19 Bible Verses About God’s Grace

Exodus 34:6

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Reflection: The words are the Lord’s own, spoken on Sinai when Moses returned with new tablets to replace the ones he broke (34:1). Moses had asked, “Please show me your glory,” and God promised to proclaim his name and said, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious” (33:18-19). The next verse keeps both sides: God forgives “iniquity and transgression and sin” yet “will by no means clear the guilty.” Moses responds by asking the Lord to go with a “stiff-necked people” and pardon them (34:9).

Psalm 103:8-10

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”

Reflection: David repeats the words of Exodus 34:6, and the verse before makes the link: “He made known his ways to Moses.” The psalm then spells out what gracious means in practice. God does not repay sins as they deserve, and he removes transgressions “as far as the east is from the west” (103:12). Verses 13-14 compare his compassion to a father’s and give the reason for it: “he remembers that we are dust.”

John 1:14

“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.”

Reflection: John’s prologue says the Word “became flesh and dwelt among us,” and describes his glory as “full of grace and truth.” Three verses later John sets two gifts side by side: “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (1:17). Verse 18 adds that the Son has made the unseen God known.

John 1:16

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

Reflection: The grace here comes from Christ’s “fullness,” the same person called “full of grace and truth” two verses earlier. “Grace upon grace” describes one gift received on top of another by everyone who has received from him. Verse 17 names where it came from: “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

2 Timothy 1:9

“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

Reflection: Paul writes as the Lord’s “prisoner” (1:8) and asks Timothy to share in suffering for the gospel “by the power of God.” He credits salvation and calling to God’s “own purpose and grace” and sets works aside by name. That grace was given “before the ages began” and has now been made visible “through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death” (1:10).

Ephesians 2:8-9

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Reflection: Paul has described his readers as “dead in the trespasses and sins” (2:1), and says God made them alive “even when we were dead.” Verses 8-9 state the principle: salvation comes by grace, is received through faith, and is “the gift of God,” which leaves no room for boasting. Verse 10 gives works their place afterward: “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”

Romans 3:23-24

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Reflection: The sentence begins in verse 22 with “there is no distinction”: everyone has sinned, and those who are justified are justified “by his grace as a gift.” Verse 25 says how. God put Christ forward “as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith,” so that he might be “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (3:26).

Romans 11:6

“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”

Reflection: Paul is answering the question whether God has rejected Israel. He recalls Elijah, who thought he alone was left, and God’s reply that he had kept seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal (11:2-4). “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (11:5). Verse 6 then draws the line between grace and works: a choice made on the basis of works would not be grace.

Galatians 2:20-21

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

Reflection: The verses follow Paul’s account of opposing Cephas at Antioch, after Cephas stopped eating with Gentiles once “certain men came from James” (2:11-14). Paul describes the life he now lives “by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Verse 21 names what is at stake: if righteousness came through the law, the grace of God would be set aside and “Christ died for no purpose.”

Romans 5:1-2

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Reflection: Being justified by faith brings “peace with God,” and through Christ believers have access to “this grace in which we stand.” A few verses on, Paul says how God showed his love: “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8). Between the two, he says believers also rejoice in sufferings, since suffering produces endurance, character and hope (5:3-4).

Romans 5:20

“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

Reflection: Paul has set Adam and Christ against each other: one man’s trespass led to condemnation, and “one act of righteousness leads to justification and life” (5:18). The law made the trespass greater, and grace abounded beyond it. Verse 21 gives the purpose: “that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life.”

Romans 6:14

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

Reflection: Paul’s next question shows how the verse could be misread: “Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” (6:15). The verses before it are commands: sin is not to reign in the body, and believers are to present themselves to God “as instruments for righteousness” (6:12-13). Verse 14 promises that sin “will have no dominion” over those under grace.

Titus 2:11

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”

Reflection: Paul has told Titus how older men, older women, younger men and bondservants should live (2:1-10), and this verse gives the ground for all of it. The sentence runs on into verse 12: grace has appeared, “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” Verse 14 says Christ gave himself to purify “a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Reflection: Paul had pleaded with the Lord three times to take away his “thorn in the flesh” (12:7-8), and this was the answer. The reply speaks of grace and of power “made perfect in weakness,” and Paul responds by boasting of his weaknesses. His conclusion is in verse 10: “when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Hebrews 4:16

“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.”

Reflection: The invitation rests on the high priest of verse 14, Jesus, who “has passed through the heavens.” Verse 15 says he is able “to sympathize with our weaknesses,” having been “tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Those who come to the throne of grace receive mercy and “grace to help in time of need.”

James 4:6

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

Reflection: James is writing to people who quarrel and fight among themselves, and he has just called friendship with the world “enmity with God” (4:1-4). “But he gives more grace” follows that charge, and the line quoted after it, also quoted in 1 Peter 5:5, says who receives grace: the humble. Verses 7-10 turn it into commands, ending with “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

1 Peter 5:10

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Reflection: Near the end of his letter, Peter calls God “the God of all grace.” The suffering lasts “a little while,” and the verbs that follow are all in the future: God himself will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish. Verse 9 tells the readers that “the same kinds of suffering” are being experienced by believers “throughout the world.”

1 Peter 4:10

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

Reflection: Peter writes that “the end of all things is at hand” (4:7) and lists what to do in the meantime: pray, keep loving one another, and show hospitality. Each believer’s gift is a share of “God’s varied grace,” to be managed as a steward manages what belongs to someone else. Verse 11 names two kinds of gift: speaking “as one who speaks oracles of God” and serving “by the strength that God supplies.”

2 Corinthians 9:8

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Reflection: The setting is a collection of money for “the needs of the saints” (9:12). Paul has just said “God loves a cheerful giver” (9:7), and the grace promised here is enough “in all things at all times” to “abound in every good work.” Verse 14 describes the people who receive the gift praying for the Corinthians “because of the surpassing grace of God upon you” (9:14).