Without a doubt, God’s grace is His extraordinary, lavish, unmerited favor. As expressed by Paul, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:1–5)

How glorious is this gospel of grace! As filthy as we were, as undeserving as we were, as damnable and ungrateful as we were, Jesus died for us. The Father set His love on us — even though we were rank rebels — and adopted us as His very own sons and daughters, actually making us joint heirs of the universe with His Son.

This is the most wonderful news that a mortal ear could ever hear, and it expresses a goodness beyond human comprehension. We had huge, eternal debts that were damning our souls. Jesus, who owed us nothing, paid them all. That’s why Paul could write that we are “justified freely by His grace” (Romans 3:24). God can pronounce us, “Not guilty,” because of what His own Son did.

This is the foundation of our spiritual lives, and it is the anchor for our souls. God accepted us because of what Jesus did, not because we stopped getting drunk or because we threw away our drugs or because we stopped sleeping around. It’s actually the reverse: We stopped doing these sinful things because of what Jesus did for us, because He died in our place, because He took our shame and our guilt, because He paid the penalty for our sin, because He took what we deserved, cancelling our debt when He hung on the cross.

Grace Does Not Fundamentally Mean “Unmerited Favor”

But here is the surprising news: The New Testament word “grace” does not fundamentally mean “unmerited favor.” Its basic meaning does include favor (of any kind) along with kindness, but it also includes enablement and gifting, important concepts we often miss.

You see, God’s grace not only did something amazing for us — forgiving us for all our sins — but His grace continues to do something amazing for us — empowering us to live for Him. In fact, there was nothing revolutionary in the New Testament concept of grace meaning “favor” or “gift.” What was revolutionary was the degree of favor shown to us through the cross and the ongoing effectiveness of that favor in our lives. Grace finishes what it starts.

Why is this so important to understand? It is because many believers know that God saved them by His grace and that He continues to deal with them based on His grace, but they don’t know that His grace is presently at work in them. In other words, it’s one thing to say, “All that I do, I do by the grace of God,” meaning I don’t deserve any credit or honor (which is true). It’s another thing to say, “The grace of God worked mightily in me,” meaning I was supernaturally helped by God to do His work.

Do you see the difference? It’s one thing to say, “I come to God through His grace,” meaning I have access to God through the blood of His Son (amen to that!). It’s another thing to say, “I serve God daily through His grace,” meaning I am enabled to do His will because He Himself is at work in me. There’s a distinction here.

Enablement and Gifting

One believer says, “I’m not under the law, I’m under grace” (Rom 6:14), taking it (wrongly) to mean, “God understands my sins and doesn’t condemn me for them. He receives me just the same regardless of how I live.”

Another believer says, “I’m not under the law, I’m under grace,” taking it (correctly) to mean, “Through grace, I’m not only forgiven for my sins but I can now live above sin. Whereas the law could only point out my shortcomings, God’s grace can transform my nature.” That is the power of grace!

God’s grace is comprehensive and complete. It saves and sanctifies, rescues and restores, transforming us from hell-bound sinners to holy-living saints. That’s the grace of God! And just as it was the Lord’s supernatural, infinite grace that saved us, it is His supernatural, infinite grace that keeps us. It is truly an ocean of grace that we experience in Jesus.

Grace to Help

But to say it again. It is not just His grace that saves us. His grace is with us this very hour, helping us, keeping us, empowering us. That’s why we can “come with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

What encouraging words! For His children, God’s throne is a place of help, mercy, and favor, and at that throne we find everything we need. Praise God for the stream of grace that flows from the throne of grace.

And yet there is more. We can also look ahead to future grace: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 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” (Ephesians 2:6–7).

Our Past, Present and Future

In light of this — who can imagine what it will be like? — Peter urges us, “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). What a day that will be! Grace, more grace, and endless grace — that sums up our past, present, and future in Jesus. Do you realize what this means?

It means we can rest confidently in the goodness of our God, knowing that the same blood that washed us in the beginning continues to wash us in this hour, and that the same grace that helped us in the past continues to help us in the present. God favored us by setting His love on us, and He favors us by keeping His love on us.

How were we saved? By grace through faith. How are we kept? By grace through faith. What is our eternal hope? Grace through faith. Revel in it, rejoice in it, delight in it, dive into it. The Lord is our strength; the Lord is our support; the Lord is our Sustainer; the Lord is our Savior. Yes, salvation is of the Lord, through the Lord, by the Lord, and from the Lord. From beginning to end, it’s all grace.

(Excerpted and adapted from Michael L. Brown, The Grace Controversy: Answers to Twelve Common Questions.)

Dr. Michael Brown (www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is Why So Many Christians Have Left the Faith. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.