Faith. Hope. Love. These beautiful words are delicately woven throughout Scripture. Faith being the assurance of things hoped for and the belief in what is unseen (Hebrews 11:1).
Hope allows us to be filled with joy and peace due to our trust in God (Romans 15:13). Love brings forth a nature of patience and kindness (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
The words offer us a glimpse into the nature of our God as well as an assurance of how God sees us as His beloved children.
Faith is what brings us into a relationship with God. Hope gives us the promise of eternal life spent with God. And love is what is freely given by God, time and time again.
Love being considered the greatest of these, partly because it goes beyond ourselves and can be extended to others (1 Corinthians 13:13).
God’s unconditional love opens our hearts to welcome faith, receive hope, and give love. God is the God of faith, hope, and love.
But what of grace?
Grace. It’s a word that may bring forth a wide range of emotions. However, while grace isn’t clearly defined in the Bible, we hear the whimsical word being tossed around quite a bit in our congregations and fellowship circles.
Maybe you’ve heard that grace is an “undeserved gift” or “God’s way of showing favor toward the unworthy.”
Well, my friend, let’s take a deeper look at what grace means and why God is referred to as the God of all grace.
God’s Common Grace
Grace, by the standard definition, means an act of goodwill or kindness. In fact, that probably isn’t too far off base when it comes to how God’s grace is given to us.
After all, God is gracious and kind. He is a good God that gives us a magnitude of blessings that we don’t deserve, and His actions and character exude love, even in His discipline measures.
When we flip through His Word, we see His mighty hand in every detail. God’s grace is wrapped in those stories, along with His faithfulness, hope, and love.
We are also met with God’s mercy. Mercy seems, too often, to go hand-in-hand with grace. That is because mercy prompts the outpour of God’s grace.
In other words, mercy is how God sees us — as His beloved children. Children that will make mistakes and fail need loving guidance with a tender type of compassion and gentleness.
Grace is a gift that covers us in God’s special kind of love. The best part is — God extends it to all people!
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people (Titus 2:11).
This verse is referring to common grace. Common grace is the universal grace that every person can experience because our God is so faithful, good, kind, and unconditionally loving.
We encounter common grace every day that often goes unnoticed as God provides for our needs. Examples may include the beauty of a sunset, time spent with a friend, a refreshing drink, a generous smile from a stranger, and so on.
What are some ways God has shown common grace to you this week? Something to ponder.
God’s Saving Grave
When we take the leap of faith and become faithful believers, we experience not just common grace, but we are offered God’s precious saving grace.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This is written on the back of my daughter’s high school letter jacket. She chose this verse to serve as a reminder that her salvation is through her faith.
While her faith may waver, she knows that God is filled with grace and knows the nature of her heart. God is always pursuing us to come back to Him when we wander too far off because we are invaluable to Him (Luke 15:4-6).
When we place our trust in God and profess our faith in Him, that’s it — we are saved! Saved from this broken and messy world to inherit the kingdom of God.
God of All Grace
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast (1 Peter 5:10).
God is God of all grace as He pours both common and saving grace. But the hope lies within that saving grace! God tells us that in this world, we will have trials and suffer, and may even be persecuted for professing our faith in Jesus, but God will restore us one day.
The promise Peter offers us in this verse is that we will be made new. Strong, firm, and steadfast. We will no longer be mentally, physically, or emotionally weak. When we meet by Jesus in our eternal home, we will acquire a new body and have a full, eternal life with Him.
That makes me want to rejoice! Just so thankful that our God loves us so deeply!
The Purpose of Grace
The purpose of grace, first and foremost, is to help us live a new and enriched life. One that aims to glorify our God that is full of faith, hope, love, mercy, unfailing love, limitless forgiveness, mercy — and grace.
In recognizing that we are all sinners and in need of deliverance, God’s gift of grace offers us a pathway to let go of the condemnation, guilt, and shame when we fail and walk in freedom with Christ (John 8:36).
We have also been given the assistance of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide our choices and seek God’s grace when we need forgiveness.
So essentially, God’s grace helps us learn and grow from our mishaps while longing to be more like Jesus.
Extending Grace to Others
As believers in Christ, we are called to pour out grace onto others in various forms, just as we receive that gift of grace from God. It’s in the act of offering kindness and goodwill to others, even when they don’t deserve it, that gives us opportunities to soften our hearts.
Here are five ways to extend grace to others.
1. Freely forgive (Matthew 6:14-15). While this may be easier said than done, continue to hand your heart over to the Lord and seek His help in ways you can gain peace and forgive others.
2. Extend acceptance (1 Peter 3:8). We are commanded to love and see others the way God does. By accepting others with grace through our actions and words, we show the world what loving like Jesus looks like.
3. Show care and compassion (Ephesians 4:32). When we are compassionate, we demonstrate God’s love for us and share kindness with others.
4. Share support (Galatians 6:2). We are called to carry one another’s burdens. This gift of grace can be so helpful to those that are hurting or walking through trials alone.
5. Graciously give (Luke 6:30). Have an open heart willing to share and bless others with the gift of your generosity. We can extend grace through our talent, time, and financial support to those in need.
A Closing Prayer
Gracious God,
We are so thankful that You are the God of all grace. We ask that You come into our hearts and seek Your promise of grace when we fail to see the beautiful ways You show up in our lives.
Thank you for the many blessings of grace from the breath in our lungs to the precious promise of eternal life.
Please help us reach out and extend grace to others as we strive to live a life that honors and glorifies You.
We ask all these things in Your Holy Name.
Amen.
For further reading:
Why Does the Bible Describe Both Grace and Mercy?
Why Are We Given Grace Upon Grace from the Lord?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/peshkov
