WHAT IS GRACE?

The most important thing about a definition is the definition of the terms used in the definition.

One cool thing about deleting older threads is the need to cover the same topic over and over again.

 

In a sense, every gift of God is a "grace".

 

Ephesians 1

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For HE CHOSE us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In LOVE HE[3] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with HIS pleasure and will-- 6to the praise of his glorious GRACE, which HE HAS FREELY given us in the One (JESUS) he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's GRACE 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[4] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—TO BRING ALL THINGS IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH TOGETHER UNDER ONE HEAD, EVEN CHRIST.
11In him we were also chosen,[5] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the PURPOSE OF HIS WILL, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

Grace is Love, God is Love and Love (God) never fails \o/

WHAT IS GRACE?
THE Greek word for "grace" is charis, and it is kindred to the word chara, joy. G. Campbell Morgan said, "Grace is that which gives joy. By the Greeks charis was used

(1) of art, music, the beautiful, anything that gives joy;
(2) of the desire to give joy to others. The word meant this before Christianity touched it.
(3) Then it was used or both these things together, and
(4) it is the activity that carries out the desire and actually gives joy. Predicate these mounting ideas of God.

Grace is the desire in the heart of the blessed God to communicate His own joy to the hearts of others. Grace gladdens God. Grace is the passion of God to bless. Grace is the love of God seizing every opportunity to gladden the sinful and needful and graceless. Grace explains the mystery of the cross, for there grace took hold of sin and cancelled it."

R. W. Dale's definition is worth remembering: "Grace is love which passes beyond all claims to love. It is love which after fulfilling the obligations imposed by law has still an unexhausted wealth of kindness."

J.W. Jowett said: "Grace is energy. Grace is love energy. Grace is a redeeming love energy ministering to the unlovely and endowing the unlovely with its loveliness."
And again, "Grace is the divine energy of holiness issuing in the ministry of love in quest of the unlovely, and by the communication of itself converting the unlovely into the lovely."

Alex Whyte said: "Grace from its nature has only one direction it can take. Grace always flows down. Grace is love indeed, but it is God's love to creatures who do not deserve His love. And thus it is that God's love to sinners is always called grace in the epistles. All He does for us in Christ, and all that is disclosed to us of His good will in the gospel is called grace. It has been designated 'the speech of infinite love." George L. Rogers (Unsearchable Riches vol.16, p.28).


Ephesians does not deal with the pardon of sins, but the forgiveness of offenses. It is not in the sphere of government, or of the courtroom, but of the home. It has reference, not to God's rule, or His righteousness, but His feelings. We are not forsaking justification for a lower benefit. We are going on to a higher, even if one of the terms is borrowed from the lower. We have not only sinned and are justified, but we have offended God, and are forgiven. This forgiveness, however, is not measured by the mercy shown to the Circumcision. That was temporary because its term depended on its possessor instead of on God. This forgiveness is according to the riches of His grace. It were wise never to leave off this phrase. It raises the matter of forgiveness to the level of the context and makes it glow with glory.

Peace, GH

My apologies if my post doesn't "fit" in with what is outlined above. I do the best I can with the abilities that have been given me by God to show the brilliance of WHO HE IS as it has been shown me.

 

"Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. [Jn 1:12-18, 17:3; Rom 8:14-17; 2 Pet 1:3-4] Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church."

Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1996-1997

For the rest of the definition on grace, visit:

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/salve.html#GRACE

 

Unmerited favor. Getting something we could never earn.

 

Which could be understood to mean the opportunity to be retrieved from our fallen state.

How this is done is a different matter. No matter how one believes this is done, the mere fact that it is possible is "unmerited favor", which "we could never earn".

 

Grace is tough to pin down as just unmerited favor or undeserved benefit to sinners.

John 1:14
And 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.

Jesus entirely merited God's favor by His perfect obedience. He had no sin that required grace for forgiveness. Yet Jesus was "full of grace". So one definition of it must tie it intrinsicly to God's nature and let it stand alone there, not always meaning the favor shown to sinful creatures. Although we focus on it's saving aspects in the great doctrines of grace, like everything else about God, it is first His and not ours. What amazing grace!

 

Although I'm not a Catholic, I have had this discussion a few times and I will give their position as I understand it. I would be happy if any Catholics would correct any misunderstanding.

Attribute, something that is true of Grace is given to those who chose to accept it by joining the Catholic Church which is God's tool for dispensing grace.

Commodity, something that is transferrable Grace is a commodity that God transfers to those who choose to participate in it. It is the source of power which allows the individual to follow God's command and grow to be more like Him. It is God's aid to man in man's journey to sactification.

Behavior, something that one does There are rites and rituals within the church that God uses to give grace to individuals, but grace itself is not a behavior, although it does 'fuel' a person who is trying to become more like God.

Quality, something that is true of, a distinguishing feature The distinguishing feature of a person who receives grace is the sanctification of the individual.

The rest of the answers are pretty much like the ones I already gave. I do hope that a knowledgeable Catholic will come along and critique my answers.

 

Sorry for my misunderstanding of what you were talking about. According to your definition, the Catholic position is that grace is not an attribute.

 

That is the problem when you start setting the ground rules. You decide what things mean. Then you start to argue about how someone misunderstood and that really muddies up the water.

Is this discussion supposed to be about grace or is it supposed to be about the categories that you have decided to fit grace into, as if you were God.

 

Grace is not only unmerited favor (an attitude of God) toward the
believer. Grace is 'God's love' the flow of Himself, bestowed in the person and is therefore truly experienced in different ways . A
Christian is save through grace, which is a gift of God and not a reward
for good works. However, because grace changes a person, he or she will
show the effects of grace through the best they can by righteous living.

 

If you are looking for a common ground, then look to Christ.

You are not going to find your common ground in man's beliefs about how God works.

 

A basic understanding of how the things of God work is essential to having common ground in God. In John 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "If you do not understand the natural, how will you ever understand the spiritual?"

I don't know how that quote from John 3 applies to grace, a spiritual matter.

In any case, Catholics and Protestants do not share common ground on the issue of grace. If you are looking for common ground, you need to look somewhere esle.