God’s free, sovereign, undeserved favour or love to humans in their state of sin and guilt, which manifests itself in the forgiveness of sin and deliverence from its penalty;1 God’s unmerited favor toward the undeserving and ill-deserving.
- From scripture:
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:6 ESV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV).
… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus… (Romans 3:23-24 ESV).
- From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 428:
The teachings of Scripture respecting the grace of God stress the fact that God distributes His blessings to men in a free and sovereign manner, and not in consideration of any inherent merit of men; that men owe all the blessings of life to a beneficent, forbearing, and longsuffering God; and especially that all the blessings of the work of salvation are freely given of God, and are in no way determined by supposed merits of men. This is clearly expressed by Paul in the following words: “For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory,” Eph. 2:8,9. He strongly emphasizes the fact that salvation is not by works, Rom. 3:20-28; 4:16; Gal. 2:16.
Learn more:
- Got Questions: What is the definition of grace? and What does it mean to be saved by grace?
- R. C. Sproul: What Is Grace?
- Ask Ligonier: What Is Grace?
- Michael Reeves: Grace: What Does God Give Us?
- J. I. Packer: The Grace of God
- Jerry Bridges: What Is Grace?
- Loraine Boettner: Salvation By Grace
Related terms:
1 Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 427.
Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above.
Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.