρις. The favour and graciousness shown by God to guilty man. It stands in contrast to law, John 1:17; Gal. 5:4; also to works and to desert or reward, Rom. 4:4; Rom. 11:6; 'by grace ye are saved.' Eph. 2:5, 8. The grace of God is vouchsafed to the saints all along the way: we find nearly all the Epistles commence and end with the invocation of grace on the churches: whereas when individuals are addressed MERCY is added. 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; 2 John 3. The different aspects of grace and mercy have been thus set forth: "Grace refers more to the source and character of the sentiment; mercy to the state of the person who is its object, Grace may give me glory; mercy contemplates some need in me. Mercy is great in the greatness of the need; grace in the thought of the person exercising it."

Grace means "Free, undeserved favour." And, Thanks be to God, that is just what God has shown us; and this is the message with which this lovely Epistle begins. But let us remember it is Grace, not from pity, but from Love. I write in Hong Kong, surrounded by tens of thousands of refugees in the most desperate poverty, misery, and squalor: daily I see the children in their rags and wretchedness, and my heart is moved with pity, and I seek to do what little I can to remove their misery. In a measure I show them Grace, for they do nothing to deserve help. But it is Grace moved by pity. But there are a few whom I dearly love, what a difference that makes! A few days ago a dear child we have known and loved for several years, showed me the soles of her shoes, without saying a word: both had great holes right through to her bare feet. I got her new shoes, and at the same time a pretty new dress, for I think she had only the shabby one she had on: I paid about ninety cents for it. When I gave them to her, she climbed on my knee, buried her head on my shoulder, her heart too full for words: and then at last she looked up with wonder, saying: "Mr. Lee, You must have paid a great deal for it!" It was grace, but grace moved by Love, and who can say whose pleasure was greater, the Child's, or mine? Let us ponder the Love behind the words: "GRACE TO YOU," and let us remember always the unfathomable cost. May our hearts respond, not with any formal thanks, but like the Child, may our hearts burst forth: "THANKS BE UNTO GOD FOR HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT!!!"

But that is not all. In Chapter 1:29, we read that God has not only "graced" us, or, favoured us, with believing on Christ, (for the word is almost the same), but also with suffering for His sake. How very, very glad we are that God has graced us with believing on Christ! As we see those who have never heard the Story, and those who have refused to believe it: well may we thank God that He has graced us with both hearing and believing: for it is Grace alone that has done it all. But perhaps we do not realize that it is the very same Grace that favours us "to suffer for His sake." We rejoice in hope of the Glory: we rejoice in the Many Mansions: all the fruit of Grace: but the suffering … , Ah, somehow, that is different! Yet both the believing and the suffering are given to us, "on the behalf of Christ." And the same Grace that gave us to believe can give us the courage, if need be, to suffer: we can do neither the one nor the other of ourselves: both are entirely His Grace.

It is by grace that we are saved, and grace is more than unmerited favour; it is what God is for us according to His own thoughts about us; it is His love in its mighty activities working to bring us into full reconciliation to Himself. Thus He has saved us, and we must not lose the sense of the greatness of this salvation through familiarity with the word as it is commonly used. God’s glory is in it; it is the display of the exceeding riches of His grace. His great love wherewith He loved us is behind it, and the power that raised up Christ from the dead has accomplished it.

The grace of God — His free, sovereign favour — is the source from whence salvation flows — salvation in all the length, breadth, height, and depth of that most precious word — salvation which stretches, like a golden chain, from the bosom of God, down to the very deepest depths of the sinner's guilty and ruined condition, and back again to the throne of God — meets all the sinner's necessities, overlaps the whole of the saint's history, and glorifies God in the highest possible manner.

Grace belongs to the New Testament, it came into the world when Jesus came, He was full of it and its fullness was brought to men in Him. It is God's favour to men, and it is infinite and unlimited. God could not have shown His favour to men in a more complete and perfect way than by the coming of His only-begotten Son into the world, this was the best and the greatest that He could do. No other than the Word could speak fully and finally for God, no other than the Son could tell the love that filled the Father's house; He came to do this, and that love in its wonderful activities on the behalf of men is the grace of which our verse speaks. It brought Jesus down to men when they were and as they were, and looked for no merit in them, only need; they needed Him, that was enough. That grace was the fullness of the Godhead working untiringly for the blessing of men.

The word grace (charis) is one of those employed by the Spirit of God to convey a truth which is exclusively divine, and in consequence all human language is inadequate to express its meaning; to seek to define it is to seek to set bounds to the infinite. We may only by assiduous comparison of its varied usage in Holy Scripture obtain some glimmerings of the vast truth communicated by the word "grace." In its many occurrences it has many shades of significations, as indeed we may gather from Peter's expressive phrase — "the manifold (poikiles) grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10).

The dictionary tells us that grace is unmerited favour; but God’s grace to the sinner who believes is more: it is favour for the one who merited judgment; and further still, according to the riches of that grace, as well as to the praise of the glory of it, believers are taken into Divine favour as sons, through the redeeming work of Christ; they are “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6-7). Mephibosheth by royal favour dwelt at the palace of the king “as one of the king’s sons,” but today we “are all the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” The fact is, we are treated not according to our deserts, but according to what God’s beloved Son deserves.

GRACE. — The apostle Paul informs us that he owed all his blessings to divine grace. "By the grace of God I am what I am;" and he also says, "The grace of God bringeth salvation." It therefore seeks lost, helpless, and sinful ones to display itself upon; and it brings salvation, nothing less than present and eternal salvation — salvation from sins, death, judgment, Satan, and the world; and unto eternal glory, the redemption even of our bodies when Jesus comes. Such is grace. It makes no conditions, it brings everything, demands nothing, gives freely, suitably, everlastingly, thus securing endless praise and glory to God. We shall find this in its measure illustrated in Genesis 28. Jacob had proved himself to be a liar, deceiver, supplanter; and, as the fruit of his evil doings, he was now a fugitive, fleeing for his life from his brother Esau when God met with him. He was therefore justly exposed to severe punishment from the hand of God. Alone in his unhappy flight, stretched on the cold ground beneath the starry canopy of heaven, sleeping soundly on his stony pillows, with everything to condemn, and nothing to recommend him, God appeared to him in a dream. Without one upbraiding word, or asking a question of this sinful fugitive, He reveals Himself, in connection with the future glories of the kingdom, as the God of Abraham and of Isaac, and at once tells him how richly and abundantly He will bless him. He is assured not only that the vast blessings promised to Abraham and Isaac shall be continued to him, but it is added, Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." (v. 15.) This is grace. It is God lovingly revealing Himself to one wholly undeserving of any good thing, and giving freely and abundantly according to the good pleasure of His will; and, not only pouring out blessings, but making Jacob, the utterly unworthy receiver, personally an object of divine love and constant care. The secret of this way of blessing is no doubt found in the thrice-repeated words connected with the announcement of this grace, "Thy seed;" for the way of divine grace must always be through the "seed" — Christ. Hence we read that "grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 5:21.) God is never gracious at the expense of truth or righteousness, therefore in the cross of Christ we see both the exceeding riches of His grace to us, and His unsparing righteous judgment of our sins. In this way, God was glorified in justly condemning our sin, and is also glorified in saving us; for in the cross He was both just and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Grace flows freely to us, therefore, through Him who thus suffered for sins to bring us to God. Every claim of divine righteousness and holiness having been thus answered for by Christ on the cross, God is now faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let us on no account forget the thrice-repeated "thy seed" in connection with Jacob's blessing.

Let it be observed that the three colors on the upper side of the spectrum do not teach us God's moral character, but His greatness; while the three on the lower side denote His blessed moral characteristics. Grace is pure Divine favor -much as we have deserved the reverse, - and it grandly links together truth, holiness, and love on the one hand, with supremacy, authority and power on the other. For as well as having goodness and moral beauty in it, it must have ability or power, for it is the actual bestowal of favor. Blessed to know that our God has the desire to bless, the right basis on which to bless, and the ability to bless. All of this is sweetly involved in His grace. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" ( Eph. 2:8, 9). No more can our works merit the grace of God than that such works could succeed in bringing about the green beauty of earth in the springtime. It is the gracious and sovereign work of God. May we never cease to praise His glorious Name!