What is Grace?
- 4ponderinghope
- May 8
- 2 min read
Ephesians 2: 4-9 (NASB) “But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Webster’s Dictionary has many definitions for the word grace. The ones that matter to us are.
a) the unmerited love and favor of God toward human beings
b) divine influence acting in a person to make the person pure
c) the condition of a person brought to God’s favor through this influence
d) a special virtue, gift, or help given to a person by God
Obviously, these two sources show us that grace is a result of the great love that God the Father has for us human beings. It should also include the act of Jesus refusing any other way but the cross for the salvation of our souls. The grace of the Father was to give His Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our redemption to Him. And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ was to accept the Father’s decision and see the sacrifice through!
Grace is too beautiful for us to make light of it or even worse, to cheapen it as if we somehow deserve a break. Ever since the rebellion in the garden, we have been at odds with God! We use our ‘free will’ to choose whatever course in life we want. We use it for selfish reasons. We even use it to reject any and all ways of the Father Himself. We flaunt our arrogance and rail against heaven as if God cannot get anything right. That is not a smart move on our part.
Arrogance will never understand grace. And grace will never have anything to do with arrogance. There is no middle ground between the two. If we want the grace of God, then we must sacrifice our arrogance, or if you prefer a different word, our pride. Indeed, grace does have a cost! For being a free gift, grace is expensive.
I know it is difficult for the human race to understand the difference between a free gift and a gift freely given. But we must do exactly that if we wish to find our true freedom in Christ. And we can only learn its value by delving into Scripture and extracting it out to our benefit. So, search the Scriptures and live in the Grace of God!
Amen?
I believe alot of us do not realize what grace is and why it has been gifted. I myself did not understand it for the longest time, you could almost say I just took it for granted until I realized exactly why it is given freely, by the grace of God I am alive, I am saved and have my hope in Jesus who died and resurrected and sits at the right hand of the Father. PRAISE HIM!