January 3, 2013
Understanding Grace
by Charles R. Swindoll
John 1:14
What exactly is grace? And is it limited to Jesus' life and ministry? You may be surprised to
know that Jesus never used the word itself. He just taught it and, equally important, He lived it.
Furthermore, the Bible never gives us a one-statement definition, though grace appears
throughout its pages . . . not only the word itself but numerous demonstrations of it.
Understanding what grace means requires our going back to an old Hebrew term that meant "to
bend, to stoop." By and by, it came to include the idea of "condescending favor."
If you have traveled to London, you have perhaps seen royalty. If so, you may have noticed
sophistication, aloofness, distance. On occasion, royalty in England will make the news because
someone in the ranks of nobility will stop, kneel down, and touch or bless a commoner. That is
grace. There is nothing in the commoner that deserves being noticed or touched or blessed by the
royal family. But because of grace in the heart of the queen, there is the desire at that moment to
pause, to stoop, to touch, even to bless.
The late pastor and Bible scholar Donald Barnhouse perhaps said it best: "Love that goes upward
is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace."
To show grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who doesn't deserve it and can never earn it.
Receiving God's acceptance by grace always stands in sharp contrast to earning it on the basis of
works. Every time the thought of grace appears, there is the idea of its being undeserved. In no
way is the recipient getting what he or she deserves. Favor is being extended simply out of the
goodness of the heart of the giver.
Adapted by permission. The Grace Awakening Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll, © 2003, Thomas
Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Copying or using this material without written
permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited and in direct violation of copyright law.
Listen to today's broadcast of Insight for Living with Chuck Swindoll at OnePlace.com.
Visit the Bible-teaching ministry of Chuck Swindoll at www.insight.org.
