What is Grace?

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8)

What is grace? Grace is soft like the wing of a dove. It’s quiet but not silent, like the murmur of a stream or the rustle of a gentle breeze. It’s easy on the eye, soft grey or light blue. It’s comforting, like a light cotton blanket on a chilly evening. If grace has a taste, it’s like a drink of cool, fresh water.

When I started this blog, I called it “Graceful Worship” because that’s the name of my column in our monthly church newsletter. (Our church is Grace Church, and most of the time my column addresses how we worship, and why.) It recently struck me that I write about grace all the time, without ever having done any research about what grace really is. (I was about to write “Grace isn’t something you should take for granted” but then I stopped … because grace IS something you can take for granted. More on that later...)

As usual, I went to several dictionaries first, and discovered that the word “grace” comes from Middle English, via Old French, and originally from Latin gratia, meaning “pleasing” or “thankful.” In modern English it has three different possible meanings.

1.      Unmerited or unearned divine assistance, approval or favor given to human beings for their regeneration or sanctification. From this connotation we get phrases like “state of grace” or “in his good graces.”

2.      Special privilege or clemency, such as can be bestowed by a member of the nobility. From this we get phrases such as the title “Your Grace” for an English Duke, “grace and favour” for a property leased rent-free by a King or Queen to a retainer, or “grace period” as a temporary reprieve.

3.      Beauty and elegance of form or action. From this we get “graceful” dancers or “the social graces.”

All three of these meanings relate back to the Latin root meaning of “pleasing” or “thankful.” But it probably won’t come as any surprise that I’m now going to focus on the first meaning, divine grace.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew term used is chen, which is defined in Strong's Concordance as "favor, grace or charm; grace is the moral quality of kindness, displaying a favorable disposition". In the King James translation, chen is translated as "grace" 38 times, "favor" 26 times, twice as "gracious", once as "pleasant" and once as "precious". In the New Testament, the word translated as grace is the Greek word charis, for which Strong's gives this definition: “Grace, the state of kindness and favor towards someone, often with a focus on a benefit given to the object.” A Greek word that is related to charis is charisma (gracious gift). Both these words originated from another Greek word chairo (to rejoice, be glad, delighted).

Divine grace is a term used in many religions, and can mean the divine influence that operates in human beings to regenerate and sanctify, to inspire virtuous impulses, and to impart strength to endure trial and resist temptation. Christian grace is the free and unmerited favor of God as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowing of blessings. When Roman Catholics pray the Rosary, they say “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” because the mother of Jesus didn’t do anything special to merit the blessing of being the mother of Jesus.

God extends grace to all of mankind throughout all ages and conditions. This is the grace which brings the seasons, the rains, the sunshine and the revelation of God within nature. I think of Psalms 145:9, "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works."

We often think of the Holy Spirit when we think of grace. Grace is a gift of the Holy Spirit, the result of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. The Holy Spirit performs the action, and grace is the result.

Christian teaching tells us that grace is “unmerited,” but this definition doesn’t exactly cover all uses of the term in scripture. For example, Luke 2:40 says "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." In this example, when using the definition of grace to mean unmerited favor, it does not make sense that the sinless Christ would need this. How can one fall short of grace in James 4:6 (“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”), or how can meekness attract it and pride repel it in Galatians 5:4 (“You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace”), if it is unmerited. James Ryle, founder of TruthWorks Ministry, suggests that "Grace is the empowering presence of God enabling you to be who He created you to be, and to do what He has called you to do." Bill Gothard, founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, suggests that "Grace gives us the desire and the power that God gives us to do his will."

Within Christianity there are differing concepts of grace, and Roman Catholics and Protestants often use the word in substantially different ways. It is described by Charles C. Ryrie in The Grace of God as “the watershed that divides Catholicism from Protestantism, Calvinism from Arminianism, and modern liberalism from conservatism.” Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that God has imparted Divine Grace upon humanity, and uses the sacraments to facilitate the reception of his grace. In the Catholic Church a state of grace is granted by God from baptism first, instead of plainly by faith, and from the sacrament of reconciliation after if a mortal sin is committed. A mortal sin makes the state of grace lost even if faith is still present. Protestants, generally, do not share this sacramental view. We believe that Divine Grace is directly and always available to mankind.

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 

(2 Thessalonians 1:2)