Grace
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χάρις means grace, favor, or gift, and in the Pastoral Epistles it names God's generous saving favor in Christ, His strengthening supply for ministry, and the blessing that frames Christian life. The word appears in greetings and closings, but it is not merely a polite letter formula.
Reader summary
Full entry for χάρις (G5485) · Open the biblical lexicon
χάρις means grace, favor, or gift, and in the Pastoral Epistles it names God's generous saving favor in Christ, His strengthening supply for ministry, and the blessing that frames Christian life. The word appears in greetings and closings, but it is not merely a polite letter formula.
The BSB source-word alignment has 155 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include grace (98), [the] grace (5), Grace [be] (5), of grace (5), thanks [be] (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 1:30. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (24), 2 Corinthians (18), Acts (17), Ephesians (12).
This entry includes 7 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
χάρις means grace, favor, or gift, and in the Pastoral Epistles it names God's generous saving favor in Christ, His strengthening supply for ministry, and the blessing that frames Christian life. The word appears in greetings and closings, but it is not merely a polite letter formula. Grace comes from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. It overflows to Paul with faith and love in Christ.
It was granted in Christ Jesus before time began, appears with salvation for all people, trains believers for godly life, justifies sinners, and makes them heirs with the hope of eternal life. Paul can also use the word in thanksgiving, but the main pastoral weight is God's unearned favor that saves, strengthens, and forms a people for good works. Grace is therefore not permission to remain unchanged, and it is not a reward for spiritual effort.
In these letters, grace precedes works, creates faith and love, strengthens Timothy, brings salvation, trains renunciation of ungodliness, and secures inheritance. Teachers should keep all of that together. Grace is free, but never thin. It is mercy in motion through Christ that saves and forms the household of God.
In the Pastoral Epistles, χάρις frames greeting, salvation, ministry strength, moral training, justification, and hope. Grace is God's favor in Christ that comes before works and then forms a people zealous for good works.
To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Grace opens the letter as blessing from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Pastoral instruction begins under divine favor, not bare command.
And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
The grace of the Lord overflows with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Paul's own rescue becomes the pattern of grace creating what it commands.
He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
God saved and called us not because of works, but by purpose and grace granted in Christ before time began. Grace is prior, eternal, and Christ-centered.
You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Timothy is told to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Grace supplies ministry endurance, not only initial pardon.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. In the following verses, grace also trains renunciation and godly living.
So that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
Believers are justified by grace and become heirs with the hope of eternal life. Grace grounds status, inheritance, and hope.
In the LXX, χάρις chiefly renders חֵן (chen, G2580 — favor, attractiveness). This is a related but distinct word from חֶסֶד. In the NT, χάρις takes on a weight that goes well beyond the LXX usage, becoming Paul's central term for God's saving, enabling, and sustaining action in Christ.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Divine favor freely given and unmerited, emphasizing God's gracious kindness rather than human deserving or works.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 155 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
grace, favor, kindness
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 155 lexical occurrence verses.
χάρις is built from this root:
Grace is the initiating and empowering force of salvation and sanctification, shaping the believer’s identity and conduct.1 Timothy 1:1-2
The letter both begins and ends with grace, framing all instruction and mission within God’s initiating and sustaining favor.1 Timothy 1:12-17
Affirms that salvation rests solely on divine favor, not works.2 Timothy 1:8-12
It emphasizes that justification is a gift, not earned by human effort.2 Timothy 2:1-7
Highlights the superabundant favor of God that surpasses sin.2 Timothy 4:19-22
Anchors the entire letter in sustaining divine favor.Acts 11:19-26
Barnabas discerns authentic conversion as evidence of God’s grace.Acts 14:1-7
Identifies the central content of the apostolic message.Acts 15:6-11
Identifies the sole basis of salvation in Christ.
Affirms that faith and growth occur through God’s gracious work.
The generosity of the believers flows from the grace resting upon them.
Stephen’s ministry flows from God’s gracious empowerment.
Grace establishes the foundation of salvation and ministry, removing human boasting.
Grace is not only the basis of salvation but the sustaining force for ministry endurance.
Paul concludes the letter by grounding the believer's life and ministry in the sustaining grace of God.
The blessing of grace in 1:2 frames everything as gift. Timothy's calling, the church's existence, even Paul's ministry, stand on undeserved favor. This undercuts any legalistic distortion of sound doctrine and prepares for Paul's testimony about receiving mercy instead of what he deserved (1:12-16).
Grace not only forgives but overflows, producing faith and love in the believer.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The Pastoral Epistles present χάρις as the saving favor of God that is older than our works, stronger than our weakness, and more formative than our self-effort. Paul does not use grace as a decorative greeting. Grace comes from God and Christ, overflows to the chief of sinners, is granted in Christ before time began, appears in history bringing salvation, strengthens Timothy for ministry, trains believers in godliness, and justifies them as heirs of eternal life.
This makes grace both foundation and teacher. It is foundation because salvation rests on God's mercy and purpose, not righteous deeds we have done. It is teacher because the grace that saves also trains a people to renounce ungodliness and live for Christ's appearing. Pastoral teaching goes wrong when it divides those movements. Legalism forgets grace's priority.
Cheap grace forgets grace's power. Paul holds both together.
Titus.2.11
χάρις can describe favor, gracious gift, thanksgiving, or grace in the saving sense. The Pastoral Epistles include greetings and thanksgiving uses, but the major theological uses identify God's unearned favor in Christ. The word must not be reduced to attitude alone; in these letters grace acts, appears, grants, strengthens, trains, justifies, and secures inheritance.
The theme of grace stands within Scripture's larger witness to God's favor toward the undeserving, His covenant mercy, and His saving initiative. The Pastoral Epistles place that favor in Christ Jesus: granted before time, revealed in history, applied in salvation, and active in training the church for the appearing of Christ.