WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF GRACE?
The following is a very feeble human attempt to answer this question that touches who God is. Being mindful that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent and that God is love, let us briefly look at God’s amazing grace.
Grace, at its core, is God’s unearned favor given to the undeserving human being—but that definition is only the doorway to the room, not the room itself.
The essence of grace is this:
God gives Himself to us before we even attempt to fix ourselves.
Grace is not primarily a thing God gives (forgiveness, power, heaven), but a relationship God initiates. It’s His decisive move toward humanity while we are still broken, resistant, or unaware.
A few layers of the onion that sharpen the picture:
- Grace precedes worth
Grace comes before repentance is polished, before obedience is consistent, before understanding is complete.
“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Grace doesn’t respond to change; it creates it.
- Grace is costly to God, free to us
It is free because it is costly—not cheap. The cross reveals that grace is not God ignoring sin, but absorbing it. Justice is not bypassed; it is fulfilled in self-giving love. - Grace restores, not merely excuses
Grace does not say, “It doesn’t matter.”
Grace says, “It matters so much that I will heal you.”
It doesn’t lower the moral bar; it lifts the sinner. - Grace empowers what it forgives
Biblically, grace is active. It teaches, trains, and transforms- “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11–12).
Forgiveness is the entrance (door); transformation is the trajectory (room). - Grace is God’s yes before our yes.
Our obedience is a response, not a prerequisite. Faith doesn’t activate grace; it receives what is already given.
Grace compressed into one sentence:
Grace is God’s self-giving love that meets us where we are, forgives us as we are, and transforms us into who we were meant to be, created in the image of God—without being earned at any point.
Let’s look at Jesus’ parables, White comments, Hebrews and Sanctuary Theology.
This is really a four-lens gospel, all converging on one center: grace as God’s initiative that restores relationship and transforms lives. Now we will dig deep into the same essence of grace through Jesus’ parables, Ellen G. White, Hebrews, and sanctuary theology—so you can see the harmony rather than tension.
- Grace in the Parables of Jesus
Grace = the Father running toward the undeserving
Jesus doesn’t define grace abstractly; He dramatizes it.
The Prodigal Son (Luke 15)
- The son rehearses repentance.
- The father interrupts it with embrace.
- Restoration comes before reform.
Grace here is preemptive. The robe, ring, and feast come before the son proves anything. Repentance is real—but it is evoked by grace, not rewarded with grace.
Grace runs faster ( father) than confession.
The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20)
- Same wage for unequal hours.
- The owner is not unjust—he is generous.
Grace shatters merit logic. God refuses to let the kingdom operate on comparison, seniority, or spiritual résumé.
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18)
- One trusts his record.
- One throws himself on mercy.
Grace is received, not achieved. The justified man is the one who stops negotiating.
Parable summary:
Grace is God acting in love before, beneath, and beyond human deserving.
- Grace in Ellen G. White
Grace = God’s initiative to save, restore, and empower obedience
Ellen White is often misunderstood as conditional—but her strongest statements are radically grace-centered.
“It is the grace of Christ alone that can make us holy.”
(Steps to Christ)
She consistently teaches:
- Obedience is the fruit, not the root.
- Effort is a response, not a contribution.
- Assurance is grounded in Christ’s work, not our performance.
A key line that harmonizes everything:
“Christ is treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves.”
(Desire of Ages)
That is substitutionary grace—full stop.
Even in her judgment language, grace comes first:
“The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf…is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross.”
Grace doesn’t end at conversion. It continues as mediation, sustaining the believer moment by moment.
White summary:
Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning. It creates obedience without it becoming a wage.
- Grace in Hebrews
Grace = a finished sacrifice with an ongoing application
Hebrews holds together what we often split apart.
Hebrews 10:14
“By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
Two realities at once:
- Perfected (objective, complete, settled) cross
- Being sanctified (ongoing, relational, experiential) atonement, seen in the sanctuary service
Grace is both decisive and dynamic.
Hebrews 4:14–16
Jesus the Great High Priest
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
We don’t approach a courtroom of fear but a throne of grace.
- Not “earn mercy”
- Not “delay access”
- But bold approach because Christ already entered
Hebrews insists that assurance is not psychological optimism—it is theological realism grounded in Christ’s priesthood.
Hebrews summary:
Grace is the confidence that flows from a finished sacrifice and ongoing atonement applied continually, not re-earned repeatedly.
- Grace in Sanctuary Theology
Grace = atonement provided once, applied continually, completed finally
This is where Adventist theology shines when rightly taught.
Courtyard (Altar of Burnt Offering, Laver)– The Cross
- Sacrifice is once for all
- Sin is fully dealt with
Grace begins outside the sinner, not inside.
Holy Place (Table of Shewbread, Altar of Incense, the Lampstand)– Daily Intercession
- Grace becomes relational and sustaining
- Christ applies the benefits of His sacrifice
This is not unfinished atonement—it is unfinished restoration.
Most Holy Place (Mercy Seat, Ark of the Covenant containing the Law-on two tablets , Pot of Manna and Arron’s Rod) – Intercession During the Day of Atonement and Judgment
- Mediation of Christ, the ongoing intercession for all, pleading His blood
- Judgment is not about discovering who failed
- It is about revealing who trusted Christ as Savior, Lord God and Mediator and became sanctified through His priestly service.
The judgment does not add merit; it vindicates grace.
When judgment is preached without grace, it produces fear.
When grace is preached without judgment, it produces cheap assurance.
Sanctuary theology—properly understood—protects both.
Sanctuary summary:
Grace saves us from sin’s penalty, from sin’s power, and finally from sin’s presence—all in Christ.
Grace is God’s initiative in Christ—revealed in Jesus’ parables, grounded in the cross, applied through His priestly ministry, and finally vindicated in judgment—by which sinners are forgiven, restored, and transformed without ever earning a thing.
