The attributes of God

The Grace of God

An attribute of God · Ephesians 2:8

The grace of God means his free and undeserved favor toward those who have earned the opposite. Grace is God giving himself and his gifts to sinners not because they are good but because he is. Salvation, from first to last, is by grace: not of works, lest any should boast, but the gift of God. Grace does not find us worthy; it makes us new.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,Titus 2:11 (KJV)

What the grace of God means

Grace is favor freely given to those who deserve the reverse. If God gave us what we earned, it would be judgment; grace gives us what we could never earn, his welcome, his righteousness, his very self. The moment we imagine we have deserved it, it stops being grace. Paul draws the line sharply: if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.

Grace is more than an attitude in God; it is a power at work. It not only pardons but transforms. The same grace that saves also teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously. Grace is not merely God overlooking our failures but God giving us himself, so that we are not left as we were. It is unearned at the start, unearned in the middle, and unearned at the end. From beginning to end, the Christian life is grace upon grace.

How the Bible reveals it

Grace is written into the whole story. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord before he had done anything to earn it. God chose a people not because they were greater than others, but simply because he loved them and kept his promise. He gave the law not to earn his favor but because he had already redeemed them out of Egypt by grace.

In the New Testament grace floods in. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. The gospel is called the gospel of the grace of God. Paul, who had persecuted the church, calls himself the least of the apostles and says, by the grace of God I am what I am. The final word of the Bible is a benediction of grace: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. From Genesis to Revelation, grace is the air the people of God breathe.

Common misunderstandings

The oldest error is to add works to grace, to think we are saved partly by God's kindness and partly by our own goodness. But grace and earning cannot be mixed; the smallest claim of merit cancels grace. We are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, that no one should boast. Faith itself is only the empty hand that receives.

The opposite error turns grace into an excuse for sin, as if forgiveness freely given meant our conduct no longer matters. Paul faced this head on: shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. Grace that leaves us content to keep sinning was never understood. True grace both pardons the sinner and pardons him into a new life. And some cannot believe grace could be so free, and keep trying to pay God back. But a gift you pay for is no gift. Grace can only be received with open hands.

Why the grace of God is good news

Grace is the best news a guilty person can hear, because it means acceptance does not depend on achievement. You do not have to become good enough first; you could never be good enough. Grace meets you exactly where you are, at your worst, and gives you what Christ earned as if you had earned it. This is the only foundation that can bear the weight of a life, for it does not rest on our shifting performance but on God's unchanging gift.

And grace gives assurance. If I were saved by my working, I could never be sure I had worked enough. But if I am saved by grace, my confidence rests where it cannot fail, in the finished work of Christ. Grace levels every proud head and lifts every bowed one. The respectable and the ruined come the same way, with empty hands, and receive the same welcome. Nothing is left for us to boast in except the Lord.

How the grace of God is seen in Jesus Christ

John says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace is not chiefly a doctrine but a Person. In Jesus we behold the glory of God full of grace, and of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. Everything grace gives, it gives in him and through him.

The cross is grace made costly. There the rich became poor that we through his poverty might be rich. He earned righteousness and gave it away to those who had earned wrath. He drank the cup we deserved and hands us the cup of blessing. This is why grace can be free to us: it was not free to him. When you receive Christ, you receive grace itself, and with him God freely gives you all things. Come, then, with empty hands, and let him fill them.

A note offered humbly and for all Christians: God is one, simple, and undivided in his being, and these attributes are not parts of him but the one God seen from many sides. His holiness is loving, his love is holy, his justice is merciful, and his mercy is just. He is also greater than all our words, and no page can contain him. What we can say, we say only because he has graciously revealed it, above all in Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.

Come and know him

To know the grace of God is not the end but the beginning. He is not a subject to study and leave, but a Person to meet. See him in Jesus, who shows us the Father, and walk with his family: read the Word, pray, and be known. Free, with no ads, for all people.

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Questions people ask

Are we saved by grace or by works?

By grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any should boast. Good works follow salvation as its fruit, not its cause.

Does grace mean sin no longer matters?

No. Paul asks whether we should sin so grace may abound and answers, God forbid. Grace both forgives sin and frees us from its power, teaching us to live godly lives (Titus 2:11-12).