
Busted. A student in my confirmation gently raised her hand and asked, “What’s grace?”
I toss that word around like it were obvious to everyone. Guess what? It’s not.
- “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
- “Stephen, full of grace and power” (Acts 6:8).
- “We are justified by his grace as a gift” (Romans 3:24).
- “Grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).
- “You are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).
- “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you” (1 Cor. 16:23).
- “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor., 12:9).
- “By grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:5).
I could go on and on and on. All those verses roll off my tongue like lyrics for a top forty song. My point is, if you’re a Christian and you like to toss around the word “grace,” you better have your elevator definition ready for anyone who asks you, “What is grace?”
My simple answer: when you get what you don’t deserve. A good grade when you really didn’t study all that hard. A close parking spot on a busy shopping day. Another chance to get it right. Forgiveness. Oh, yes, especially forgiveness. No one deserves that. But someone paid dearly so you could have it.
And mercy is not getting what you do deserve. Great post.
A declaration of God’s love.