In the Bible, the grace of God is His loving favor toward fallen man. St. Paul has more to say about grace than any other Bible writer, opening every one of his epistles with the declaration: βGrace be unto you and peace.β
Little wonder, for he himself was Godβs greatest demonstration of salvation by grace. In I Tim. 1:13,14, he says:
β[I] was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercyβ¦ and THE GRACE OF OUR LORD WAS EXCEEDING ABUNDANTβ¦.β
After years of service and suffering for Christ, he declared:
βBut none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify THE GOSPEL [GOOD NEWS] OF THE GRACE OF GODβ(Acts 20:24).
Salvation is wholly by Godβs grace, not partly by manβs works, for in Rom. 11:6 we read: ββ¦if [it be] by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.β
And in Rom. 4:4,5: ββ¦to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.β Thus salvation is βnot of worksβ but βunto good worksβ (Eph. 2:8-10). Good works is the fruit, not the root.
βAll have sinned,β says Rom. 3:23 but, thank God, all may be βjustified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesusβ (Rom. 3:24).
Thus it is Godβs purpose βthat in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesusβ (Eph. 2:7). source
