Grace

Definition

Grace (charis) is God's favour given to those who deserve the opposite. It is not leniency and not a substance — it is the disposition of God to bless sinners at His own cost.

The Key Text

"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

The Reformation Recovery

Sola gratia — grace alone — was one of the five solas of the Reformation. Against a system where grace was mediated through merit and sacrament, the Reformers insisted that salvation is God's free gift from first to last: election, calling, justification, sanctification, glorification.

Grace Trains Us

Grace is not opposed to effort, only to earning. "The grace of God has appeared... training us to renounce ungodliness" (Titus 2:11-12). The same grace that saves also sanctifies — which is why grace produces holiness, never license (Romans 6:1-2).