Grace

Could it be that grace is more than what we have given it credit to be?

     Are you aware that beginning with the book of Romans, each book (with the exception of Hebrews, James, and Jude) has a greeting that in some form states, “Grace be unto you…” This is very important to note because it would appear that the desire for grace to manifest and multiply in our lives was at the heart of each of these writings. For the writers of these books to express such a salutation, it implies that grace has a variable component to it. It can increase and multiply in our lives which means that we are able to live our lives with very little grace manifesting.

(David Shipman, Grace: The Power of Heaven, Kindle Edition, 2013, Loc 26 of 1169)

Grace (An Equipping)

The first usage of the word grace defines it from God’s perspective. In Genesis 6:8, we read that “…Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” As we read through the story of Noah, we find that Noah didn’t just find favor in God’s eyes, but this favor also brought provision and ability to Noah. A plan of God, the ability of God, and the knowledge of God was given to Noah to escape impending destruction. This same theme is carried into every other place we find the grace of God. As you read through this book, you will see that there is also an equipping that comes into our life through grace. 

(David Shipman, Grace: The Power of Heaven, Kindle Edition, 2013, Loc 47 of 1169)

Grace (The Concept of Grace)

Christianity is pre-eminently a religion of grace. Even where the word ’grace’ is not used, the idea of grace in other terms holds a quite central place and all genuine Christianity. If that idea becomes weakened or displaced, then whether the word ’grace’ is used or not, Christianity inevitably loses something of its essential character. So much is this the case, that in any attempt to explain the meaning of grace, it is almost necessary to give an account, at least in outline, of the entire Christian faith. The Christian faith, however, has had a history. It has not remained unchangeably the same at all times and in all places. It has appeared in very different guises in the different environments of life and thought into which it has entered. Hence, the concept of grace also has a history. The place and significance attributed to it have not always and everywhere been precisely the same. Even among its greatest exponents there have been differences of emphasis and point of view; and among their followers there have been different degrees of comprehension of their teaching.

(Philip S. Watson, The Concept of Grace: Essays on the Way of Divine Love in Human Life, Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1959, 5; From Preface)

Grace: God’s Grace

     It is necessary now to illustrate, in some important points, that popular Jewish theology which forms the background and presupposition of so much of Jesus’ teaching. We will notice, first, the Jewish idea of God. The idea of God’s exaltation above the world was carried so far by the Jews of Jesus’ time that he was almost separated from the world. God was chiefly thought of as a judge or governor. His relations with men were conceived of in a legal, rather than in a vital, way. God was an accountant who exactly credited all good deeds, and, with equal exactness, estimated and punished all transgressions of his law. It will readily be seen how the extreme development of this idea would tend to exclude the truth of God’s grace from the minds of men, for the very idea of God’s grace is that he treats men better than they deserve.

(The International Theological Library, Charles A. Briggs, Stewart D. F. Salmond, Eds; George Barker Stevens, The Theology of the New Testament, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903; From Part I: The Teaching of Jesus According to the Synoptic Gospels; Chapter I (Introductory), 11-12)