What Does It Mean to Praise the Glory of God's Grace?

to the praise

of the glory of His grace,

which He freely bestowed on us

in the Beloved.

A question

A follower of Jesus quietly drank coffee at an outdoor table when confronted by a somewhat hostile acquaintance passing by. Without warning, the challenge was:  

“What has your God done for you!?”

How would you respond?

Let’s reflect on a few biblical concepts before you find out how the person replied.

An understanding

Praise, glory, and grace are three words that Christians often use, but they might not know what they mean. If asked, could you explain them in simple and understandable terms? 

This post will attempt to answer that question. It will also add a few intriguing thoughts on “freely bestowed” and “in the Beloved.”

All these terms are used in Ephesians 1:6. Before we briefly examine each concept, I encourage you to take a moment to read Ephesians 1:3-14, the context for our text.

Grace

What is grace?

A long time ago, I learned the acrostic for G.R.A.C.E., which stands for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. It is a creative description, but I do not find it particularly helpful. 

Bible scholar, Joel Green, puts it more fully this way:

‘Grace’ as a characteristic of God grounds divine-human relations in God’s generous initiative and sustaining faithfulness culminating in the powerful, restorative activity of God on behalf of humanity.[1]

Some might find this explanation challenging to understand.

Somewhere in between, a common definition of grace is unmerited favor, which refers to divine benefits that are neither earned nor deserved. This description is more helpful. 

What we learned earlier in Ephesians 1:3-5 includes expressions of God the Father’s grace:

• Those who are ‘in Christ’ are blessed with all blessings in the realm of the Spirit (verse 3);
• Those ‘in Him’ are chosen to be holy and blameless (verse 4);
• ‘Through Jesus Christ’ those same people are predetermined to be adopted as his ‘sons’ (verse 5).  

If you have believed in Jesus Christ—if you have received him (John 1:12, 3:16; 5:24; etc.)—you have all these blessings and more, none of which you earned or deserve. You cannot demand these blessings or boast about them as if you did something to gain them. All you did was respond by faith, receiving what God freely offers in Jesus Christ. 

So, grace is God’s initiative of extravagant generosity, offering all He is and has freely and without cost.

Glory

What is the glory of His grace? What does ‘glory’ mean? 

In the Old Testament, “glory” translates the Hebrew word kabod, meaning weight or heaviness, conveying a sense of abundance and wealth. The Greek word is doxa, which is the basis for our English word doxology. According to BDAG,[2] it means being magnificent, great, splendor, radiant, hence glory and honor.  

Perhaps the best and most understandable description of glory I have heard is “the outward manifestation of inherent worth.” 

A phrase such as “the glory of the LORD” (e.g., Exodus 16:7; 1 Kings 8:11; Psalm 63:2) means that “God’s glory is his visible and active presence.”[3] We are given a glimpse of this glory when the Lord Jesus was transfigured before three of his disciples (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:2):  

His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

So, gathering these insights, the “glory of [God the Father’s] grace” is the visible and active manifestation of the inherent worth, abundance, and wealth of His initiative of extravagant generosity, offering all He is and has freely and without cost.

Freely bestowed

This Greek word for “freely bestowed” is charitoō, which only occurs twice in the Bible.

The other time is in Luke 1:28:

And coming in, [the angel] said to [Mary], “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

The word “favored” renders the Greek word charitoō, meaning bestow favor on, favor highly, or more literally, graced. God greatly favored Mary as the person who would be the mother of the incarnate Eternal Son, Jesus Christ.

You might also discern the similarity between charis and charitoō—the first is the noun, grace, and the second is the verb or action word for “gracing.” F. F. Bruce suggests that those ‘in Christ’ are be-graced—they are bestowed with favor or highly favored. Wow!

God the Father’s grace (a noun) is “freely bestowed” or graced (a verb or action word) on those who are “in the Beloved.”

In the Beloved

‘In the Beloved’ is in the One whom the Father loves in an exceptional, intense, and unique way. The Beloved is His Eternal Son, Jesus Christ.

God’s grace is offered, received, and experienced ‘in the Beloved.’

Have you been transferred or converted from being ‘in Adam’ to ‘in Christ’—that is to be ‘in the Beloved’? This is a crucial issue you can learn about in “From ‘in Adam’ to ‘in Christ.’”

If you are ‘in the Beloved,’ then you are called to praise the glory of God the Father’s grace freely bestowed.

What does praise mean?

Praise

What is the proper human response to the glory of God’s grace freely bestowed in the Beloved?

Praising God.

In our text, praise translates the Greek word epainos, which BDAG (357) defines as “the act of expressing admiration or approval, praise, approval, recognition.”  

Joel Green (527) confirms this by explaining that praise is:   

…to behave towards God with worship, gratitude and obedience; and towards one another in ways that reflect and broadcast the graciousness of God.

Those ‘in the Beloved’ are called to praise, express admiration for, approve, and recognize the “glory of the Father’s grace …”

Summing up

In our opening scenario, a follower of Jesus was unexpectedly challenged. What was the response?

It was much like this:

“My God has blessed me in so many ways in Jesus Christ. You did not know the person I was—I am different now and continue to be changed in how I think, speak, and act. My sins are forgiven, I have a relationship with the living God, and I would not change places with who I was before. That is some of what God has done for me.”

Certainly, that Christian might have answered differently if given more opportunity. You might think the answer was inadequate, but it was faithful.

As a person ‘in Christ,’ that believer had experienced—and continues to experience—the grace of the Father. For most, that experience was internal and hidden, or at least subtle. Some who knew that person well saw evidence of that grace as a life being transformed to become more like Jesus. As simple as they were, that person’s heartfelt words praised God the Father’s grace.

In other words, this is a modest example of how a Christian praised, exalted, and spoke well of God and His grace, making manifest the reality of the unmerited, unearned, and undeserved extravagant generosity that God freely offers in Jesus Christ.

What can you add to our brief descriptions? How would you respond if you were challenged with the opening question? Perhaps you have your own experience of praising the glory of God’s grace.

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Notes: 
[1] J. B. Green, “Grace” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 525.
[2] BDAG refers to A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd edition (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 2000).
[3] R. B. Gaffin, “Glory” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 508.

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