The word grace has about 20 different definitions. Anything from a title (Your Grace), to an effortless movement (a graceful dancer), to a prayer that you say before dinner. And the grace that we talk about when we talk about the grace of God is also multi-faceted. It has to do with God’s mercy, His favor, His disposition to be generous and helpful, His divine favor freely bestowed on people, His forgiveness for sin…
And God’s grace is more than mercy. God’s mercy pertains to Him withholding punishment when it is deserved, but God’s grace is Him giving blessings that are not deserved. So His mercy is really an extension of His justice, and His grace is an extension of His mercy, which means we have another trinitarian aspect of God’s character. Just as His goodness, and love, and righteousness are three aspects of His character all with the same essence, so are His justice, and mercy, and grace three aspects with the same essence.
But his grace is more than just extra mercy. His grace is His justice and mercy multiplied by His goodness, love, and righteousness. God isn’t just a judge passing out guilty or not-guilty verdicts. He is our good, good Father who loves us and does good things for us, and gives good things to us - even when we don’t deserve them. You might even say He spoils us, the way grandparents spoil their grandchildren. That is His grace.
So when we say that God is gracious, we are really saying a lot. And God is not just a little bit gracious sometimes, God is graciousness itself. Grace is His disposition. It is one of the threads woven into the fabric of His being. God’s grace pours out into every aspect of Himself, and every interaction He has with His creation.
In theology there are two distinct types of grace that are called out. One is called God’s common grace, which is identified by the fact that the sun shines on everyone, there’s air for everyone to breath, there’s food for everyone to eat, God provides enough for everyone - sinner and saint alike. God’s common grace is the grace that He shows to all of His creation. The very fact that any given person, or any given thing, even exists is an act of God’s common grace. You, or me, or the best saint, or the worst sinner would not exist if God did not want us to exist. He created each one of us, and He sustains each one of us with every breath, and in that act alone He is showing His common grace.
The other type of grace is God’s specific grace, which really comes down to God bestowing specific blessings on specific people at specific points in time, such as healing a sick person, or giving the gift of faith to an unbeliever, or protecting someone from harm in a particular situation. And God still shows specific grace to sinners and saints alike. The difference is just that the blessings go to one person, or group of people at a time instead of to everybody all the time.
I wanted to point that out in case you’ve ever heard of those and maybe wonder what they mean, but really they are not different. They are both God showing His grace - His blessings on those who do not deserve them. And, like I said, God is not only gracious some of the time. Graciousness is woven into the fabric of His being. Grace is never deserved, so we can’t earn it from Him, and He doesn’t owe it to us. Just because He doesn’t heal a sick person when we pray, doesn’t mean He isn’t still being gracious to them in other ways. That is why we always have to count our blessings - even, especially, when we are asking for a specific blessing.
Now, what about us. We are image-bearers of our gracious God, and that means that we too are to show grace, which means that we also need to bestow blessings on those who do not deserve them. And, just like God is gracious to sinners and saints alike, we also have to be gracious to everyone. And doing this is really the only way we can fully appreciate the grace that God shows us.
Jesus said to love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. He said that if someone takes your coat, give them your shirt as well. He said that if we visit prisoners, and care for the sick, and give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty then we will be blessed in heaven. Do we do these things because those people deserve our attention and generosity? No. We do those things because we are to reflect God’s grace into the world.
Is it easy to love your enemy? Think how God feels.
Is it easy to only give to those who only take? Think how God feels.
Is it easy to forgive that person who said or did something that hurt you? Think how God feels.
Is it easy to go out of your way and spend time with - even show love to - someone who messed their life up by making bad choices? Think how God feels.
Do you think God feels a sense of burden, or impatience, or “I deserve better,” or “let’s just get this over with,” when He sees you? No.
He’s not in a hurry - He has all the time in the world - He is eternal.
He’s not going to run out of resources - He created the entire universe by speaking it into existence.
He’s not going to toss you to the side - for those who repent, His mercy and grace are greater than any sin could ever be.
He’s not going to go through the motions just to try to make you feel better - He created you so that He could love you, and your very existence is the result of His love for you.
And He has you in His hands, so you don’t need to worry about how much or how little grace you should show to others. You should be trying to show as much grace to them as He shows to you because then they might catch the faith that He put in you. Let your grace be your faith put on display. Let your grace be God’s light shining through you. Let your grace reflect the grace of God, in whose image you were made.
Grace cannot be earned or owed, and that is the beauty of it. If it was, then it wouldn’t be grace. We like to think of what we would get if we had unlimited amounts of money or time. But grace is the ability to give in an unlimited way. If you measured your wealth by the amount you gave instead of the amount you received, then you would see that grace is worth more than all the gold, and all the time, in the world. But if you only ever gave to those who deserved then your giving would be just as limited as your getting. Grace is the true riches, the unlimited abundance, of the ability to give. So give freely, just as you have received freely from God.
Matthew 5:44-46 (NLT) But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NLT) Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Romans 6:14 (NLT) Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Romans 11:6 (NLT) And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.
James 4:6 (quoting Proverbs 3:34) (NLT) But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”
Hebrews 4:16 (NLT) So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
1 Corinthians 15:10 (NLT) But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
Matthew 10:8 (NLT) “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.
John 1:16 (NLT) From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.
Romans 5:8 (NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Titus 2:11-14 (NLT) For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
Romans 3:21-26 (NLT)But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Romans 3:20-24 (NLT)For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
2 Timothy 2:1 (NLT) Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus.