The Grace of God – Bible Study

THE GRACE OF GOD

Grace may be the most important word in the Christian faith. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Many of us have heard it so many times that it may have lost its weight. This study is an invitation to see it clearly, perhaps for the first time.

DEFINING GRACE

The word grace appears throughout the Bible in two key languages.

In the Old Testament the Hebrew word is chen (pronounced khen). It means favour shown from someone of greater standing toward someone lesser, favour that is unearned and undeserved. It is a movement of the heart, not just an action. The one showing chen bends toward the other with goodwill they did nothing to deserve.

In the New Testament the Greek word is charis (pronounced khar-is). It means a gift freely given with no expectation of return. Notably, charis shares its root with chara, the Greek word for joy. Grace and joy are connected at their core.

Together these two words tell us something important. Grace has always been about God moving toward us, not because of anything we have done, but because of who He is.

Is the Hebrew and Greek definition of grace different from what you originally thought it meant?

GRACE AND THE CHARACTER OF GOD

Exodus 33:18–19
Then Moses said, “Please, show me your glory.”  And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 

Psalm 103:8-12
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

How does knowing that grace is rooted in God’s character change the way you see Him or relate to Him?

THE NEED FOR GRACE

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Romans 3:10-12
As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’

Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Is there any part of you that still holds onto the idea that you are somehow less in need of grace than others?

GRACE CANNOT BE EARNED

Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.

Romans 11:6
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Galatians 2:21
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Where in your life are you still trying to earn what God has already freely given?

THE COST OF GRACE

Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Romans 5:6-8
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

What changes in your heart when you think of the sacrifice of Jesus?

GRACE AND SALVATION

Romans 3:23-24
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-9
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.

Titus 3:4-7
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

How does it change the way you live knowing that your standing before God rests on what Jesus did and not on what you have to do?

THE GIFT OF GRACE

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Romans 5:15-17
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Hebrews 4:16
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The gift of grace is not just forgiveness. It’s a new life, a new identity, and a personal relationship with God. Which of these dimensions of the gift means the most to you right now, and why?

THE INVITATION OF GRACE

Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.

Romans 10:9-10
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

John 1:12
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Revelation 22:17
The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Have you answered the invitation of grace or is there anything still holding you back from receiving?

What is the one truth about grace that you most needed today?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.