[The text below is an edited version of this Tomorrow’s World whiteboard.]

What Is the Grace of God?

What exactly is the grace of God?

In the very last verse of the Bible, the Apostle John wrote, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:21).

God’s concluding thought of the entire Bible was focused on grace being with His people. This verse, along with many others, show how important this topic is.

So in this video, we will explain God’s grace in five simple points. Be sure to watch all five, because this is truly one of God’s most wonderful traits and it is one of the most beautiful aspects of His plan of salvation.

And please, don’t just believe us, but look up these verses and prove this for yourself from the pages of your own Bible.

The Biblical Definition of Grace

First, here is a simple definition.

1. Grace is the free and undeserved forgiveness and favor God gives to those who seek Him.

God, out of His abundant love, mercy, and goodness is willing to forgive us of sin, as terrible as sin is, when we repent and turn to Him.

Sin is the breaking of God’s law (1 John 3:4), and the Bible from beginning to end shows how horrible, perverse, evil, and damaging sin is.

The Bible also shows that all of us have sinned (Romans 3:9–12, 23), and the penalty for our sin is death (Romans 6:23). Therefore, we all deserve to die in our sins, but by God’s grace, we can be forgiven, cleansed, and saved from death.

God gave His son as a sacrifice for this very reason—to save people from their sin (Matthew 1:21; John 3:16).

So God’s grace is His willingness to pay the penalty we deserve with the sacrifice of His Son so that we can be forgiven and freed from eternal death.

This grace of God is a free gift. We do not deserve it, and we cannot earn it. It can only be accepted in faith.

And God is willing to give this precious gift to those who repent and truly seek Him.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Grace Restores Our Relationship with God

2. Grace reconciles believers to God.

Sin causes separation between mankind and God. It breaks the relationship. When we sin, we become out of harmony with Him.

As Isaiah 59:2 says:

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

However, through God’s grace, the relationship is restored. Through His grace, we are reconciled and made right with Him. This is called justification. Therefore, God’s grace is such a marvelous gift because without it we would never be back in harmony with God due to sin.

The Apostle Paul explains that Christians are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1–2).

And Titus 3:5–7 says:

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us… that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

God’s grace is a precious gift that establishes peace and a right relationship between God and mankind. It puts us back in harmony with Him.

The Death of Jesus Christ Makes Grace Possible

3. Grace is made possible by the death of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:28 says that:

Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.

Romans 3:23–25 says:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood.

As we mentioned earlier, God gave His son as a sacrifice to pay the penalty every human being has earned by committing sin. It is only through Christ’s shed blood that atonement is made for our sin.

So when someone repents and accepts God’s grace through faith in the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and is baptized, he or she is then cleansed of all their past sins.

As 1 John 1:7 explains:

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

This process of repenting and accepting God’s grace through faith in Christ’s sacrifice is the only way one can be justified and reconciled to God after sin. Therefore, it is one of the most important steps of salvation for a Christian.

This is why the Apostle John wrote that God the Father sent His son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14).

Grace Is One of the Attributes of God and Jesus Christ

Grace is a core character trait of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 5:10 describes God as “the God of all grace.”

Describing the member of the God family who became Jesus Christ, John 1:14 says:

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 Timothy 1:14 tells us:

The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant.

And God’s literal throne is beautifully described as a “throne of grace.”

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

These verses show that grace is a key aspect of the perfect character of God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is part of their nature and who they are. Therefore, we must understand grace to fully understand who God is and how to have the right relationship with Him.

Grace Is Not Freedom to Sin

Okay, now that we’ve described some of the wonderful aspects of God’s grace, let’s also consider some very serious warnings.

Though grace is a free gift, there are requirements that God expects from a person when they accept His grace.

5. Misunderstanding God’s grace can lead to an incorrect response—and deadly result.

The most obvious warning came from the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. In this letter he spends a significant amount of time explaining grace, and he repeatedly warned his audience to not misunderstand his message. He writes:

Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? (Romans 6:1–2, New Living Translation).

And later, he asks:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:15–16).

Let’s also read verse 16 in the New Living Translation because it puts it in simpler language.

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living (Romans 6:16, New Living Translation).

Paul repeatedly pleads for his audience to not think that the power and magnificence of God’s grace means that God’s law is no longer in effect or that sin (the breaking of God’s law) can be taken lightly.

Paul also zealously warns in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that those who refuse to repent and who continue practicing sin will never inherit the Kingdom of God.

Jude gives a similar warning.

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality (Jude 1:4, New International Version).

People were falling into the trap that Paul warned of. Some were perverting God’s grace by thinking it was a license to sin, or provided some freedom to not obey God. This response is the exact opposite of what God wants from Christians.

Unfortunately, despite warnings from Paul, Jude, and other scriptures, God’s grace was widely misunderstood in the first century and has been ever since. This has led many to an incorrect response to God’s grace.

This misunderstanding has kept some from realizing the seriousness of zealously striving to obey God’s laws, and thus avoiding the very thing which led to the crucifixion of the Son of God in the first place: sin.

Yes, we must repent and strive to obey God’s law. Repentance and obedience is what cleanses us from committing sin in the future.

On the other hand, it is also important to remember that obeying God going forward does absolutely nothing to remove the guilt or cleanse us of past sins. It will not pay the death penalty incurred by past sins. Only God’s grace and Christ’s shed blood can do those things.

So God’s grace cleanses us of past sin, but that doesn’t mean the law is done away or that we’re free to sin in the future.

Rather, accepting God's grace and seeking to obey Him going forward are two sides of the same coin that must always go together.

If you’re interested in learning more about God’s forgiveness and what it means for you, check out our whiteboard “How to Be Forgiven of Sin: Four Steps to Find God’s Forgiveness.”

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Thanks for watching!