Grace is the most used and least understood word in Christianity. Ask ten believers to define it and you'll get ten different answers — most of them partial, several of them subtly wrong in ways that quietly undermine how those believers live. The Dispensation of Grace is the age you're living in right now. Knowing precisely what grace means — and what it doesn't mean — is not a theological nicety. It's the difference between spiritual freedom and spiritual paralysis.

Last time we saw that God has always had a called-out people, even before the New Testament church. Now we enter the age we're living in: what does it mean to live under grace, and how is this dispensation different from everything that came before it?

We call this period "the Dispensation of Grace" because God's grace shines through everything He does during this time. As John put it, "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" John 1:16, 17.

Let's take a closer look at what grace actually means and how it works in every age.

1. The Definition of the Word "Grace"

At its heart, grace means the free, eternal, and completely unearned love and favor God shows toward the beings He created—whether human or angelic—who are capable of knowing Him and being morally responsible.

Think of it like this: grace is the spring, the source, the very fountainhead from which all of God's blessings flow to everything He has made John 1:14-17John 3:16Romans 3:24Romans 5:17-21Romans 11:5, 62 Corinthians 9:8Ephesians 1:6, 7Ephesians 2:5-8James 4:61 Peter 5:5.

The Greek word charis appears 156 times in the New Testament. It's translated "grace" 130 times, "favor" six times, "thank" and "thankworthy" twelve times, "pleasure" twice, and "acceptable," "benefits," "gift," "gracious," "joy," and "liberality" once each.

Interestingly, you won't find this word in Matthew or Mark. But it shows up eight times in Luke, four times in John, sixteen times in Acts, a whopping 110 times in Paul's letters, sixteen times in James through Jude, and twice in Revelation—once at the beginning and once at the end.

Grace also describes the favor people show each other Genesis 32:5Genesis 33:8-15Genesis 34:11Genesis 39:4Genesis 47:25, 29Ruth 2:10Esther 2:17.

Here's something important to understand: we can't limit grace to just God's New Testament dealings with humanity. Wasn't God just as gracious and loving to angels and people in Old Testament times as He is to us today? Of course He was!

He couldn't be any other way toward His creation—except when they were in rebellion and sin. The very fact that creatures exist and continue to exist is itself an act of grace. Grace even extends to animals, providing everything that sustains life. The animals don't earn this any more than we do. Grace flows freely to all creatures, whether they realize it or not.

2. The Benefits of Grace

Every good thing from God comes through His amazing grace. We deserve nothing, yet He gives us everything!

Grace moves God to act for the best and eternal good of all creation. You see grace at work in His acts of judgment just as much as in His acts of mercy. It works for the benefit of the few and the many alike. All living creatures have an eternal guarantee of God's benefits and loving care through grace.

Through grace, we receive "every good and perfect gift" and "all things that pertain unto life and godliness" John 3:16Romans 3:24Romans 5:2, 17-21Romans 6:14Romans 8:322 Corinthians 8:92 Corinthians 9:8Ephesians 1:6-7Ephesians 2:5-8James 1:17James 4:61 Peter 5:52 Peter 1:3-4.

But here's the key: we receive these benefits only when we humble ourselves and depend entirely on God by faith. We must recognize that we are nothing, that God is everything, and that His blessings come completely apart from our works Romans 3:24-31Romans 4:1-4, 16Romans 5:15-21Romans 6:14, 15Romans 11:6Galatians 2:16Galatians 3:1-12Ephesians 2:7-9.