Grace is one of those words that is used alot in the scriptures and not really well-understood. Grace is the Greek word 'charis' which is defined as: that which occasions or bestows pleasure, delight, and/or favorable regard. It also carries a suggestion of being undeserved or unearned, as Paul explains in Romans 11.
I have heard grace defined as God's unmerited favor, but that doesn't quite work - it's more than that. Here is an example: I am a Buckeye fan. I bleed scarlet and grey. Don't bother me on Saturdays in the fall because I am going to watch Ohio State play. Period. They have my unmerited favor. Have I ever sent them any money for scholarships or scouted Michigan for them? No. I have never gotten personally involved.
So grace is what God does for you and what He gives you that causes you to regard Him with thankfulness and love. Actually, it's what He has already done for us and given us in Christ Jesus. The gospel is called the gospel of the grace of God in Galatians 1.6. The good news is that grace has provided forgiveness of all sin. All. Grace has given us access to the Father in Jesus' name. All the promises of God are ours because of what grace has done. All of them. Protection, prosperity, healing for our bodies, everything we could need, He has done by grace, meaning we don't have to earn it or measure up to anything . Our performance doesn't qualify us for it and it can't disqualify us either.
We are saved by grace. Through faith. (Ephesians 2.8) By faith we access the grace. (Romans 5.2) We see what God says that we have been given and we believe it. Then when we speak, it is in agreement with what we believe (2 Corinthians 4.13) and God's power (Ephesians 1.19) does the rest. The word is like a seed. Plant it and it has the power in itself to grow and produce (Mark 4.26-29).
The grace of God is really good news. peto verum
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