If you could sum up the Christian message in one word, a good candidate would be grace. It is the word for the most surprising thing about God: He gives His love to people who have not earned it.
What grace means
The New Testament word for grace, charis, means a gift, a favour freely given. In the Bible, grace is God's undeserved kindness — His love, favour, forgiveness and help given to people who could never pay Him back.
Grace is not God lowering His standards or pretending sin does not matter. It is God meeting our failure with a gift that costs us nothing and cost Him everything.
Grace and mercy
The two words overlap, but a helpful distinction is this: mercy is God not giving us what we deserve, and grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. In Jesus we receive both — forgiveness instead of judgement, and adoption, new life and eternal hope besides.
Grace that saves
Everyone falls short. Paul writes that "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23–24, WEB). Notice the word "freely." God did not wait for us to improve first: "God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, WEB).
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast." — Ephesians 2:8–9 (WEB)
Grace is received, not achieved. We receive it through faith — trusting Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again. Our Gospel explainer walks through the whole message.
Grace that changes us
Grace does not leave us where it found us. "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age" (Titus 2:11–12, WEB). Grace forgives the past and trains us for the future. We do not obey God to earn His love; we obey because we already have it.
Grace that sustains us
Grace is not only for the day we believe. When Paul begged God to remove a painful weakness, God answered: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9, WEB). John writes that from Jesus' fullness "we all received grace upon grace" (John 1:16, WEB). There is always more.
Why grace is good news on the street
Every Tuesday in downtown Hamilton we meet people who believe they are too far gone — too many mistakes, too much shame, too late. Grace says otherwise. No one is beyond the reach of a gift that depends on God's goodness rather than ours. If that is you, read what repentance means and what it means to be born again, or go straight to our Know Jesus page.
More plain-language definitions live in our glossary of faith words.
More questions
- What is the difference between grace and mercy?
- A common way to put it: mercy is God not giving us the punishment we deserve; grace is God giving us the good we do not deserve — forgiveness, new life, and a relationship with Him through Jesus.
- What does saved by grace mean?
- It means salvation is a gift, not a reward. "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works" (Ephesians 2:8–9). We receive it by trusting Jesus.
- If we're saved by grace, does it matter how we live?
- Yes. Grace forgives us and also trains us to live differently. Titus 2:11–12 says the grace of God instructs us to turn from ungodliness and live soberly, righteously and godly. We obey because we are loved, not to be loved.
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