"Grace for Grace, χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος" immediately follows Johns declaration that "Of His fullness we have all received" (John 1:16). It was Jesus who was full of grace and truth, John 1:17, and it is of His fullness we who have believed have fully received His grace. The Greek word χαριν, charin in English, has been defined in two ways according to Liddel:
1. On the part of the Doer, grace, graciousness, kindness, goodwill, τινός for or towards one [another]
2. on the part of the Receiver, the sense of favor received, thankfulness, thanks, gratitude
Grace for grace. He gives fully of His grace to those who in turn show grace to others. Paul speaks of the Lord's grace bestowed to us in the following way: "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift" (Ephesians 4:7 ). And in 1 Corinthians 15:10, he speaks of the measure of grace given to him as the laboring power working to bring the gospel to the world, "but I labored more abundantly ..., yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
Understanding the Promises Given by Grace
Grace is a well-spring of the Christian life. It is the source of hope that gives the believer endurance through the trials of life. Grace keeps us going when we fail and it gives us strength to persevere. It is of the highest degree of importance that believers come to a full understanding of the grace of God bestowed by Christ on our behalf; for it is His grace that constantly upholds us in every area of life.
Hebrews 13:9b -For it is good that the heart be established by grace
Please take to heart the following selected promises that will give you hope for daily living and for carrying out the call that God has placed on your life.
It is God's will for us to come to Him
Revelation 3:20-21 - Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (21) To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Matthew 11:28-30 - Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (30) For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
John 1:12-13 - But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (13) who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
He is the One who put salvation in our hearts - We are not our own work
John 6:29 - Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent [Jesus]."
Acts 16:14 - Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 - But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, (14) to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 - Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:13 - For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Titus 3:4-7 - But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, (5) not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, (6) whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
James 1:18 - Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
He continually intercedes (prays) for us!
Hebrews 7:24-25 - But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. (25) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (see also John 17:20-23)
Romans 8:34 - Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus
1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (2) And He Himself is the propitiation (appeasement) for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Sin cannot destroy the believer
1 Corinthians 5:7 - Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
John 1:29 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Romans 6:14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 5:20-21 - Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, (21) so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 8:1-2 - There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Isaiah 54:17 - No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.
Galatians 3:13 - Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"),
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For He [God the Father] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
All the power of heaven is with us and on our side
Ephesians 3:20-21 - Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, (21) to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 6:10 - Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Romans 8:11 - But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Ephesians 1:19 - and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
God does not remove the Holy Spirit from us - we are sealed
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 - Now He who establishes (legally validates) us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, (22) who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Ephesians 1:13-14 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 4:30 - And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
John 14:16-17 - And I [Jesus] will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [comforter], that He may abide with you forever— (17) the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
John 4:14 - But whoever drinks of the water that I [Jesus] shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (water - metaphor for the Spirit of God)
John 7:37-39 - On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (38) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (39) But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (Happened on the Day of Pentecost - Acts 2:1, 4-6 )
All Christians are accepted before the Lord
Ephesians 1:6 - To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
1 Peter 1:3-5 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, (5) who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We are already seated with Christ in the Heavenly places
Ephesians 2:4-7 - But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (7) that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
This is just a sampling of the wonderful passages that provide hope from the Bible. It is my sincere desire that in reading these verses you will be better equipped to know and understand that being established in God's grace is the best prescription for enduring the Christian race. God's love is so deep that there is nothing that can separate us from Him!
Romans 8:38-39 - For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God Bless
1 - Liddell, H. G. (1996). A lexicon: Abridged from Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English lexicon (p. 882). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
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