Charis: The Greek Word for Grace
Charis was an ordinary Greek word before the gospel got hold of it. It meant favor, kindness, a gift, even charm. The New Testament loaded it with the weight of salvation itself: everything God gives that no one could deserve.
noun, feminine.
Charis is grace: favor freely given, never earned and never owed. In the New Testament it names the way God saves and the way God sustains, as gift from start to finish.
The heart of charis is direction: it flows downhill, from the one who has to the one who has not, with no invoice attached. That is why Paul insists grace and earning cannot mix. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” If you could deserve it, it would stop being charis.
Grace is not only the door into the Christian life; it is the air inside it. When Paul begged for a painful weakness to be removed, the answer was not removal but “my grace is sufficient for thee.” Charis covers daily strength, not just conversion.
One more family connection worth knowing: charis is kin to chara, joy, and stands inside eucharistia, thanksgiving. Grace received becomes gratitude expressed. When you cannot think how to pray, thanking God for specific mercies is charis completing its circuit.
Key verses
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The clearest sentence on grace in the Bible. Salvation is a gift, and gifts exclude boasting.
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
God answers a prayer for relief with a promise of grace. Strength arrives inside weakness, not after it.
“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
From the fulness of Christ, grace keeps arriving in waves: grace for grace, one supply replacing another.
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
“Freely by his grace”: justification costs the sinner nothing because it cost Christ everything.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Grace has a throne, and the invitation is to come boldly, especially in the hour of need.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain.
Related words
Keep your prayers. Open the Word.
Your prayer journal
Save every prayer, revisit them, and watch how God answers over time.
The full Bible
Fifteen translations, words of Jesus in red, and plain-language verse explanations.
Explore any topic
A concordance that gathers every verse on the things you pray about.
Free. No subscriptions. Every feature included.