What is Grace?

Undeserved favor. Doing something for someone even though they don’t deserve it. For example, if you went to court and paid the fine for someone’s speeding ticket, even though you never met the person. However, when we talk about God’s grace, we mean something even more. It is undeserved favor to someone who has done you wrong. For example, if a drunk driver drove his car into our loved one’s car and we went to his court date and paid the ticket for him. When we talk about God’s grace, the first thing we need to recognize is that we do not deserve his grace. However, the next thing we need to understand is that we have wronged Him and yet He still offers His grace. This is the miracle of God’s grace.

The Bible tells us that we can receive grace in two ways. We read in James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Then again we read in Romans 5:2 “[Jesus Christ] through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” What we see here is that we can receive God’s grace by being humble and by having faith. Let’s look at both of these.

What does the Bible tell us about being humble?

2 Samuel 22:28
You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

Matthew 18:4
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

These are just a few of the many verses regarding our humble attitude and God’s response. If we humble ourselves we find that God responds to that posture by lifting us up and giving us His grace. His grace is evidenced by our salvation, our place in the kingdom, His lifting us up even as we are under His mighty hand. God opposes those who are not humble. If you think you are going to be able to save yourself, to make yourself happy, to find a solution to your physical and spiritual problems by yourself, then you are a proud person and God opposes you. If you recognize that these things can only be given to you by God’s grace and humble yourself, knowing that you are unable to do this alone and knowing that only God can do it for you, your humble heart will result in the grace of God.

Next, let’s look at faith.

Psalm 31:23
Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.

Matthew 9:29
Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";

Matthew 13:58
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Luke 12:28
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

Without faith, we find ourselves trying to control what happens to us, leading us to become proud of who we are and what we have done. But God will pay back the proud in full. Without faith, God cannot perform miracles for us. Without faith, we will find ourselves anxious about everything. But with faith, God tells us that He will preserve us, that we will receive miracles in accordance with our faith and that we do not have to worry about anything. With faith, we have gained access to His grace.

Grace is what causes us to become new people, new creations. It is what was prophesied by Ezekiel in 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. God promised to put a new heart in us. He promised to remove the heart of stone that has grown there because we have consistently turned out back on Him, ignored Him, treated Him as if He is not important or second best. But once our hearts are softened, we find that God can work with us and in us.

Heb 13:9 It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, We find that our new hearts of flesh can now be strengthened by grace. The grace that he gives to us allows us to be strong, to receive His miracles, to be at peace even though everyone else around us is anxious and stressed. When we are strengthened by grace, we find that the things of the world no longer affect us, no longer cause us to be troubled. Do we have enough, are we smart enough, are we rich enough, are we good-looking enough… All these questions become unimportant in our lives as we are strengthened by grace and we find that putting God first allows us to have the true perspective on these things.

It is important for us to have new hearts strengthened by grace because without this, we find that whatever is in the heart comes out for all to see. Matt 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. If you have a heart of stone, what is in your heart will come out. Lies, deceit, lust, greed. These things and more will be visible in your life when your heart is not touched by God. Yet, when you have God’s grace, then truth, honesty, love and charity are the traits people will recognize in your life.

The grace of God is undeserved. But God so loved you that He found a way to give His grace to those who humble themselves in His presence and who have placed their faith in Jesus. It is through humbling yourself and your faith in Jesus that God can now give His grace to you overflowing. Do you want to receive the grace of God? Do you want to experience that great feeling of knowing that God has saved you even though you have done Him wrong? Then accept Jesus as your savior today and the grace of God though Jesus Christ will live in your heart forever.

Send mail to david@TheArkNY.org with questions about the church or comments about this site.
Last modified: Feb 11, 2007