Part 2. The Gospel Of Grace
(Written by Jack Kelley)
The word “grace” appears 170 times
in the English translation of the Bible, 37 of them in
the Old Testament.
Of the 133 remaining, only four are contained in
the gospels and they all refer to the Lord Jesus (Luke
2:40, John 1:14, 16, 17).
The Book of Acts contains 10 appearances, and
2 others can be found in the Book of Revelation (Rev.
1:4, Rev. 22:21) where they essentially open and
close the book. That leaves 117 references to grace in
the various Epistles.
As it's used in the New Testament,
grace is clearly a word that is meant for the Church. It
comes from the Greek word charis, which is defined as
“the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy
influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps,
strengthens, increases them in Christian faith,
knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise
of the Christian virtues.”
