Unmerited Favor

Rom 3:23-24 " for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  It is our nature to want a list of simple rules that will earn us a place with God.  It is His nature to know that redemption cannot be achieved by our actions; only from an act of love that comes from Him

Since Adam there has not been one human being, no matter how good, who has not sinned. All religions talk about different roads that lead up the mountain.  The problem with that is that you can get all the way up the mountain and still find yourself short of communion with God because He resides in heaven. Since only the perfect can get into heaven and none of us are perfect, there is gap that cannot be bridged by our actions, no matter how good and numerous they might be.

John 1:12-13 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

A good friend of mine, Cindy Perkins, uses this verse when talking to former Catholics who because they were baptized (sprinkled) as infants don't see the need to be baptized (immersed)as adults.  The point being, of course, that it is through faith in Christ that we come into right relationship with the Father.  It is a conscious decision to accept the redeeming work of Christ on the Cross who took our sin upon Himself as a perfect sacrifice for that sin.  It is a choice we make with our conscious mind to turn away from our sin, die to ourselves (the old nature) and be raised up with Him unto a new life (be born again).  Baptism then, is the outward expression of that inward change.  An infant cannot make a conscious choice.  We can't earn it by following certain church rituals, we can't inherit it by being born into a religious family and we can't marry into it. 

Rom 3:25-26 "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."

We can go through all sorts of rituals and perform our religious duties and it is all meaningless; it gains us nothing.  The author of Ecclesiastes spends an entire book listing for us a catalogue of activities that while good, are in and of themselves meaningless (vanity in the KJV).  We cannot earn our salvation.

Rom 3:27 "Where, then, is boasting?"

If there was a way for us to earn His favor then we could boast that we had accomplished something.  But when it is completely an unmerited favor then there can be no boasting, just an ever so humble gratitude for His gift of salvation.

Rom 11:6 :And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.   "

The root word for grace in the Greek is "charis" which also happens to be the root word for charity.

Webster's give us these definitions:

1 : goodwill toward or love of humanity

2 : an act or feeling of generosity

3 : the giving of aid to the poor;  also   : ALMS

4 : an institution engaged in relief of the poor

5 : leniency in judging others

Synonyms   mercy, clemency, lenity

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,  "Grace" in this sense is an attitude on God's part that proceeds entirely from within Himself, and that is conditioned in no way by anything in the objects of His favor."

(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)

Grace then, is freely bestowed as an act of charity, mercy, unmerited favor and love which does not result from the merit of the one receiving it and which, when accepted, applies the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to the one receiving it.

Grace is the reflection of God's love and justice. Two sides of the same coin.