God’s grace is his undeserved, kind, favor/action toward us (159 times in the N.T.). Pictures of God’s grace seem never-ending.

Exodus 34:6 (NIV)
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”

Psalm 145:8 (NIV)
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

Paul would often start and end a letter with a prayer for God’s favor to be on the recipients

Romans 1:7; 16:20 (NIV)
⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. / Romans 16:20 – ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (also 1 Cor 1:3 & 16:23; 2 Cor 1:2 & 13:14; Gal 1:3 & 6:18)

A biblical vision of grace carries with it the idea that the kindness is undeserved. If we think about it, giving someone something that is deserved or earned IS NOT an act of grace. That is paying a debt or fulfilling an agreement.

Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 4:4 (NIV)
Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

This can be difficult for us. As humans filled with the hope of self-merit, we often want to move toward a disposition of exchange. I exchange my skills, my abilities, my sincerity, my humility for God’s blessing – that’s not grace.

(Hodge) …it is often asserted that salvation is of grace. The gospel is a system of grace. All its blessings are gratuitously bestowed; all is so ordered that in every step of the progress of redemption and in its consummation, the grace, or undeserved love of God, is conspicuously displayed. Nothing is given or promised on the ground of merit. Everything is an undeserved favor.¹

God’s grace is limitless

Ephesians 2:6-7 (NIV)
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Have you ever wondered what heaven will me like? Paul gives us a glimpse here. Since God’s grace is infinitely deep, we will knowingly experience the never ending joy of kindness to us in Jesus. As a finite person it will take forever to fully experience God’s love for me. We see this in passages like John 1: 14-16:

John 1:14-16 (NIV)
¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” ¹⁶ From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

This is GOOD NEWS – God’s grace is limitless – he will forgive any who trust in Jesus:

Ephesians 1:7-8 (NIV)
In [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

The gospel is the ultimate, the best example of grace

When you look up “amazing” in the dictionary you’ll see a picture of Steve Burt. There are many

Acts 14:3 (NIV)
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.

1 Peter 1:10 (ESV)
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully…

There is purpose in God’s kindness

God’s saving kindness to Paul came with mission:

Romans 1:5 (NIV)
Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

God’s saving kindness (God’s grace) to the Corinthian Christian also came with mission:

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Application

Being people filled with grace is very important. In being filled with grace and showing grace we should show a difference between the ethos of this world and the ethos of the Kingdom. But grace is not necessarily the same as the news that Jesus died so you could live. The giving of my time, my care, my acceptance, my finances is good – it is gracious – but it is not the gospel.

God’s grace shows itself in every good thing – Country / Baby / Banana Cream Pie – and for the one who embraces Christ, in every difficult and painful thing too – Nathan Junker. In pain the Holy Spirit works to show me how frail this world is and how wonderful the rock of my hope is – thank God for painful things. Without pain I would put the gifts of God in front of the giver.