What’s so amazing about grace? Philip Yancey wrote a book by that title. It was a great book, and I gladly recommend it, even twenty-seven years after it’s initial release.

Churches have been singing “Amazing Grace” for 250 years. A sign hangs in my kitchen with the opening lines of that favorite hymn. I bet even atheists can recite some of the lyrics.

Throughout my teen and college years, church leaders would often tell us grace is the one thing that truly sets Christianity apart from all other religions. I believe that’s true. Most religions focus on behavior modification, rituals, enlightenment, good works out-weighing the bad… They have checklists that must be completed to prove devotion and reach the next level, whatever that might be.

When you look at Christians, at least large portions of it (now and throughout history), you might think we’re the same. We have traditions and rituals. We have our lists of do and do-nots. We celebrate good works and have our own ways of defining who’s in and who’s out.

The difference isn’t about whether or not we value good works.
The difference is whether or not we have a concept of GRACE.

In most religions, grace is completely absent.
But to Christianity, grace is vital.
That makes it pretty amazing!

So what is it?

I recently posed this question to my small group Bible study. They just stared at me. A silent fear seeped into the room. “It’s not a trick question!” I assured them. Still, no one spoke. A few broke eye contact.

For 20 years I’ve been teaching the Bible and, aside from elementary-age kids who have memorized catechism and had simple answers drilled into them, I get this deer-in-headlights response every time I ask that question.

What is grace?

Sometimes we grow so familiar with terms and concepts that we lose sight of what they actually mean. We talk about them; we sing about them. We have them in our daily lectionary and conversations, yet we can’t explain what they actually mean.

If grace is foundational to our faith, if it is the one things that clearly separates Christianity from all other religions, we need to be able to define it.

We can describe grace a million different ways, but I like this super-simple definition given to me in college, coupled with a definition of mercy. They’re kind of front and back of the same coin.

GRACE: getting what you don’t deserve

MERCY: not getting what you do deserve

Dictionaries, catechisms, and theology books will go on about “unmerited favor” or “free and undeserved help.” They’ll talk about God as the source of grace and his adopted children as the recipients. This is all true! But it’s also complicated. Complicated definitions often cause eyes to glaze over and people to lose interest, even if the definition is true. Grace is far too important for us to lose interest! So let’s put those multi-syllabic, procedural terms in our back pocket for a second and just talk straight.

Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. That’s GOOD! It means God will give salvation to those who don’t deserve it. He will give blessings to those who don’t deserve it. He will fill our lives with wonder and delight without us doing a thing to earn it. Grace is an act of a truly generous, compassionate, and loving God.

Mercy is not getting what you do deserve. That’s GOOD too! It means that God will withhold due punishment. Not every punishment, of course. God is just, but he is also merciful to the humble. When we repent, he forgives. Mercy means all our mistakes and regrets don’t have to define us. We can be free from the weight of sin. Again, this is because God is good and kind and loving and compassionate.

All of that is amazing!

The Bible teaches us about a God who will rescue sinners who are incapable of digging themselves out of the holes they themselves created. That rescue is grace. Not holding their sins against them is mercy. The new life that follows is both grace and mercy.

We live in a world that prizes hard work and success. Our society defines people by their contributions and what they produce. What a relief that we serve a God who sees value in us even if our efforts fall short! And our efforts do and will inevitably fall short.

The Bible says:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

–Romans 3:23 (NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

–Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age,  while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave himself for usto redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.

–Titus 2:11–14 (CSB)

Back to those good works… YES, we want to do good works, but those actions are not the source of our salvation. They are not our way to “get right” with God. We are reconciled to God by GRACE through faith in Jesus Christ.

The good works come as response to that good grace. They are the natural overflow. A God who shows grace, compassion, and love freely has children who show grace, compassion, and love, too.

If we’re not showing those things, if we’re not living in the reality of those things, we may need to re-evaluate who God is, what Jesus taught, and what we really believe.