Are There Different Kinds of GRACE?
This verse is relevant to the question:
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
The Greek word for ‘grace’ is charis (KHAR-ees), which means “grace, favor, kindness.” There are different kinds of charis depending on the context. Peter speaks of “God’s grace in its various forms,” which shows that there’s not just one form of God’s grace/favor/kindness. For instance, there’s salvation grace, which is the grace of God’s eternal salvation through the message of Christ (John 3:16 & 3:36).
Peter’s instructions brings to mind this passage by Paul:
6We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Romans 12:6-8
Here’s a modern application: God blessed me with the gift of teaching, so I use this gift to serve others as a faithful steward of God’s grace (kindness to people) in its various forms. In this case, God’s grace manifests as the knowledge/understanding/wisdom that comes from the God-breathed Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15 & 3:16).
What are your spiritual gifts? Whatever they are, use them to faithfully spread God’s grace to the Body of Christ, as well as to those who are lost & dying in this fallen world.
We “are not our own” because we were “bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), which explains why we’re instructed to be “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1-2). Our bodies, our thoughts, our material possessions, our earnings, our gifts or talents — they’re all God’s already. This frees us up to happily “grow in the grace of giving” by serving others with whatever good things we’ve been graced to possess (2 Corinthians 8:7).
Speaking of growing in the grace of giving, this statement suggests that God’s favor and kindness gives the person the ability or desire to do something or serve in one way or another, which can be observed in this passage, also by Paul:
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
1 Corinthians 5:9-10
Paul worked harder than the other apostles he speaks of, yet humbly adds that it wasn’t him that did it, but rather the grace of God that was with him. In other words, God’s grace will give you the oomph to do whatever it is you’re called to do in any particular season. For instance, a brother told me he was called to serve at a fellowship that was well over an hour’s drive from his house. He said he faithfully served there as long as he had the grace to do so. When he no longer had that grace, it was time to move on.
Let’s close by considering this curious verse that seems to speak of more than one form of grace (from three different translations):
Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
John 1:16 (NIV)
For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
John 1:16 (ESV)
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
John 1:16 (NKJV)
John was simply saying that believers receive “blessing upon blessing” or “kindness upon kindness” from the LORD. The original NIV phrases it like so: “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.”
Related Topics:
GRACE — What Is God’s Grace? How Do You Receive It? How Do You Grow In It?
The Fivefold Ministry Gifts — Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher
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