The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

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Return to New Testament Phrases

I. Explanation of Key Uses

II. Listing of New Testament Uses

I. Explanation of Key Uses

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:16 And of his fulness (of grace and truth) have all we received, and grace for (upon) grace.

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is always set in contrast to the law of Moses. The man of God who received the law from God for His people was Moses. Ezra 7:6:

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

shows that the law was given by Jehovah God. However, it is called the law of Moses because it came by way of Moses in accordance with Moses' believing. Likewise, according to 1 Corinthians 1:4:

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

The grace of God, the fullness of God's divine unmerited favor, the expression of who God really is, came by Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is set in contrast to Moses because he received the grace of God from God for God's people. According to Hebrews 9:19-20, the law, that came by Moses, represented the old covenant signed in the blood of calves and goats:

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

However, according to Hebrews 13:20-21, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the New and Everlasting Covenant, signed in his own blood:

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that belongs to and is related to him, is the grace of God, the grace that comes from God. Notice how similar the uses of these two phrases are in Titus 2:11 for the grace of God:

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

and in Acts 15:11 for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ:

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Our salvation is by the grace of God that came by way of our Lord Jesus Christ. The same thing is named in more than one way. This also occurs with God's gift to us of the holy spirit. Sometimes it is called the spirit of God (Rom. 8:9, Eph. 4:30), while in other places God's spirit is called the spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9, 1 Peter 1:11). Each title emphasizes a characteristic of the gift that is especially important in the context of God's revelation to us. God names His grace the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to specifically contrast His grace to the debt man owed under the Old Testament law. This is especially evident in the following verses:

Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Notice this use of grace in 2 Corinthians 8:9:

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ also means all he gave for us. No one could ever give more, for he lay down his life so we could become the heirs of eternal life. Notice, too, from II Corinthians 8:7-9, that our Lord’s giving is set as an example for us:

Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

We are to abound in giving and receiving. The saints at Corinth are not being asked to give their physical lives, but to give of themselves to bless the believers. We too can give our all. In this sense, we too can give as he gave. This is a second usage of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This verse is not talking about the new and everlasting covenant that came by way of our lord and savior. This verse is talking about the quality of our Lord's choices and action in giving up his life for us.

Now let's go back to John 1:14-17:

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth [true grace].

"Grace and truth" in John 1:17 is the figure of speech hendiadys, two nouns for one thing. It translates into English as "true grace." We know this is a figure of speech because we cannot accept this as the literal truth without generating a biblical contradiction. Because God's Word is truth, and because God's Word was given before our Lord came, truth itself could not have come with our Lord. True giving, giving that came from the love that God has for us, giving that asks nothing in return, this is the lifestyle of our Lord Jesus Christ. In every aspect of his ministry he made known God by the Bible and he gave as his Heavenly Father gives. This true giving was shown first to mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ as he made known His Father.

John 1:16 gets very deep:

And of his fulness [of grace and truth] have all we received, and grace for (upon) grace.

Those wonderful saints that accompanied our Lord certainly received from the things he gave, but John 1:16 says, "of his fullness we have all received." Our lord's true grace, true giving, of which we have all received was his offering his life on cavalry for us in obedience to His heavenly Father. No greater act of giving has ever been nor can ever be. Because of Jesus Christ's true giving, we all have received grace upon grace. We have eternal life, remission of sins past, and forgiveness of all sins. We have received life and we now have this new life more abundantly. We have all received grace upon grace. Our salvation through Christ is grace upon grace.

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

John 1:17 unites both usages of the phrase the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. True grace, the grace of God, and true giving, the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior for God's people, are both designated in every use of the phrases, "the grace of our Lord" or "the grace of Christ" or "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."

As God’s act of giving is emphasized in the title, “the gospel of the grace of God,” our Lord’s great pouring out of his soul for us is emphasized in the title, “the grace of Christ” as it is applied to the gospel in Galatians. As noted above, God’s great act of giving tells all creation of His true character, for God is love. Our Lord’s great act of love in giving himself for us in obedience to God’s will sets the example for the new lives of loving obedience we are called to live. That’s the purpose of God’s use of these two titles for the grace we have received in the church age. The first is in His divine wisdom to teach His quality of love that is made known to the world; the second is to lead us into the walk of love we’ve been called to.

God’s use of the title, by ellipsis, of (the gospel of) the grace of Christ in Galatians is so wonderful because our Lord’s act of love is so contrary to the hardness of the Old Testament law to which the Galatians had fallen in bondage. The law was all about the payment of debt, the grace of Christ is all about giving from a heart of love and obedience to God.

Returning to Acts 15:11 once again, notice the context that begins in Acts 15:5:

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

Peter is speaking this by revelation to a body of elders who were trying to decide whether or not to teach the law of Moses to the believing Gentiles. How perfect is His matchless testament that our Father has given of His Son! Even the epithets are used with an absolute precision. Don’t try to tell any serious student of the Bible that His word contains errors! Those folks will have to go and try to fool someone else I reckon!

All of this is also important because although the phrase “the grace of our Lord Jesus” appears only once in the book of Acts, the phrase “the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you" closes virtually every one of the church epistles. Why? Well, the use in II Corinthians 13:13 just sets it out:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen

When God uses the epithet for grace, “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the focus is on our walk, our fellowship. We have God in Christ in us spiritually forever. This phrase speaks to our standing not our state. Each of the elements set forth in the closing of II Corinthians refers to our walk. I love this closing all the more because of the Greek word meta. The preposition meta is "to set in the center of," in the midst. God wants the grace of our Lord Jesus, his quality of life, His own love, in the midst of us all, at the center of our lives together and at the center, or heart of, our individual lives. As we get word conditioned, as we see things the way our heavenly Father sees them, then the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by His holy spirit will be more and more in evidence in our lives. As we walk in the love God has for us we will be more and more conformed to His Son. We cannot work on our flesh to be as good as His Son was! This is not the emphasis that is made in talking of the grace of Jesus Christ. However, we can walk in His love and be changed moment by moment. As this is so, we will also have full sharing, fellowship, with the Holy Spirit, God.

II. Listing of New Testament Uses— 16 uses

I. Explanation of Key Uses

II. Listing of New Testament Uses

Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Romans 16:24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

1 Corinthians 16:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Galatians 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. {To the Galatians written from Rome.}

Philippians 4:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. {To the Philippians written from Rome, by Epaphroditus.}

2 Thessalonians 1:12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. {The first epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens.}

2 Thessalonians 3:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. {The second epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens.}

1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

Philemon 1:25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. {Written from Rome to Philemon, by Onesimus a servant.}

Revelation 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.