The Big Questions About Salvation and FaithSample

What is Grace?

Grace is one of the things Christians talk about the most. It’s at the heart of what it means to be and live as a Christian.

Grace is still one of the most elusive concepts to define with human words because the concept of grace isn’t human. It doesn’t follow human rules; it doesn’t follow society’s expectations. The only way to start to understand grace is to experience it. Sure, I can talk about it, but only by experiencing it for yourself will you know it.

Some people say all religions are the same. They’re not. Grace is what sets Christianity apart, not only from every other belief system in the world but also from every non-religious philosophy.

Every other belief system in the world says you have to do something to receive God’s favor. That might be praying a certain number of times a day or belonging to a specific church. Or it might be giving your money to your religion or voluntarily beating your body and starving yourself. Or it might be simply being good.

In almost all belief systems, there’s this idea that God will favor you more and bless you if you do something first. Grace says, “No, that’s wrong. God loves you anyway. God shows you favor without you having to earn it or please him in any way.”

In other words, grace means unmerited favor. It means rewarding people who don’t deserve rewarding. I know it sounds strange because all the world systems’ basis is on rewarding people who deserve rewarding. In politics, the politician who gets the most votes wins. In economics, the best product gets bought. In sports, the best sportsperson wins the medal. That’s just the way it works.

Grace says the opposite. The Bible says God demonstrates his love to us by loving us first. His love for us isn’t in response to anything that we do. The crowning act of grace, according to the Bible, happened at the Cross.

"This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

Grace puts us all under an obligation to God. We have an inescapable moral obligation to respond to him in love. It’s an obligation to show the same grace to others that God has shown us. The best life you can live is when you acknowledge and accept God’s grace into your life and when you learn to live in the same way toward others.

– Eliezer Gonzalez