“Grace” is hard to define. The classic definitions are “God’s unmerited favour” or “a free gift of God.”
For the Christian, this is the foundation of everything. It’s what sets Christianity apart from every other religion. Christians believe they are no longer accountable for their wrongdoing, because they have received the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
We are sinners. We deserve God’s righteous wrath. And yet we have been given Christ’s righteousness in its place, making us acceptable to God. This is grace.
in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:7-10 NIV, emphasis added)
We cannot earn this. It is entirely undeserved and unmerited. One preacher captured it in an acronym: GRACE – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
We owed a debt to God for our rebellion. Jesus paid it willingly, in full, when His blood was shed on the cross. His resurrection is the proof the debt was cleared. It shows, once and for all, that death has been defeated, and that this victory is open to anyone who chooses to accept it.
No other religion deals with the problem of sin this way. That’s why forgiveness through Christ is the only way to salvation.
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24 NIV)
A grace that costs nothing, and demands everything
Everything above is true. But grace, as many believers understand it, is often incomplete.
Too often, grace is reduced to simply calling on the name of Christ, without ever surrendering a life to Him. Across the evangelical world, grace has been diluted into something like a “get out of jail free card,” a way to sidestep God’s judgement rather than a call to holiness.
This thin version of grace cheapens what Jesus paid. And it isn’t what Scripture teaches.
The Bible often contrasts grace with the law (see also Romans 4:16 and Galatians 2:21):
Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17 NIV)
But grace doesn’t replace the law – it fulfils it. The law still stands. Jesus met its every requirement, which is exactly what qualified Him to pay the price for our disobedience on our behalf.
Grace received through genuine repentance doesn’t just cancel our debt. It changes how we live, permanently.
Grace is a verb
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:18 NIV)
Grace isn’t just a noun. It’s a verb.
It isn’t a one-off moment that then lies dormant. It’s ongoing. Active. A force that keeps shaping our lives long after the moment we first receive it. Titus puts it beautifully:
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14 NIV)
This grace transforms us in two ways.
First, our standing before God changes. When He looks at us, He sees Christ’s perfection – not our sin. A relationship with God, once impossible, is now open to us.
Second, we surrender our lives to Him entirely, as Titus describes. Life should never look the same again. The Holy Spirit is what drives this change, and it shapes a relationship with God that marks a believer from the moment of conversion onward.
Paul describes this surrender directly:
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin– because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (Romans 6:1-12 NIV, emphasis added)
This doesn’t mean a Christian lives a perfect life from the moment of conversion. It means sin no longer rules. A believer may still fall into sin at times but shouldn’t return to habitually sinning the way they once did.
Three stages: justification, sanctification, glorification
Once someone gives their life to Christ, they enter a three-stage process.
Justification happens once, in the past – the moment we repent and trust in Christ’s work.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1 NIV)
Sanctification is where we live now – the ongoing process of obedience, holiness and purity, guided by the Holy Spirit.
who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. (1 Peter 1:2 NIV)
Glorification is what’s still to come – when we either die and meet the Lord, or Christ returns to “rapture” His followers and give us new, heavenly bodies. Whichever comes first.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21 NIV)
An amazing journey
What an amazing journey awaits anyone who confesses their sin and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the meaning of grace: though we were dead in our sins, destined for eternal separation from our Father, we now have the chance to accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. We can begin a relationship with our Creator, resting in the promise that when our time on earth ends – or Christ returns first – we will live forever in God’s presence.
This gift is free. But it must still be accepted. That means responding through repentance and accepting Jesus as Lord.
This promise is open to anyone who responds. We urge you to consider it, and to accept this free gift of grace for your eternity. Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Read our How To Be Saved article. Why wait any longer?
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4 NIV)