The Meaning of Grace

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     In Romans 11:6, the apostle Paul is speaking about a remnant of Israel who are "according to the election of grace." He says, "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more of grace: otherwise work is no more work."

     J. B. Phillips puts this rather complex statement in simple fashion, thus, "And if it is a matter of the grace of God, it cannot be a question of their actions especially deserving God's favour, for that would make grace meaningless."

     It seems to me that many among us have done just that--made grace meaningless! Perhaps this is done most frequently by legalism. John writes, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Grace is undeserved kindness, truth is reality. The law which was given by Moses is placed in contrast with that kindness and reality which came by Christ. Nothing in scripture is clearer than the fact that "we are not under law, but under grace" (Romans 6:15).

     The position of many would best be expressed by a statement, "For the law was given by Moses, and another one was given by Jesus Christ." They believe that Jesus nailed one law to the cross and handed another one down. Indeed it is not uncommon to hear brethren argue that the principal function of grace was to deliver us another law. They cannot distinguish between a written code and life in Christ Jesus. That life stems from the principle of the indwelling Spirit. We are plainly told, "For the new spiritual principle of life in Christ Jesus lifts me out of the old vicious circle of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). That vicious circle is where law finds one. It is also where it leaves him! No law can give life!

     If grace is not to be meaningless, how can we make it meaningful? There is but one answer to this, and that is to restore to it the meaning attached to it by the Spirit. We say "by the Spirit" for the simple reason that the Spirit adopted the Greek word charis and gave it a new and glorious significance.

     Originally it referred to that property in a thing which caused those who viewed or experienced it to rejoice in it, or to be happy with it. By a natural evolution, characteristic of the Greeks, it eventually was used to describe that which gave them the greatest pleasure or satisfaction.

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Since the Greek mind was stimulated by the arts, and rejoiced in grace and beauty above all else, charis was used to designate these things.

     The next step was the application of the word, not to a state or quality of a thing, but to its bestowal upon or manifestation to others, for their blessing or benefit. It was here the Spirit found it and appropriated it, elevating it from earth to heaven, and using it to describe God's giving of Himself in Christ.

     Generations before Jesus was born, Aristotle had prepared the Greek mind for this tremendous content of charis, by defining it as a beneficence, a gift freely bestowed with no expectation of response, and with no other motive whatsoever than the love and generosity of the giver.

     There are no conditions attached to grace itself. It is a gift! It is not an award for goodness nor a reward for performance. Being a gift, all that one must do is to reach out and take it, but the reaching is not a condition attached to the grace. It is simply a means of appropriating it by the individual. It is grace whether you accept it or not. Your refusal does not alter grace, although its acceptance will certainly alter you!

     We make grace meaningless by first cheapening it, and then supplanting it. It is easier to do this than to accept it, for the acceptance of it requires utter negation of self. Pride keeps us from welcoming crucifixion. But grace is not a book, a message, a proclamation, a law, or a code of morals. Grace is God coming in Christ with truth, so that we can receive of His fulness and grace for grace (John 1:16).

     Certainly the grace that brings salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, but grace is the teacher, not the act of teaching, and not the thing taught. If we make our heart a home for the teacher, the instruction will come from within, not from without. Then we may say, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain" (1 Cor. 15:10).