Christian Living

Is Grace Really Gods Unmerited Favor?

by J.W. Phillips
01/15/25
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Most preachers define grace as God’s unmerited favor. You’ve heard that said, right? It seems that whenever a preacher says the word “grace,” these words immediately follow, either as apposition or exposition.

But this definition, commonly accepted as a truism, is misleading to say the least; and at worst, it is a definition Satan heartily endorses.

Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar and intellectual foe of Luther, warned that all definitions are dangerous. What we omit rather than include, minimize rather than emphasize, place in the center rather than in the margins can distort the definition and thus lead astray.

Given the fact that Satan is a deceiver, we should be especially wary of how subtle his sinister operation may be at work in our theology.

To address one part of this story, it is indeed true that unmerited grace applies to non-Christians, at least in the beginning. But to address another part of the story, it is not at all true that unmerited grace applies to Christians.

When one looks up the word “merit” in a dictionary, words such as worthy, valuable and significant will appear, as does the idea of deserving. To be without merit, then, means the opposite: to be unworthy and therefore undeserving.

However, this isn’t the biblical perspective of a believer! The Bible says a believer is a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17) created in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). So if that’s true, how can a believer be unworthy?

In Romans 5:17, God connects two concepts— “the gift of righteousness” and an “abundance of grace” in a very interesting way. Here we learn that the relationship between the two is causal and reciprocal. Meaning that if this righteousness is ours (which indeed it is; it is an accomplished fact), then this grace in all of its dimensions is also ours.

The point being: Our righteousness merits a right standing before God. This critical and indispensable credential is foundational to receiving from God.

The first reason grace is merited for the believer is because of the imputed righteousness of God which vacates both the presence and the penalty for what was unworthy.

And the second reason it is merited is because of the imparted righteousness of God, which transforms our inner being, our spirit, to a life just like the life of Jesus, thus replacing what was unworthy (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:4).

Still another reason grace is merited for the believer is due to what God established legally when he made promises to the believer. These promises include every type of grace: financial grace, character grace, relationship grace, grace for ministry, grace for healing, etc.

By making these promises (there are more than seven thousand of them), God obligated himself to give what he promised. So if God says these promises belong to you, then on the basis of his unequaled authority, they do belong to you. You deserve them! You merit them!

Further strengthening our merit is the fact these promises were offered in a blood covenant, which represents the highest jurisprudence in the universe. It functions like a contract. It is decisive! It legally determines what is due, what is merited.

To illustrate this point, let’s take the case of a rich uncle who gives his niece fifty thousand dollars. One day he wrote her a check for that amount, and on another day she took it to the bank to deposit it.

But, surprisingly, when making this deposit, the bank teller told her, “I can’t let this go through. I know your uncle and I know you. Frankly, you don’t deserve that money. You never worked a single day for your uncle.”

Question: Would the bank back up its employee and disallow the deposit? No, if anything, that employee would be fired on the spot.

To challenge this deposit is absurd, because when this dear uncle wrote and signed that check, it became a legal document.

Well, God also signed his name to the promises he made to us! The forensic testimony here is indisputable. The highest court in the universe would validate it. Similarly, every court in the nation would recognize the rightful claim the niece has. No court would deny it. This little lady merits the money her uncle gave her!

Did you realize that God meant for his blood covenant to engender confidence, to provide a big boost to our faith?

We will need this boost if we’re going to come boldly before his throne to obtain and find grace in a time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

However, this teaching on unmerited grace runs exactly counter to what the covenant was designed to produce. To say that grace is unmerited, drastically deflates the confidence we need, and that God intended.

Think about it. How bold is a beggar going to be? And how bold is a believer going to be after frequent reminders from the pulpit that the grace he or she is seeking is unmerited?

If parents kept telling their child— “I’ll give you what you want, but you don’t deserve it”—pretty soon, the child will quit asking. Give that message often enough, and things won’t turn out well for this child. And maybe not for the parents either, if someone from Child and Family Services shows up on their doorstep.

For sure, this isn’t a message dear old uncle would ever give to his niece; nor is it a message that God would give us.

If we think grace is unmerited, that will put stringent limits on our asking. The message of Jesus, however, was in the opposite direction. He kept encouraging us to ask (Matthew 7:7; John 14:13, 16:23, etc.). In fact, Scripture attributes one cause for our lack to the failure to ask (James 4:2).

Can you now see why Satan is happy with this idea of grace being God's unmerited favor? It lines up perfectly with his known operations as a thief, liar, and killer.

The people of God get less (the stealing part) all because they thought grace was unmerited (the lying part), and thus destroys a vital essential of Christian living (the killing part).

No believer should be told that God’s grace is unmerited. To constantly demean the believer’s worth, and do so in both sermon and song, strategically hinders the believer’s prayers.

Remember: Unmerited grace is grace we have no right to claim. And the grace we have no right to claim is the grace we won’t with boldness obtain.

This issue is hardly the quibbling of fussy academia—our freedom is under attack! Yes, truth will set us free. But a truism like this, which isn’t true, will put us in bondage.