Romans 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
2 Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
Eph 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In reflecting upon sheer and glorious grace, it is necessary to look at the nature of grace, the source of grace, and the objects of grace. If we are wrong on any of the three parts of grace, we are wrong on all parts. The three parts go together and they fit together, so if one part is wrong the other three will not fit as well. As usual, the human mind will twist things and Scripture in order to get things to fit a wrong notion. But surely it is obvious that if we are wrong about the nature of grace, that would at least have a major influence on the source of grace and the objects of grace. In fact, if we are wrong about the objects of grace we will twist the nature of grace and the source of grace as well in order to allow for people to receive grace (in theory).
The nature of grace cannot really be separated from the source of grace (God as triune), but perhaps a distinction of sorts can be made. Throughout Scripture (and two of the verses above) it is quite plain that justification by grace is not the same thing as salvation by works. However, when one begins to narrow that down to grace alone, we can easily see that this means that no works have any part in the sinners justification. When the effort is given to show sinners just what it means to have no works in justification, they get angry because unregenerate sinners hate real grace. Even more, there are those who have the name of orthodox and have brought the name “grace” into many things that are works but also go under a different name. This is why this is so vital to the Gospel.
Grace is either free of causation or it has some causation. Grace is either free of causation on the part of the receiver or it has some causation on the part of the one receiving. Grace is either free of causation on the part of the giver or it has some causation on the part of the receiver. While these points/questions may seem arbitrary or even silly, they are actually quite vital in understanding the nature of grace. When we speak of grace apart from works, it is not that the intent is that grace is apart from the works of Christ, but instead it is apart from the works of man. This is a huge muddle that we must get clear. For the Gospel of the glory of God in Christ to be totally apart from the works of men, it must then be totally on the works of Christ. The work of Christ in this life, His sufferings on the cross, and His resurrected life as Mediator for His people are the total basis for the Gospel instead of any work of man. Grace is glorious because it has to do with the Person and work of Christ in obtaining salvation for sinners apart from any work they can do.
The moment we make the move at trying to understand the nature of grace, it takes us right into the character of God and the character of man. If grace is nothing more than God being able to overlook sin and save all human beings, then that has a lot to say about the nature and character of God that contradicts Scripture. It is not that there is something called grace out in some corner of the universe that has nothing to do with who God is, but instead the very nature of grace is determined by the giver of grace. If we look at why the Giver of grace gives grace, that is also helpful in determining the nature of grace as well.
For the moment we will take Ephesians 1:5-6 (see at the top of page) and say that God gives grace to the praise of the glory of His name. This is to say that God saves sinners by grace so that He would be manifested and glorified in doing so. Even more, Ephesians 2 says the same thing in a different way. What we must see in this, however, is the God-centeredness of God in showing grace. It is the nature of God that determines the nature of grace.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God Loves... Himself 
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