This is one of those truths that is a bit like silver—easily tarnished and covered with grime. When Christians talk of God giving us “grace,” for example, we can quickly imagine that “grace” is some kind of spiritual pocket money he doles out. Even the old explanation that “grace” is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense” can make it sound like stuff that God gives. But the word grace is really just a shorthand way of speaking about the personal and loving kindness out of which, ultimately, God gives himself.
