I just finished reading the Bible and am wondering what is really meant by "God's grace?"

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Question: I have just finished reading the Bible and am wondering what is really meant, by “God’s grace.?”
D.S.

ATP: Grace has been defined as "the undeserved favor of God." That is as good a definition as I know, but perhaps some fleshing out would help.

Let me compare the meaning of this word with the meanings of two other words. By doing so I think it will help make the definition of grace clearer.

Justice could be defined as what happens when we get what we deserve. We do wrong or we do right and the appropriate punishment or reward is given. We deserve what we get. We have earned it, so to speak, either in a positive sense or a negative one.

Mercy could be defined as what happens when we do not get what we deserve. We do wrong and deserve a certain result from our actions, but God in his mercy decides to prevent such results from taking place.

When mercy "happens," although it would be fair of God to allow justice to result, because he is a merciful God he chooses mercy for us as an alternative to justice.

There is an old story about a mother who went to a king to plead for mercy for her imprisoned son who had been convicted of a crime. The king said to the woman,

"Dear woman, your son doesn't deserve mercy," to which the woman replied, "Sovereign king, I know that, but if he deserved it, it wouldn't be mercy." The king got her point and granted her petition of mercy for her son.

Mercy happens when we do not get what we deserve.

Grace is the third element. It is, as I mentioned, the undeserved favor of God. Unlike justice, receiving grace is not about getting what we deserve. Unlike mercy, grace is not about not getting what we deserve.

Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, but in a completely positive sense.

We don’t deserve God’s blessings, but he pours them out on us anyway.

We don’t deserve eternal life, but he gives us the opportunity through Christ to receive it.

We don’t deserve his forgiveness, but he gives it anyway when we repent.

So God’s grace is God's undeserved favor. It comes our way because of the wonderful and loving character of God, and at God’s own choosing. It is by definition, not something that we can earn or attempt to curry favor from the Lord to receive based on our own merit.

Grace is utterly undeserved, yet God gives it anyway.