Grace: Gifts and Favors
Yule Tide
Think for a moment about Christmas. On Christmas Day, do you give gifts to your brother, your sister, your mother, and your father because you have a deep desire to give something to them from the kindness of your heart that would show your care, affection, and love for your family member? Do you love them so much that you feel like you must give them something because you simply want them to enjoy it and receive value from it, and you care that it would be good for them? Bottom line: Do you give because you want to give?
Take a moment to ponder and then answer yes or no.
If you said, “Yes!” then I say, “Yeah right!”
But seriously, maybe some of you really enjoy giving gifts (there are a few of you/us), so much so that you give gifts regardless of circumstance, reason, or even price. Most of you don’t give unless you receive something, and even then you may not give with joy; you may give out of expectation. In fact, that’s what Christmas is for most that celebrate it - giving gifts because it’s expected of you. Heck, you’re about to get something for free, so you might as well pony-up yourself and give something out, too! Maybe everything is even that way!
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary primarily has this to say about the word gift:
n. A present; any thing given or bestowed; any thing, the property of which is voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation; a donation. (emphasis mine)
According to our favorite dictionary author, if something is not given without compensation then it cannot be qualified as a gift. Something given with compensation expected would actually be a barter, a trade, but not a gift.
Do you think that I showed you the definition of “gift” so that you would feel bad about your Christmas traditions and maybe start caring about giving out of love and a true desire to see someone blessed? No, sorry. I hope you do care about giving, but that’s not what I feel led to discuss today. I mentioned gift-giving and emphasized “without compensation” because today we are to discuss “grace.”
Grace
Grace is a well-used word, even by worldly standards. “Amazing Grace” is in contention for the most-popular/most-known/most-sung song in the world. Everybody sings that song! But does anybody know what grace is? Do even we, as Christians, “saved by grace,” know what grace means? Perhaps not, so let’s get right into it!
Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Same verse, different translation:
Ephesians 2:8-9 ISV
For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God and not the result of works, lest anyone boast.
The Greek word used in the New Testament that has been translated “grace” is charis, pronounced khar’-ece. Charis is associated with these words: acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, grace (-ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy). We see that grace is good (acceptable, joy, pleasure) and it is a gift (benefit, favor, gift). I believe there to be two facets of grace that we should discuss today, and although they are interconnected and often indistinguishable, they can yet be viewed separately.
Gift
The first aspect of grace is that it is a free gift from God. Paul declared that we are saved by grace that comes through faith, and that this grace has been given to us from the Lord. He states that we did not work to obtain this grace (nor could we), because if we did then we could brag. But we can’t brag. In fact, we need to realize first and foremost that we are completely undeserving and un-earning of something from God, but because of God’s kindness we receive amazing blessings. Check this out - back up before the verse we looked at earlier to the start of the chapter. Paul says in Ephesians 2:1 that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. He goes on through verse three that we were each living in the ways of the world, acting in disobedience to God and obedience to the desires of our flesh and mind. Paul says we were “by nature the children of wrath!” (Eph. 2:3, KJV) These verses in addition to other verses like Romans 3:10 (”There is none righteous, no, not one.”) and Romans 3:23 (”For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”) remind us that we that are now Christians were once evil, flesh-following, unrighteous, quick-to-error sinners that had no way of escape from the chains of sin into freedom from bondage. We were blind to the truth and had no way of getting out on our own!
Perhaps you, Christian, have forgotten or you never learned that. Maybe you think that you were okay before you became a Christian because you were a “good person.” Now you’re a Christian because you want to be religious. Please be reminded that we were all lost in sin and only heading down a path of destruction before Jesus Christ rescued us from damnation! Even those that were “good people” before they were saved were sinners in need of a savior, no matter how “good” we each may have been!
So Paul says we were lost and dead in sin with no apparent hope, but there is hope! Paul declares in verse 5: “But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God’s wonderful kindness is what saves you.” (CEV)
See, grace is this - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, KJV) God did something based in His love and care for us without expectation of anything in return. If we could compensate Him for His gift, then it would cease to be a gift. God took something priceless and amazing that was His alone that He did not have to share with anyone, ever, and He gave that something to us as a gift. That something was His son, Jesus Christ, whom God sent to Earth to become a sacrifice for sins so that we could have our sins removed and accept the free gift of grace. Grace is God’s gift of kindness and love given to one that can’t offer anything in return as payment or compensation. God’s grace is truly a gift, as we deserved nothing from Him. In fact, when Paul says that we were “by nature the children of wrath,” he means that what we deserved from God (and would have gotten without the grace of God) was wrath, punishment and righteous judgment from the Lord. Praise God that we didn’t get what we really deserved yet He gave us something that we could never deserve!
Favor
The second facet of grace that is often displayed in Scripture yet is not fully understood is that grace is also favor from the Lord. Not favor like “Do me a favor” and “I owe you one for that favor.” Favor in relation to the Bible means that God is on the side of the Christian. Favor means that the Lord will bless and lead and guide His child (the Christian) but will not do the same for the unbeliever. The Bible says that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, NIV) Other verses show that many translations actually translate the same word for grace as they do for favor. Sometimes it’s grace and sometimes it’s favor! Here’s just a few to show you that grace and favor go hand in hand, and that the Christian is the one receiving favor from the Lord:
Luke 1:30 KJV
And the angel said unto her, ‘Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.
Acts 7:9-10 KJV
And the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharoah king of Egypt…
So, yes, the people of God receive favor from the Most High, but why is that an important aspect of grace?
Because if you know about God’s favor on your life and His blessings of salvation and grace, then you can live powerfully for God, knowing and trusting that He is with you, He will lead you and guide you, and He will be your aid and helper in times of trouble. We can boast that if God is for us and on our side then who can stand against us? No one! Your faith should be encouraged in knowing that because of the gift of grace given to you, God has given you favor, blessing, and help!
Grace isn’t a popular word in Christendom theses days because it sounds pretty and would make a nice girls name. But, to wrap it all up, we now know that grace is a gift given to us without any expectation of compensation from the Lord God because He cares about seeing each man, woman, boy and girl come to know Him and His marvelous, unconditional love. His grace has been offered to man and can be accepted through faith in His son, Jesus of Nazareth. As a result of accepting the wonderful gift of grace, then we receive grace in the form of favor from God. This can’t even get any better! Thank God for His grace!
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter 1:2, KJV)
Live4Jesus,
Matt Earley
