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To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.2 Timothy 1:2

To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.Titus 1:4

Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.2 John 1:3

What is “grace”? This word appears 170 times throughout the Old and New Testament and there are many clues as to its meaning. Here are a few:

Facts About Grace in the Bible:

• Given in Christ, before Creation - 2 Timothy 1:9
• Christ Jesus has grace within Him - 2 Timothy 2:1
• Grace can be given to us from our Father - Ezra 9:9
• Grace was poured into the lips [words] of Christ - Psalms 45:2
• Grace is given by God, for nothing good is withheld from the upright - Psalms 85:11
• Instruction is an adding of grace - Proverbs 1:9
• Sound wisdom and discretion bring grace - Proverbs 3:22; Proverbs 4:9
• Grace is given to the lowly - Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5
• The pure in heart have grace upon their lips - Proverbs 22:11
• Grace is poured out upon God’s people - Zechariah 12:10
• Christ on earth was full of grace and truth - John 1:14
• Grace and truth came to us by Christ - John 1:17
• Great grace accompanies the true outpouring of the Holy Spirit - Acts 4:33
• There is a word of Grace - Acts 14:3
• God’s people believe through grace - Acts 18:27
• We receive grace and apostleship by Christ - Romans 1:5
• Grace comes from our Father and from Christ - Romans 1:7; 2 Timothy 1:2; 1 Corinthians 1:3
• We are justified by grace through redemption in Christ - Romans 3:24
• To righteousness by works, the reward is not of grace but of debt - Romans 4:4
• Righteousness is of faith, by grace - Romans 4:16
• We have access by faith through Christ into grace wherein we stand - Romans 5:2
• We receive an abundance of grace/righteousness by Christ - Romans 5:17
• We are saved by grace, through faith - Ephesians 2:5, 8

There are still many more verses on the subject and I encourage each of you to take up, through prayer and diligent searching, a deeper study of this subject. Though I can’t yet recall where, I once heard a definition of “grace” that, after reading through these verses again this morning, was impressed to my mind and, so far as I’ve seen, is supported by the weight of scriptural evidence.

“Weight of Evidence” Definition: “Grace is God’s unmerited favor“. We can do nothing to earn grace, it is bestowed freely upon us and was manifested to us through the wondrous gift of God’s Son, whom the Father gave to sinful humanity that we might be redeemed. Grace is not freedom from obedience to God’s law for, if so, why did the justice of the Father require the great sacrifice of His Son? (In the greatest stretches of our imaginations we fail to grasp the depth of what was risked and given on our behalf ) - The perfect law of God, the law of liberty, expressed to us in the Ten Commandments (which was a perfect shadow of the character of Christ, who kept the law perfectly), requires obedience, not that we would be in bondage, but rather that we would be free! For transgression of the law is sin and sin brings with it misery and bondage. Christ died to free us from captivity to sin that, by God’s grace, by His unmerited favour, through faith in the righteousness of Christ, we might be forgiven of our sins and enabled to live a life here on this earth and throughout eternity to come, completely free from sin, living in perfect and blessed obedience to God’s holy law.

…Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.2 Timothy 1:2

Grace, mercy, and peace, come to us from God the Father and from Christ Jesus, our Lord. Grace is unmerited favor. God’s mercy grants us forgiveness for our sins. And when we surrender our evil hearts to God and let the righteousness of Christ wash us clean and fill us, we are given a peace within that passes all understanding.

Call To Action: Go forward this morning with the prayer that God would grant you grace that you may bestow His grace upon others. Spend time in God’s word, in thoughtful prayer and meditation, so that by beholding you may become changed, and as you are changed and your character is transformed to reflect the perfect character of Christ, go forward and reveal Christ’s love, through your words and deeds, to those around you. May God’s grace, His unmerited favour, rest upon and be with us all. Amen.

2 Responses to “2nd Timothy 1:2 - Grace, Mercy, and Peace”

1. patrick Says:
   July 2nd, 2007 at 10:13 am

   Jonathan: Recently someone here presented a study that showed that grace was ALSO the power of God to give us victory over sin. I believe that a careful search of Scripture will find an abundance of texts that give that evidence.

   To me that is important, because just”unmerited favor” would be interpreted as close to no action on our part resulting.

   Just another note. I believe that Grace comes with the Holy Spirit.

   Patrick

2. Jonathan Says:
   July 2nd, 2007 at 11:04 am

   Patrick:

   I agree wholeheartedly. “Unmerited favor”, though fitting, would leave the picture of “God’s grace” incomplete were we to leave it at that.

   Do you have a copy of that study handy? I’d be interested in anything that would take the subject deeper into God’s word.

   Thank you for stopping by this morning Patrick,

   -Jonathan

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