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What Does the Bible Teach About Grace?
any new sins must then be repented of to continue living a life of godly righteousness. We are God’s workmanship
So why do we need God’s grace? Nothing we can do can earn us forgiveness and salvation. Forgiveness and salvation are gifts from God. We are saved by His grace, as we see in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Then Paul adds in verse 10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”—or, as the New Revised Standard Version renders the last part, “. . . which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” Yes, grace is a gift from God, but we’re still expected to live a life of righteousness after accepting that gift. The Bible is consistent and plain in its teaching that salvation is a gift from God, but even though it is a gift, we are expected to obey God if we are to receive that gift. Notice what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” It’s not enough to acknowledge God the Father and Christ as Lord—as Master and Ruler—we must actually be under Their rule by obeying! Certainly forgiveness and salvation are gifts from God. They cannot be earned. As human beings we possess nothing of sufficient value to pay for the forgiveness of our sins and our salvation. Yet Jesus bluntly tells us here that unless we surrender our will to God and commit to doing His will, we’ll have no part in His Kingdom. And He tells us elsewhere that unless we repent, we will perish (Luke 13:3, 5). Through repentance we do not earn salvation, but repentance is a prerequisite for receiving that salvation. We have to seek to have our sins forgiven—and that comes by God’s grace. There’s nothing we can do of ourselves to bring this about. Then God expects us to act accordingly to receive that gift. Putting all of this together, we see that a good way to describe God’s grace is as His freely given, undeserved favor toward us, motivated by His love and concern for us, especially for those of us who accept His invitation to enter into a relationship with Him. Grace encompasses all of the wonderful gifts God so kindly gives to us!
Grace in Action: Jesus Christ’s Example
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Grace in Action: Jesus Christ’s Example “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
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esus Christ gives us the preeminent example of grace in action. He increased in grace or favor with God and others (Luke 2:52), being a recipient of His Father’s blessings as well as the One the Father used to bless the whole world. In this, Jesus set an example for His disciples to follow. All of us are to be both recipients of God’s grace and instruments of God’s grace to others, developing the same mindset He had. The apostle Peter instructed Christians, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10, NIV). Jesus led the way in this. Again, He was the Father’s gift to the world, and He gave of Himself completely. What kind of grace did He personify and teach that He expects us to show, to live by and to be a part of our lives? How was Jesus a person of grace?
Jesus’ astounding origin
The prologue to the apostle John’s Gospel explains who Jesus was, setting the stage for this. John 1:14 tells us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Notice how Jesus Christ is characterized here—as “full of grace and truth.” Many have recognized “grace and truth” here as a reference to a phrase used repeatedly in the Old Testament in describing the character of God, often rendered “mercy and truth.” The Hebrew for “mercy” in this phrase, though, has a broader meaning. It’s the word hesed, which was mentioned earlier in relation to grace. It has the sense of lovingkindness, goodness, steadfast love, covenant faithfulness and devotion. Amazingly, the God described this way in the Old Testament was not just the Father but the One who as God interacted with mankind—the Word who became Jesus Christ. The Word, through whom God created all things (verses 1-3, 10;