Present: The Gift of Grace, More than Salvation

A couple of Sundays ago, we sang the doxology in church to close the service and I was struck by the word ‘gracious’. Since the doxology can take various forms, I’ll share the one we sang Numbers 6:24-26,

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

I had just had a tense conversation about how I had not been kind toward someone, and it had stuck with me. I needed to be Christ’s hands and feet, yes – but also his mouth! I needed to be certain that my words were representative of Christ, full of grace and salted.

As we sang, I was overcome by God’s presence, in some way telling me that I needed to be gracious toward others, as he was toward me. His grace is a gift, a present. Since present is my word of the year, I am not surprised that God is speaking to me about this.

Undeserved Gift - Grace

I must admit that my understanding of grace has always been a struggle to nail down. It is often defined as ‘undeserved gift’ or ‘unmerited favor’, particularly in relation to salvation. We can look to Ephesians 2:8-9, ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.’ The gift of grace has saved us, not works. In Luke 2:40 and John 1:14, we find that ‘grace was on Jesus’, but we know that he has no need of salvation since he lived without sin. So, what is this grace. If not simply an undeserved gift of salvation?

More than Salvation

We have other verses that tells us of grace. Each of them indicate more than a salvation grace, seemingly showing action or power at work within to accomplish what God intends. Let’s look at this more closely.

Acts 6:8 - Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Stephen was full of grace and power and performed wonders, he did things beyond his capability. Similarly, in 1 Cor. 15:10, Paul has grace which produced an effect, the effect of working harder.

Acts 20:32 - Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

These next two verses show us that grace works to build up the believer. Our sanctification is worked through grace – sanctification being more than salvation. Then we find that the gap made by our weaknesses are also ‘filled up’ by the grace of God. Our growth of character then seems to be guided by grace.

Romans 12:6 - We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith…

1 Peter 4:10 - Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Grace also extends beyond a general unmerited favor, into a specific gift given according to the grace for each one of us. The verse from 1 Peter declares that grace has ‘its various forms’ and that we must use them to serve. The verse from Romans talks more specifically of spiritual gifts, individually given to us.

Colossians 4:6 - Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Finally, we arrive at the verse that I had in my head all along that we find in Colossians 4:6, ‘Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.’ This grace as well is not salvation, but rather a disposition of character that encourages and helps prepare a believer as they grow. 1

Power of God at Work - Grace

Each of these verses help us understand that grace is perhaps unmerited favor, but also the acting within each of us to carry out our purpose. John Piper puts it this way, ‘grace is not only a disposition or a quality or an inclination in the nature of God, but is an influence or a force or a power or an acting of God that works in us to change our capacities for work and suffering and obedience.’ 2

The present that we receive when we grasp grace of salvation does so much more than saving. That grace works in us to grow us into the Christlike character that builds others up and gifts others with the Godliness that he has bestowed upon us. It seems to be a series of gifts: he gifts us grace which we then take in and turn out as a gift to others through our character and through the gifts shown in community.

What grace have you seen in yourself that spills over to those around you? Or perhaps like me, you have seen that it is lacking and need even more grace.

—————

1 https://biblehub.com/greek/217.htm

2 https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-grace