Replies

“”For by grace you have been saved...” / If they were given God’s grace they would have been saved.”

Nope.

Grace: “1) grace

a) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech

2) good will, loving-kindness, favour

a) of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues”

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5485&t=KJV

Don’t know if this is accurate, but I’d bet it is:

“We had, at one time, described the word “Charis” as being from the French root of the word “Charisma”, meaning “grace”. One of our web visitors, a teacher of Greek from Kavala, Greece has graciously provided us with a more accurate etymology.

“Charis” is a Greek word, still in common usage. It is a rich and meaningful name and well-chosen to represent what we strive for. In both Modern and Ancient Greek the word “Charis” retains the following meanings: “innate giftedness”, “splendour”, “inner grace”, “charm”, “gift”, “talent”, “beneficence”, “courtesy”, “gratitude”, and “donation” (readers take note!), but has also come to mean “joy” and “mercy”.

In Greek Mythology, “the Charites” were worshiped as goddesses protecting and promoting all kinds of joy and happiness, their names being “Aglaia”, meaning “splendour”, “Efrosyni”, meaning “merriment and pleasant state of mind” and “Thalia” meaning “blooming life”. As for the pronunciation in Greek it is “Haris” with soft “h” sound.

Many thanks to A.T. for her kind and gracious efforts to clear up this misinformation!”

http://wellhost.com/charis/etymology.html

Grace is not a word meaning “What God does in saving us”. When God gives good things to the just and unjust, he is demonstrating his grace.

In English:

3. favor or goodwill. Synonyms: kindness, kindliness, love, benignity; condescension.
4.
a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior: It was only through the dean’s grace that I wasn’t expelled from school. Synonyms: forgiveness, charity, mercifulness. Antonyms: animosity, enmity, disfavor.
5.
mercy; clemency; pardon: He was saved by an act of grace from the governor. Synonyms: lenity, leniency, reprieve.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/grace

Many unbelievers are given kindness and mercy by God, and repay it with hatred.

“Grace is given to us for our justification. / Rom 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, “

Grace INCLUDES God’s unmerited mercy in justifying us, but it is not limited to that meaning. The grace of God in saving us is just a part of his grace. It isn’t the whole.

Arminius called the grace of God to unbelievers ‘prevenient grace’. I think that is an error. I think there is God’s grace, given to undeserving men. Those who respond in the positive are saved, and those who respond in the negative are justifiably damned for spurning the goodness and mercy of God.

Here is a link to the 148 times it is used in the New Testament:

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5485&t=ESV