The last article in our series “Five Words You Should Know”, deals with the topic of grace, and in particular the grace of God.
To The Point
Grace is the positive, unmerited, Divine influence in the life of an unworthy recipient freely bestowed on them by God for their good and his glory.
Grace is foremost an attribute of God, a visible expression of his love (1 John 4:8). From the earliest pages of the Bible, God’s grace is shown in his dealings with his people, rescuing them, delivering them, and taking the initiative to restore them, though fallen, to relationship with himself.
From the clothing of Adam and Eve after their fall, through Noah who found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8), the nation of Israel despite their unfaithfulness, all though the prophets and saints of the Old Testament, continuing through to the church of the New Testament, the grace of God has been active – rescuing, providing, and restoring.
The ultimate expression of the grace of God is in the sending of his son, Jesus, the Word of God, to earth to live a sinless life then suffer and die in our place for our sins as an atoning sacrifice.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
The Apostle John further explains that Jesus himself is the embodiment of grace:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
The grace of God, this positive, Divine influence, is expressed in our lives in various ways.
Following are some types of grace found in the Bible that I’ve gathered into broad categories. This list is not exhaustive and with further study more expressions of God’s grace can be found.
Look up the references for more information.
- Saving Grace (Acts 15:11; 18:27, Romans 5:2; 11:6 Ephesians 1:7; 2:8, Titus 2:11)
- Witnessing Grace (Acts 4:33, Ephesians 3:8)
- Empowering Grace (Acts 6:8, Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 15:10, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Ephesians 4:7, 2 Timothy 2:1)
- Ministry Grace (Romans 1:5, 1 Cor 3:10, Ephesians 3:7, 1 Peter 4:10)
- Justifying Grace (Romans 3:24, Titus 3:7)
- Electing Grace (Romans 11:5, Galations 1:6; 1:15, Ephesians 1:6, 2 Timothy 1:9)
- Teaching Grace (Romans 12:3; 15:15)
- Provisional Grace (2 Corinthians 9:8, Hebrews 4:16)
Recommended Reading:
- The Attributes of God – Arthur Pink
- Future Grace – John Piper
- All of Grace – Charles Spurgeon
Last 5 posts by Steve
- What Is Atonement? - January 21st, 2010
- What Does Regeneration Mean? - November 10th, 2009
- Celtic Christian Worship - October 26th, 2009
- What Does Trinity Mean? - October 19th, 2009
- Guard Thy Heart - October 15th, 2009
