Charis (Khar' ece) is the Greek for Grace. Defined as divine influence on the heart and it's reflection in the life including gratitude. Also benefit, favor, gift, joy, pleasure, thanks, and kindness. It's also synonymous with mercy - being able to give without the merit of worth of the receiver. The greek refers to the hebrew of /kana' grace - extension toward also meaning to God freely extending Himself (His favor, grace), reaching (inclining) to people because He is disposed to bless (be near) them.
In the OT spoke of Grace but mostly it was the Grace that we were to know, future grace. The grace being prepared for us. Our Faith is sown in God's grace - a soil we don't deserve but God provides. Just like our Faith is a gift from God but we must do something with it. It is by God's grace that we receive anything. Yet what do we do with what God provides is just as important.
Peter states where and how this grace came to be. In 1 Peter 1:10-11 he says: Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was prophecy about grace that was directed about Jesus and his bringing the grace, but also about us being the receivers of grace. The prophets were hearing God speak about us and what we were to receive (without our merit) and about Jesus being the one to provide us with the grace.
Zechariah prophesied about Jesus by God's word in Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn." Jesus is that Spirit of grace and mercy that God poured out on the world. Without Jesus arrival here we would have no grace. Also there would be not fulfillment of prophecy and scripture. We would continue to be lost in our sin and attempting redemption by our own sacrifices and penance.
Look at John 1:14, 16-17 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth........ 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus again the one bringing grace and truth. Jesus is full of grace ans so out of His fullness we receive grace upon grace. Grace because Jesus is grace and again because Jesus brings grace. With this grace comes access. Hebrews 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jesus is bringing His followers right to God's throne of grace and mercy. Tearing down the barrier that separated us from God. Giving us as Jesus's brothers and sisters an inheritance that is imperishable and access to the Father's throne room where we will find grace and mercy always.
So humility, being humble is a part of understanding grace and we need to be humble. We are not to be proud as James 4:5-6 states. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” We have access by being humble. So be humble because God is jealously want us for His own. He doesn't want to share us with others. Also Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Humility makes us able to receive the grace of God better. Which is the fulfillment of the Spirit of God that indwells in us all.
God's grace is our gift and we need to treat it as such. Be humble in regards to it since we did not earn it and can't work for it. We can grow our Faith and strengthen that muscle, but we need to remember that grace is God's unmerited gift to us. So treat that gift very carefully and stay tuned to what being Holy is all about in the next post. It will help you understand somethings better. Also who you are in regards to God and His wonderful gifts to us as Born Again, Christians, Followers of Jesus.
References: 1 Peter 1:10-11, Zechariah 12:10, John 1:14,16,17, Hebrews 4:14-16, James 4:5-6, Romans 12:3
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