I think this is an important question for Christians to answer. I say that because much confusion and misunderstanding has arisen from short statements that include the word 'grace'. If a person cannot accurately define what God's grace is, he could end up coming to a drastically wrong conclusion, particularly on the issue of salvation (soteriology). I've given a good bit of thought to this issue lately, mainly because I've debated with some friends over "sola fide" ("by faith alone"), and I've come to realize that there is a major biblical truth that doesn't get covered in so many churches today. That biblical truth is the answer to the question of what God's grace is.
If you were to ask average Christians what the grace of God is, you would probably get answers like "forgiveness of sins" or "acceptance into heaven" or "everyday blessings". Its not that these answers are wrong exactly, but you probably would not hear the answer that is entirely right. You would probably hear nothing of regeneration (being born again), because so many Christian churches have not taught regeneration. Being born again really is everything. For anyone who may not know what it is, being born again is what happens when the Holy Spirit comes and dwells inside of a person. It literally is God Himself living inside of a human being. It is the union of God and man. It is the union of Christ and Christ's church (John 14:20).
The misunderstanding comes when people think that eternal life begins after death. Those who hold to "sola fide" usually think this: We are saved by grace through faith, and grace is a gift of God, therefore there is no deeds required to be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is eternal life, and that part they understand, but they fail to understand that eternal life does not begin after death; eternal life begins when a person is born again (born of the Spirit). The difference between believing that eternal life begins after death and believing that it begins at regeneration drastically changes the meaning of Ephesians 2:8-9. If you keep reading, you see that Paul includes good works in verse 10. The reason is because of what the grace of God is: The grace of God is the Holy Spirit poured out on a believer, and dwelling in a believer, who absolutely and necessarily produces good works through the believer. So thinking that good works are not necessary for salvation is quite wrong, and it contradicts a number of verses that make it clear that a person must do the will of God to enter heaven (Matthew 7:21 and Matthew 25, for example). If a person has received salvation, meaning that he has received the Holy Spirit, then that person will necessarily do good works. Anyone who does not do good works is not saved, and has not received the grace of God (Matthew 12:33, good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit). Anyone who does not receive the grace of God before he dies should not expect to receive the grace of God after he dies (eternal life does not begin after death). It all comes down to whether a person has been born again - born of the Spirit. The way we know if a person, ourselves or someone else, has been born again is to see the fruit. This is what Peter is talking about in 2Peter 1:5-11.
If you were to ask average Christians what the grace of God is, you would probably get answers like "forgiveness of sins" or "acceptance into heaven" or "everyday blessings". Its not that these answers are wrong exactly, but you probably would not hear the answer that is entirely right. You would probably hear nothing of regeneration (being born again), because so many Christian churches have not taught regeneration. Being born again really is everything. For anyone who may not know what it is, being born again is what happens when the Holy Spirit comes and dwells inside of a person. It literally is God Himself living inside of a human being. It is the union of God and man. It is the union of Christ and Christ's church (John 14:20).
The misunderstanding comes when people think that eternal life begins after death. Those who hold to "sola fide" usually think this: We are saved by grace through faith, and grace is a gift of God, therefore there is no deeds required to be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is eternal life, and that part they understand, but they fail to understand that eternal life does not begin after death; eternal life begins when a person is born again (born of the Spirit). The difference between believing that eternal life begins after death and believing that it begins at regeneration drastically changes the meaning of Ephesians 2:8-9. If you keep reading, you see that Paul includes good works in verse 10. The reason is because of what the grace of God is: The grace of God is the Holy Spirit poured out on a believer, and dwelling in a believer, who absolutely and necessarily produces good works through the believer. So thinking that good works are not necessary for salvation is quite wrong, and it contradicts a number of verses that make it clear that a person must do the will of God to enter heaven (Matthew 7:21 and Matthew 25, for example). If a person has received salvation, meaning that he has received the Holy Spirit, then that person will necessarily do good works. Anyone who does not do good works is not saved, and has not received the grace of God (Matthew 12:33, good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit). Anyone who does not receive the grace of God before he dies should not expect to receive the grace of God after he dies (eternal life does not begin after death). It all comes down to whether a person has been born again - born of the Spirit. The way we know if a person, ourselves or someone else, has been born again is to see the fruit. This is what Peter is talking about in 2Peter 1:5-11.
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