What Is Grace?*

In the Church, there are those who greet each other saying, "Grace and Peace", as Paul also greeted the churches in his letters to them. The Hebrew sages approach scripture with the understanding that there are multiple facets to each verse by which men may learn the heart and will of God. Jesus also commanded us to "Search the scriptures...", so we will now look into the scriptures for the meaning and vital importance of grace. The Greek the word "grace", as used in the New Testament, is charis, which means: "that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, good will, loving-kindness, favor, the merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence on souls, turns them to Christ and keeps, strengthens, and increases them in Christian faith...and kindles them to the exercise of Christian virtues". The word "peace" as mentioned above is the Greek word eirene meaning "security, safety, prosperity, felicity - of the Messiah's peace in Christianity: the tanquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and the blessed state of devout and upright men after death". Our peace comes from the assurance of our faith in Christ. For today's purpose, our discussion will focus on grace. In the Book of Ephesians, Paul begins his letter to this church with the salutation: "Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph. 1:1-2). He wrote of all blessings in heavenly places that have been bestowed upon us in Christ. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." We were chosen by Christ for adoption to Himself. "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved". (v. 3-6). It is through the riches of His grace that we have forgiveness of our sins, and redemption by His blood (v. 7). The purpose of His grace towards us is to accomplish a great reconciliation "that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ...which are in heaven, and which are on earth..." (v. 10). Grace makes us accepted, and grace reconciles us, and all things, into Christ. We have obtained an inheritance of riches in glory by the power of that grace, given to us by the will of God (v. 11-18). This grace full of power and glory was "wrought in Christ when he raised him from then dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come..." (20-21). The grace of acceptance and inheritance is not accomplished by the will of man, but of God, through the overcoming of spiritual principalities by Christ's death and resurrection. As Paul wrote regarding the change in us: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That...he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. 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. 2:4-9). God has created us for good works, and has ordained that we should walk in those works (v. 10). This is not the kind "greasy grace" with which some believers excuse or justify their continuing walk in sin. The grace of God achieved through Christ on our behalf empowers a godly and righteous walk of works by the Spirit for which we were created and ordained by Him. This grace builds a citizenship with the saints, of the household of God, "...built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." (Eph. 2:19-20). Grace is not confined to the New Testament, but, as Psul wrote, is encompassed within the Torah, the law and the prophets. The first mention of "grace" in scripture is from the Book of Genesis: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Gen. 6:8-9). We see here that grace was appointed to Noah, and as a result of the work of grace, he was a just and perfect man, and his walk was with God. This is also what Paul taught regarding grace, above. We saw the meaning of grace in the Greek language, but with these verses from Genesis, we can see the meaning of grace in Hebrew. The Hebrew word is han/hanan, meaning "grace, favor, pleasant, precious, acceptance, kindness, good-will, prayer, supplication/mercy, merciful, be inclined towards". In Exodus, God described His name and character to Moses as He descended from a cloud on the mountaintop, and stood with Moses: "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation." (Ex. 34:5-7). The LORD joined His mercy and grace together in these verses as He described His goodness, or hesed in Hebrew, meaning mercy, kindness, loving-kindness, beauty, favor). The message of grace hasn't changed from the Torah to the New Testament. The commandments of God are not limited to tablets of stone, but through the working of His grace, God wants His commandments to be written upon our hearts, and reflected in our walk. Notice that the LORD refers to "the guilty" in the above verses. The guilty are those who are unrepentant of their sin. Not only can grace not do its work in them because of that, but the iniquity of their sin passes to their future generations. The commandments of God are for our good, coming to us from His goodness. Paul wrote of this goodness of God found in His scriptures to his fellow worker in the Gospel, Timothy. The scriptures to which Paul referred would have been the Torah and the prophets, the Old Testament scriptures, because the New Testament had not yet been written: "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Tim. 3:15-17). We can follow the presence of grace from the beginning of scripture as it leads to Christ's death and resurrection, and on through the New Testament as the gift of the favor and mercy of God in our salvation and inheritance as believers in Christ. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 1/22/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. 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