What is the grace of Jesus Christ? A search for “grace” and “Jesus” or “Christ” allows us to answer this question in brief, as seen below. This grace is divine favor to us, given to us, His undeserving people, for a variety of reasons.
This grace from Christ is from the Father as well, as the opening prayers of many of Paul’s letters show (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4; Phm 3; 2 John 3). Often, however, when Paul ends a letter, he simply prays for his readers to have grace from Jesus Christ (Rom 16:20; 1 Cor 16:23; 2 Cor 13:14; Gal 6:18; Phil 4:23; 1 Thess 5:28; 2 Thess 3:18; Phm 25). In keeping with this thought, John, too, ends the book of Revelation and thus the NT and all of Scripture with this prayer (Rev 22:21).
The grace of Christ is His divine favor that is expressed in a variety of ways. This favor is to us for our salvation in general (Acts 15:11; Rom 5:15, 17; 1 Cor 1:4; 2 Cor 8:9; Eph 2:5; 1 Tim 1:14). We could even narrow His grace down to specific aspects of our salvation. This grace is shown to us in electing us to salvation in eternity past (2 Tim 1:9), in drawing us to Himself through His effectual call through the gospel (Gal 1:6), in enabling us to serve others (Eph 4:7; 2 Thess 1:12), and in giving us eternal comfort and good hope that salvation is truly ours (2 Thess 2:16).
Not only does this grace extend to eternity past and find its experience in the present, we will also find His grace in time to come. This is the grace of our glorification at His revelation (1 Pet 1:13) and even the grace that we receive in the ages to come thereafter (Eph 2:7).
Until that time, we are commanded to grow and be strengthened in His grace (2 Tim 2:1; 2 Pet 3:18). We need this grace for power to overcome what trials may come our way (2 Cor 12:9). This grace comes to us by the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29) through the word of God’s grace (Acts 20:32), from the throne of grace through prayer (Heb 4:16), and through the grace we are given to minister as much to one another (Eph 4:7, 16).
About David Huffstutler
David pastors First Baptist Church in Rockford, IL, serves as a chaplain for his local police department, and teaches as adjunct faculty at Bob Jones University. David holds a Ph. D. in Applied Theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His concentration in Christian Leadership focuses his contributions to pastoral and practical theology.
