For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. – Ephesians 2:8 NKJV

Human beings need to learn that the blessings of obedience, in their fullness, can be theirs only as they recieve the grace of Christ. It is His grace that gives men and women power to obey the laws of God. It is this that enables them to break the bondage of evil habit. This is the only power that can make them and keep them steadfast in the right path… – To Be Like Jesus p.48 by Ellen G. White

Grace – A Personal Study

In this word study of grace as it is found in the Holy Bible (King James Version) I am attempting to gain a personal understanding of the Grace of God. Not all instances of the word in the Bible do in fact refer to the Grace of God, but may have a less than divine use. However, since the Bible is a complete work to be studied as one body, I decided that I must first understand how the Bible treats grace in its own pages before I can truly understand how God is communicating the concept to mankind. To study only the single word ‘grace’ will not provide that complete picture, but it is a place to begin. I plan to expand this study beyond just the word to also include the concept of grace as I am able to discern it in scripture, but that is not what this post is about. This post, at least for now, will only cover each individual instance of the word grace as it is found in the King James Version of the Bible.

DISCLAIMER: This is not intended to be a doctrinally sound exegeses on grace. I have no theological training, nor am I claiming to have found any new insights (positive or negative) on the subject of grace in the Bible. All that can be claimed of this study is one man’s attempt to understand the Grace of God. As I journey through the subject in scripture I am simply writing down my personal thoughts. I will be updating and changing the post as I study and learn more. I hope this can be a blessing to anyone else who wants to understand the Grace of God.

Study materials:

Grace in Strongs Concordance

Definitions of Grace in Hebrew (H) and Greek (G):

2580 (H) – favor, gracious, pleasant, precious, well-favored

2603 (H) – to be gracious, show favour, pity; 2603 – to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior

8467 (H) – favour, grace, supplication

2143 (G) – good suitableness, i.e. Gracefulness

5485 (G) – especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude

Every verse in which ‘grace’ appears in the King James Version of the Bible

Click a link to view the part of the post about that verse.

Genesis

Gen 6:8 | Gen 19:19 | Gen 32:5 | Gen 33:8 | Gen 33: 10 | Gen 33:15 | Gen 34:11 | Gen 39:4 | Gen 47:25 | Gen 47:29 | Gen 50:4

Exodus

Ex 33:12 | Ex 33:13 | Ex 33:16 | Ex 33:17 | Ex 34:9

Numbers

Num 32:5

Judges

Judg 6:17

Ruth

Ruth 2:2 | Ruth 2:10

1 Samuel and 2 Samuel

1 Sam 1:18 | 1 Sam 20:3 | 1 Sam 27:5 | 2 Sam 14:22 | 2 Sam 16:4

Ezra

Ezr 9:8

Esther

Est 2:17

Psalms

Ps 45:2 | Ps 84:11

Proverbs

Prov 1:9 | Prov 3:22 | Prov 3:34 | Prov 4:9 | Prov 22:11

Jeremiah

Jer 31:2

Zechariah

Zec 4:7 | Zec 12:10

Luke

Luke 2:40

John

John 1:14 | John 1:16 | John 1:17

Acts

Acts 4:33 | Acts 11:23 | Acts 13:43 | Acts 14:3 | Acts 14:26 | Acts 15:11 | Acts 15:40 | Acts 18:27 | Acts 20:24 | Acts 20:32

Romans

Rom 1:5 | Rom 1:7 | Rom 3:24 | Rom 4:4 | Rom 4:16 | Rom 5:2 | Rom 5:15 | Rom 5:17 | Rom 5:20 | Rom 5:21 | Rom 6:1 | Rom 6:14 | Rom 6:15 | Rom 11:5 | Rom 11:6 x 3 | Rom 12:3 | Rom 12:6 | Rom 15:15 | Rom 16:20 | Rom 16:24

1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians

1 Cor 1:3 | 1 Cor 1:4 | 1 Cor 3:10 | 1 Cor 10:30 | 1 Cor 15:10 x 3 | 1 Cor 16:23 | 2 Cor 1:2 | 2 Cor 1:12 | 2 Cor 4:15 | 2 Cor 6:1 | 2 Cor 8:1 | 2 Cor 8:6 | 2 Cor 8:7 | 2 Cor 8:9 | 2 Cor 8:19 | 2 Cor 9:8 | 2 Cor 9:14 | 2 Cor 12:9 | 2 Cor 13:4

Galatians

Gal 1:3 | Gal 1:6 | Gal 1:15 | Gal 2:9 | Gal 2:21 | Gal 5:4 | Gal 6:18

Ephesians

Eph 1:2 | Eph 1:6 | Eph 1:7 | Eph 2:5 | Eph 2:7 | Eph 2:8 | Eph 3:2 | Eph 3:7 | Eph 3:8 | Eph 4:7 | Eph 4:29 | Eph 6:24

Philippians

Phil 1:2 | Phil 1:7

Colossians

Col 1:2 | Col 1:6 | Col 3:16 | Col 4:6 | Col 4:18

1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians

1 Thes 1:1 | 1 Thes 5:28 | 2 Thes 1:2 | 2 Thes 1:12 | 2 Thes 2:16 | 2 Thes 3:18

1 Timothy, 2 Timothy

1 Tim 1:2 | 1 Tim 1:14 | 1 Tim 6:21 | 2 Tim 1:2 | 2 Tim 1:9 | 2 Tim 2:1 | 2 Tim 4:22

Titus

Titus 1:4 | Titus 2:11 | Titus 3:7 | Titus 3:15

Philemon

Philem 3 | Philem 25

Hebrews

Heb 2:9 | Heb 4:16 x 2 | Heb 10:29 | Heb 12:15 | Heb 12:28 | Heb 13:9 | Heb 13:25

James

James 1:11 | James 4:6 x 2

1 Peter, 2 Peter

1 Pet 1:2 | 1 Pet 1:10 | 1 Pet 1:13 | 1 Pet 3:7 | 1 Pet 4:10 | 1 Pet 5:5 | 1 Pet 5:10 | 1 Pet 5:12 | 2 Pet 1:2 | 2 Pet 3:18

2 John

2 John 3

Jude

Jude 4

Revelation

Rev 1:4 | Rev 1:22

Grace in Genesis 6:8

Genesis 6:8 [2580] – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (NKJV)

Noah finding grace in the eyes of the Lord is in opposition to verse 5 which states that “…man…was only evil continually.” And in verse 7 God says “…I will destroy man…” In verse 9 “Noah…was perfect,” and he “walked with God.” In verse 11 we see that the “Earth…[was] corrupt,” and “filled with violence.” Verse 12 adds that “all flesh had corrupted their way.” Strong’s Dictionary defines corrupt [7843] as “decay, ruin.” These definitions set a striking difference between the character of Noah and the rest of the entire world. It is very clear that God wants it to be known that there was a very strong reason for the destruction of the world. Thus re-population could only be entrusted to one man, and that was the “perfect” man, Noah. Clearly he was not utterly perfect (meaning sinless) because the Bible says only Christ was sinless. [2 Cor 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5] Further evidence says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (NKJV) The earth and its inhabitants had decayed and ruined their own moral character. Gods “very good” [Gen 1:31] creation had been defiled by a lack of God and rejection of His ways.

The verse (Gen 6:8) says that it was Noah who found the grace. This is an active voice, rather than passive. To find something in the eyes of another suggests familiarity and intimacy (notice this recurring theme as the study moves forward). Noah found what we all need by looking continually to God. The source of Noah’s needed grace was “found in the eyes of the Lord.” Noah did not self-sustain a pure life among the corrupt. He dipped from the wellspring of the Perfect designer in order to walk with and like Him. Noah as judged as worth to continue human existence because God knew that he would seek His ways rather than rely on erring, sinful human plans.

“God looks down upon those with an eye of favor, who sincerely look up to Him with an eye of faith.” I will tentatively say that this was and is a relationship of reciprocity. The common conception of Gods grace as being a like a rain shower is lacking. We cannot earn or buy Gods grace, but we certainly can enjoy the relationship that is necessary to even understand how to obtain the greatest Gift ever conceived – the sinless life of Jesus Christ in exchange for our defiled lives. But God does not benefit in the same way we do. He gets to save His children, while we only need to be willing, and cooperative, to be saved.