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We must never think of divine grace as some impersonal, abstract reality which can be defined and discussed apart from a relationship between two or more real living persons. Grace is nothing less than the undeserved mercy and kindness which the living God pours out freely on all who entrust themselves to him as known through his Son Jesus Christ, surrendering to the Fathertheir sins, their merits and their lives for his disposition and control.
In Jesus Christ, God reveals himself as the Judge who possesses life-and-death power, but who is ready, even eager, to forgive those who repent. He is the Father who waits with fresh robe, ring and fattened calf for his wandering children's return. He is the Physician who heals because he cares and loves. Jesus shows us God the Almighty who becomes a human infant, weak and dispossessed, to save those who have no strength themselves. He reveals God as the offended deity who, incarnate in the Messiah, embraces the offenders' guilt then personally goes the gamut of punishment and disgrace until his body is broken and his blood poured out on a Cross.
"Grace" is not a theory, a concept or a doctrine. It is God-in-Christ-for-sinners. Nothing we do can earn it, create it, or make it happen. We can only receive it with the empty hands of faith, trusting God and relying on his promise that he has forgiven our sins and has accepted us for Jesus' sake. Until we do that, we miss the point with all our lists of rules, requirements, conditions and obligations. But when we do trust the gospel promise that God receives sinners, we happily entrust ourselves to such a God -- eager to seek and to know what pleases him, ready to obey his every command.
For more about God's heart of grace, click here.