A biblical concept of God’s grace finds full expression in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth as the public manifestation of that grace. In John 1:14, 16-18 we read,
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.” (CSB)
Jesus Christ, or the Word that became flesh in Jesus of Nazareth, is described as “full of grace and truth.” Granted, the first “we” in verse 14 refers to the experience of the disciples, yet this is the revelation that underlies the faith of all who have come after them. It is through their experience of Jesus in the flesh (cf. 1 Jn. 1:1-4) that we, the second “we” of verse 16, received “grace upon grace.” John also expands upon this with a point that he doesn’t want us to miss. The word “indeed” emphasizes the fact that “we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness.” This grace comes to “all” from “his fullness.” “We have all received grace upon grace,” which is to say at least that it is not hidden, limited, or exclusive grace for some sinners and not others. In fact, the entire Gospel of John has as one of its central purposes to communicate that saving faith is universally applicable and available to every person. This would, of course, mean that if saving faith is available to all, then God’s grace is also expressed to us all. In John 20:30-31 we read,
“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (CSB)
The very fact that faith is possible for all means that in the person of Jesus, we have a public manifestation of God’s grace to us; we thereby also have a universal dissemination of abundant grace that comes from the fullness of Jesus. In his theological commentary on John’s gospel, Hermann Ridderbos writes,
“…in 1:14a as in 1:14b, “flesh” is clearly not the means by which the glory of God is concealed in the man Jesus but the means by which it is revealed before the eyes of all. The flesh is the medium of the glory and makes it visible to all people. By means of incarnation God has visibly appeared among humankind. And – we may immediately add – the entire Gospel of John is proof of it: proof of that abundant glory, a glory manifested before the eyes of all.”[12]
In context, what applies here to Jesus’ “glory” also applies to Jesus’ “grace”- and both of these characteristics are an expression of God’s characterer as gracious. In 1:8, John clearly states,
“No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.” (CSB)
Jesus reveals the grace of God. The essence of God’s grace here is “God’s favor, benevolence, and mercy.”[13] Jesus not only reveals God’s grace but also his truth. Ridderbos adds,
“The second term here, “truth,” adds to the first…the element of trustworthiness, faithfulness, and unwaveringness and characterizes God’s graciousness as a relationship in which he binds himself to his own and to which they can unconditionally entrust themselves.”[14]
So, in the fact that God cannot lie (i.e., is trustworthy, faithful, and unwavering), it is therefore true that God is gracious, benevolent, and merciful to all. Furthermore, we have the expression “grace upon grace.” It is a difficult phrase to translate, but I agree with Ridderbos in understanding this expression “accumulatively.”[15] Therefore, the phrase explicates “his fullness.” Ridderbos writes,
“This translation is all the more commendable if – as will be further discussed in the comments on verse 17 – one may relate this double expression to the revelation of God’s glory on Mt. Sinai according to Exodus 34. There “grace and truth” constitutes but one of the many designations by which Yahweh makes himself known in his glory: “Yahweh, Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin” (Ex. 34:6, 7).”[16]
Having already examined Exodus 34 in a previous section, in connection with John’s statements, we see that divine grace is characterized by God’s kindness and compassion. It exhibits itself in his favor, and being merciful and gracious to us. God’s nature is also one that is steadfast, trustworthy, and faithful. Therefore, Paul can assure us of God’s love for us in the public demonstration of Christ’s death on our behalf.
“…God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8, CSB)
And in Eph. 2:4-8 Paul writes,
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (ESV)
Grace is expressed in God’s decision to provide salvation (i.e., “God’s gift”) through Jesus Christ, who is the Word become flesh for the purpose of going to the cross to die in our place so that he may justly forgive our iniquity, transgression, and sin. This is the expression of God’s internal character of grace as expressed to us. It is grace made available to us. Given this incarnation in which God appeared among men and given his public display of love on the cross, it is made clear that both grace and salvation are intended for every person, all of whom are sinners undeserving of that salvation but in desperate need of it. This salvation is the free gift of God (Rom. 5:12-21), that is to say, we could never have done anything to merit or earn our way back into favor with God. God remedied that helplessness in sending Jesus to die in our place, the death we deserved due to our sin. He worked out a salvation by grace through faith. That is the way a person is saved: by believing in the way of salvation God established by his grace in Christ Jesus. This constitutes the gospel message. This is the “good news!”
It is important to note that in Romans 5, Paul directly links the “free gift” (ESV) of salvation to “the grace of God.” In verse 15, we read,
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man [Adam], how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” (NIV, Emphasis mine.)
Paul says that “God’s grace” is linked to “the gift” that came “by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.” God’s grace is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul continues the thought in verse 17.
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (NIV, Emphasis mine.)
Paul understands that “God’s abundant provision of grace” is found in “the one man, Jesus Christ!” And in verses 20-21, we read,
“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (NIV, Emphasis mine.)
We see that Paul teaches us that God’s grace is given through and found in the person of Jesus Christ. The Calvinists’ conception of grace is contrary to this. It is defined as a premundane divine decision to ‘grace’ certain people. God’s ‘grace’ is unknown with respect to whom it applies and why it applies to them and not others. This is not the biblical concept of grace.
It should be noted that within Paul’s Jewish context, the Jew viewed the Law as God’s gracious provision to them as what constituted them as God’s “chosen people.” They were to keep the Law, not so much as to be “saved,” but to remain in a proper covenant relationship with God. Obedience was to be their response to God’s grace in choosing Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which constituted them as his covenant or chosen people. As they were obedient to that Law as a response to this grace to them, they would remain the privileged “people of God.” They did not view the “works of the Law” so much as a means to personal salvation. God gave them the Law to establish the nation of Israel as a people to be his representative witnesses to other peoples and nations. In this sense, they were God’s chosen or elect people. It was important to be identified with the tradition of the Fathers – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc., and to keep the Law. But Paul resisted this identification with the Law as a requirement for the salvation of the Gentiles, that is, for them to be considered among “the people of God” or God’s “elect.” The Law was not intended for the salvation of the Jews, and therefore it could not be imposed for that purpose upon the Gentiles. God’s further revelation of grace in Christ made it clear to Paul that God chose Israel for the purpose of bringing the Messiah and to exemplify lives that put their faith and trust in God. That is why Paul resisted those Jews who insisted that the Gentiles, although they must believe in Jesus, must also follow the Law (e.g., be circumcised, follow the Sabbaths and holy days, etc.), to be considered among the people of God and, by virtue of that status and privilege, would be among those who will be saved. But the Law was never intended for this purpose. It was not to be a source of boasting that one was in a covenant relationship with God by keeping the Law. That was now found “in Christ,” and by faith, as it always was according to the example of Abraham. The Jews of Paul’s day linked salvation to becoming a Jew by acknowledging, accepting, and obeying the Law of Moses. This is what Paul could not accept, given that it was now revealed that salvation was by grace through faith in Christ. God’s saving purposes in Jesus, of which the Law, the covenants, and the sacrifices were a pattern, were now fulfilled. Those who put their trust in Christ as the one who came from the Father – both Jew and Gentile – would be among the chosen people of God. They are now “the elect.”
Now, of course, just because God extends his grace in Christ to all sinners does not mean that all people will be saved. The individual sinner may resist God’s grace in the gospel and remain in unbelief. But that grace remains established and therefore always present in the gospel message. We see that both divine grace and the human response of faith are involved in salvation, but they both involve a focus on the cross of Christ. From God’s point of view, the saving work is completed. Divine grace for salvation is found at the cross, and the decision of faith is made possible by the presence of the Spirit in the proclamation of that message which is “good news.” When God put forth Jesus as publicly manifested in the flesh before all sinners as the way of salvation, divine grace and salvation were genuinely made available to all. That was divine grace in action as the expression of divine love for us (Rom. 5:8). God’s grace is demonstrated in the whole design, revelation, accomplishment, and proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ. Therefore, in that grace was shown to all in the death of Jesus on the cross, salvation is obtainable by all sinners through faith in him. God’s grace, particularly his salvific grace, precisely because it is on public display in the cross of Christ, is therefore universal. God does for man with respect to his salvation what man did not deserve and could never do for himself. That God accomplished our salvation in the public, visible, verifiable event of Jesus’s death on a Roman cross is his grace to us all.[17]
The grace of God is primarily the planning, purposing, completing, and proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ for sinners helpless to remedy their problem of sin, guilt, separation, and condemnation before a righteous and holy God. God did what sinful mankind could not do. In that this salvation is designed by God to be appropriated by sinners simply by faith and not by any other means indicates that any sinner may therefore be saved. Throughout the Bible, faith is presented as something possible for anyone. And this divine means of appropriation of salvation by faith makes salvation a possibility for anyone, especially as they hear the gospel message. Faith as the way to appropriate the finished work of salvation (i.e., “the gift”, Eph. 2:8, Rom. 5:12ff.) supports the conclusion that God desires all people to be saved. Anyone can believe. In that God does desire the salvation of all persons, he has designed it based on something anyone can do to appropriate it, that is, believe. One can readily see how God is gracious, and that the focal point of divine grace is not a static divine decision regarding the salvation of an unknown elect number of persons as in Calvinism, but rather a dynamic divine attribute centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ who, by his appearing brought abundant grace to all, and the one in whom salvation is found and offered as he is proclaimed to every sinner. Billy Graham has put it this way.
“Only as we bow in contrition, confession, and repentance at the foot of the cross, can we find forgiveness. There is the grace of God!”[18]
This is what the apostle John meant when he wrote that,
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn. 1:14, 16-17, CSB)
It is also akin to John the Baptist’s declaration about Jesus when he said,
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29, CSB)
Moreover, at the Jerusalem council, Peter speaks about how both Jew and Gentile are saved and concludes that their salvation is by faith and “through the grace of the Lord Jesus.”
“And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.” (Acts 15:8-11 ESV, Emphasis mine.)
In Acts 20:24, Paul equates the gospel with “the grace of God.”
“But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.” (CSB)
The difference between the Calvinist view of grace and the biblical view of grace is not inconsequential. It is the difference between a mysterious, unknown, unalterable decision of God with respect to everyone’s eternal destiny, and the known, loving, just, gracious disposition of God towards us as sinners and his saving work accomplished “in Christ” on your behalf. “In Christ,” the salvific will of God for every sinner is made known, and eternal salvation can be obtained precisely because God has both completed the work and established its appropriation based on faith. It is God’s will that you be saved, and therefore, he has, by his grace, brought to pass everything necessary for that salvation. All that the sinner must do is respond to that grace in faith. (Jn. 1:29; 3:16-18; 20:30,31; 1 Tim. 2:3-6; 4:10). Sinners simply need to believe this “good news” to be saved.
Therefore, the biblical presentation of “grace” is God’s provision of salvation for undeserving sinners (hence, all persons) who could in no way save themselves, along with the offer of this salvation to all sinners (hence, all people) based upon the sinner’s response of faith alone. Grace is found “in Christ,” not in a decision of God to save some persons of whom no one knows who they are, not even the elect persons themselves. Since no one is privy to that decision of God as it pertains to them, Calvinist “grace” is therefore inaccessible, and as such, irrelevant, let alone unbiblical.
In contrast, the Bible indicates that the grace of God is found in Christ and is accessible to all by faith when Christ is preached. This is why warnings, challenges, and invitations are integral to the gospel proclamation. Again, Billy Graham states,
“This is still the age of grace. God’s offer of forgiveness and new life still stands. However, the door will one day be closed. Someday it will be too late. This is why the Bible continually warns and challenges: “Now is the accepted time” [2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV].”[19]
And again,
“We are living in an age of grace, in which God promises that “whosoever will” may come and receive his Son. But this period of grace will not go on indefinitely. We are even now living on borrowed time.”[20]
This introduction to the word “grace” in the Bible bears out that the grace of God is found “in Christ.” As such, it is “grace to all” through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Go to the next section: God’s Love and Grace
The Nature of Grace in Scripture
The Truth of the Gospel 