Say "Grace"

What do you think of when you hear the word “grace?” Many people might say, “Oh, it’s a prayer you say before you eat.” Or perhaps they would mention the elegance and beauty of a dancer’s movement. Ask a believer in Christ, and they would likely answer, “It’s God’s unmerited favor.” I think most in the church have heard that, but let’s take a closer look.

We have scriptures like Ephesians 2:8-9 which read, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. “God’s unmerited favor” would seem to work well to define grace in this scripture.

Here is another scripture, Luke 2:52. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. “Hold on,” you may say. “I don’t see the word grace in that scripture!”

Go get that big, thick book called Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Look up grace. In the Old Testament, you will see the number 2580 for the Hebrew. It means favor, grace or gracious, pleasant, precious and well-favored. For the New Testament Greek, grace is entry #5485. It means in part, the divine influence on the heart, and its reflection in the life. (Pretty cool!) It also means gratitude, favor, joy, liberality, pleasure and thanks-worthy. Now look up “favor” in Strong’s. In Hebrew, it’s entry #2580 and in Greek, it’s #5485. Compare the numbers just above. In the bible, grace and favor are defined by the exact same words!

Remember the definition of grace as God’s unmerited favor? Put 'grace' in place of 'favor' in Luke 2:52. If Jesus had God’s unmerited grace, that must mean He did something wrong, because though He was given grace, He didn't really deserve it. But we know that Jesus was without sin, and therefore did no wrong. So then, what does grace mean?

I love the answer Graham Cooke gave of grace, at a meeting where he began to speak prophetically. He said, “This is the definition of grace the Lord taught me. Grace is: the empowering presence of God that enables you to become the man or the woman that God sees when He looks at you.” Mr. Cooke went on to say, “Every time you see grace in the New Testament, substitute ‘empowering presence’ and see what that does for your spirit!”

When you accept Jesus as your Savior, He lives within you. Now imagine your life lived with the empowering presence of God! Oh, what things you will do for the Kingdom!!