Grace of God

The Updated Bible Version uses "grace" almost exclusively in passages that describe what God does without being owed anything. The TCR atom GRACE, DIVINE arranges those passages under five headings — grace of God, grace of Christ, salvation by grace, riches of grace, grace bestowing unmerited favor — and the general scriptures on the topic fan out from the same center: an unforced movement from God toward people who could not earn it, with attendant calling, preserving, and growth.

Unmerited Choice in the Older Scriptures

The earliest pattern is choice without warrant. Yahweh's election of Israel is grounded explicitly in his love and his oath, not in the recipients' size or worth: "[The Speech of] Yahweh did not set his love on you⁺, nor choose you⁺, because you⁺ were more in number than any people; for you⁺ were the fewest of all peoples: but because Yahweh loves you⁺, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your⁺ fathers" (Deut 7:7-8). The same logic is restated three times in the next chapter: "Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land… Know therefore, that Yahweh your God doesn't give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people" (Deut 9:5-6).

Abraham's status is reckoned the same way — "And he believed in [the Speech of] Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness" (Gen 15:6) — and grace appears as preventive restraint when God says of Abimelech, "I also withheld you from sinning against me" (Gen 20:6). Job ascribes life itself and the survival of his spirit to divine favor: "You have granted me life and loving-kindness; And your visitation has preserved my spirit" (Job 10:12). Eliphaz's rhetorical questions cut the other way against any notion of God's debt to humans: "Can a [noble] man be profitable to God?… Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous?" (Job 22:2-3).

The Psalter testifies in the first person. "Unless Yahweh had been my help, My soul would have soon stayed in silence. When I said, My foot slips; Your loving-kindness, O Yahweh, held me up" (Ps 94:17-18). "In the day that I called you answered me, You encouraged me with strength in my soul" (Ps 138:3). The plea is grounded not in worth but in God's name: "Quicken me, O Yahweh, for your name's sake: In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble" (Ps 143:11). Ps 84:11 puts the gift in summary: "For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield: Yahweh will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Daniel makes the appeal explicit: "we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies' sake" (Dan 9:18); his strengthening at the angelic touch — "O man greatly beloved, don't be afraid… be strong, yes, be strong" (Dan 10:19) — is itself an enactment of grace.

The Wisdom strand keeps the vocabulary alive. "The greater you are, make your soul lower, And before God you will find grace" (Sir 3:18); "Those who love her, love life. And those who seek her, will obtain favor from Yahweh" (Sir 4:12).

Grace and Truth in Christ

In John, the gift takes a personal form: "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Christ's grace is later described as a self-impoverishment for the recipients' gain — "though he was rich, yet for your⁺ sakes he became poor, that you⁺ through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9) — and as sufficient power working through weakness: "And he has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9).

Hebrews states the cross itself in grace-language: "we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, [even] Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every [man]" (Heb 2:9). Apostolic letters end with the same gift formalized as benediction — "You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 2:1); "Grace to you⁺ and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord" (2 Pet 1:2); "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all" (Rev 22:21).

Salvation by Grace, Not by Works

Paul makes the contrast as sharp as language allows. Wages and gift cannot describe the same transaction: "Now to him who works, the wages aren't reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. But to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness" (Rom 4:4-5). The structure is the same in Rom 11:6 — "But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace."

Justification itself is grace-shaped: "for 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" (Rom 3:23-24). Grace's reach exceeds the trespass — "But not as the trespass, so also [is] the gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many" (Rom 5:15) — and reigns: "where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly: that, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 5:20-21). The historical pivot is that this happened toward the unworthy: "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8).

Ephesians turns the same point into a formula: "even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you⁺ have been saved)… 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 man should boast" (Eph 2:5, 8-9). The Pastoral parallel: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men" (Titus 2:11); "not by works [done] in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit… that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5, 7). Grace and law-righteousness are mutually exclusive: "I do not make void the grace of God: for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing" (Gal 2:21).

The Riches of His Grace

A second Pauline accent is grace's abundance. The redemption "in his blood" and the forgiveness of trespasses are measured "according to the riches of his grace" (Eph 1:7), and the future will display "the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:7). Paul's conversion case is offered as the same exhibit written small: "the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 1:14). The riches are also material in the pastoral sense — "And my God will supply every need of yours⁺ according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:19) — and behind the riches lies God's patience: "Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Rom 2:4). On the flip side stand the "vessels of mercy, which he prepared in advance to glory" (Rom 9:23). Titus 3:6 sums the picture in a verb of pouring — the Holy Spirit "which he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior."

Calling and Election by Grace

Grace runs back behind history. "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world… having preappointed us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved" (Eph 1:5-6). The same pre-temporal register appears in 2 Tim 1:9: God "saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before eternal times."

In Romans, Paul reduces the election question to mercy: "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy" (Rom 9:16). The remnant of Israel exists "according to the election of grace" (Rom 11:5). In John, calling is a Father's drawing — "No man can come to me, except the Father who sent me draws him… Everyone who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes to me" (John 6:44-45). Paul's own life is named as one such case: God "separated me, [even] from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace" (Gal 1:15).

The promise that flows from this election is wide and unconditional in its terms — "according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Rom 4:16) — and access to it is a present standing: "we have had our access by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom 5:2).

Grace as the Source of Christian Existence

Grace is also what the Christian then has and gives. Paul says of himself, "by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed on me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than all of them: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Cor 15:10). His ministry, his speech, and his conduct are all credited the same way: "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation" (1 Cor 3:10); "in simplicity and sincerity of God, and not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world" (2 Cor 1:12); "of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power" (Eph 3:7).

What is true of Paul is distributed across the church. "But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph 4:7); "according to as each has received a gift, serving [with] it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Pet 4:10). Posture matters in receiving it: "But he gives more grace. Therefore [the Scripture] says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Jas 4:6, repeated at 1 Pet 5:5). The grace already received is not to be wasted: "And working together [with him] we entreat also that you⁺ do not receive the grace of God in vain" (2 Cor 6:1).

The corresponding inward enabling is described in operative terms: "for it is God who works in you⁺ both to will and to work, for his good pleasure" (Phil 2:13); "that he would grant you⁺, according to the riches of his glory, that you⁺ may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man" (Eph 3:16); "be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might" (Eph 6:10). Paul names the practical resource as a daily supply: "the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:19).

Grace That Keeps and Preserves

A consistent strand treats grace as protection that runs to the end. The high-priestly prayer asks the Father, "keep them in your name which you have given me… While I was with them, I kept them in your name which you have given me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition" (John 17:11-12), and adds, "I don't pray that you should take them from the world, but that you should keep them from the evil [one]" (John 17:15). The Corinthian salutation expects the same to the eschaton: God "will also confirm you⁺ to the end, [that you⁺ are] unreproveable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1:8). 1 Cor 10:13 describes this preservation in trial: "God is faithful, who will not allow you⁺ to be tried above what you⁺ are able; but will with the trial also make the way of escape, that you⁺ may be able to endure it."

Peter calls God by the title that suits this work — "the God of all grace, who called you⁺ to his eternal glory in Christ, after you⁺ have suffered a little while, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, [and] firmly set [you⁺]" (1 Pet 5:10) — and earlier describes the saved as "guarded through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet 1:5). Jude closes with the same note: "to him who is able to guard you⁺ from stumbling, and to set you⁺ before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). Christ in Revelation says the same: "Because you kept the speech of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of trial" (Rev 3:10).

Growth in Grace

The second movement turns from grace's beginning to its trajectory. The OT image is forward motion: "They go from strength to strength" (Ps 84:7); "the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shines more and more to the perfect day" (Prov 4:18). The NT keeps the vocabulary of increase, but credits it directly to God. Confidence that the work continues belongs to him who began it: "he who began a good work in you⁺ will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:6). Paul prays "that your⁺ love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment… being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:9, 11), and casts his own life as forward-pressing: "Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on… forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:12-14).

The Colossian and Thessalonian prayers ask the same: walking "to all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory" (Col 1:10-11); the body "increases with the increase of God" (Col 2:19); "the Lord make you⁺ to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men" (1 Thess 3:12); "your⁺ faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each one of all you⁺ toward one another abounds" (2 Thess 1:3). Hebrews calls for the same with a pointed qualification — "let us press on to perfection… And this we will do, if God permits" (Heb 6:1, 3). Peter sets the image among infants: "as newborn babies, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that you⁺ may grow by it to salvation; if you⁺ have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Pet 2:2-3). And his last word in the second letter makes the imperative explicit: "But grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior" (2 Pet 3:18).

The starting point in Deuteronomy and the closing imperative in 2 Peter trace the same arc. The choice was not earned, the salvation is "by grace… not of works," the riches are abundant, the calling runs back before time, the preserving runs forward to the end, and the proper response is to grow in the same grace that made the whole sequence possible.