The Grace of God in the Bible

Grace is the unmerited favor of God: his love that grants what we can neither earn nor deserve. "For by grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). The whole Christian life rests on grace, from salvation to the strength needed for each day. Scripture presents a generous God who draws near to the weak with compassion and who does not deal with us according to our sins. Where man seeks to justify himself by his works, grace overturns every human pretension: Romans 11:6 teaches that if salvation is by grace, "then is it no more of works." The believer is invited to come "boldly unto the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16), in order to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This grace is not limited to the initial pardon: it sustains in weakness, for the Lord declares to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9). These verses celebrate the grace that saves, that strengthens, and that transforms the one who receives it by faith, reminding him that everything in his relationship with God is a free gift received from above and not a wage that is owed. To live by grace is to rest in what Christ has done, not in what we can achieve. And this same grace that pardons also teaches, training the believer to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and godly in the present world (Titus 2:11-12), so that the gift received freely bears the fruit of a transformed and grateful life.