Our God truly is a loving Father,
A Father who lavishly bestows His grace and favour upon His children. I have something a little different for you today: did you know that the Greek word translated as ‘grace’ in your English Bible could just as easily be translated as ‘favour’?
Think of it like this: the favour and grace of a mighty King towards his beloved subjects, or even more accurately, the favour of a loving King towards his precious sons and daughters—you! So, this list of God’s Favour Scriptures will include some never-before-seen verses, unless you’ve been following the progress of the Fear of God Bible Project.
In this new Bible revision, I have chosen to translate (χάρις, 5485) as favourable grace or favorable grace for my USA friends. This Greek word in English sounds like charis and is also the root word of charisma—translated as gift, which shares another root of chairo—translated as to rejoice.
So, you really do get the sense here of incredibly great gifts from a mighty King where the only logical response is, “Why me?” Like the beautiful hymn Amazing Grace!
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Charis is used 156 times in 147 verses of the New Testament and quite literally birthed the Reformation when the Holy Spirit revealed the power of His grace to Martin Luther, who then got to work and nailed his treatise to the church door! The Apostles also use it a total of 33 times just in their greetings and farewells, so you know they understood its importance.
I pray you are mightily blessed as you read these unique verses about God’s favour (bolded below) that He bestows willingly on all of us as His prodigals!
The First Time We See God’s Favourable Grace in the New Testament
It’s wonderfully fitting that the first time we see the Greek χάρις (charis) is when an angel announces to Mary the arrival of the Lord Jesus in Luke 1. The next time we see it, we learn how Jesus matures in יהוה YAHWEH’s favour as a child. It’s clear from the first scripture that God’s favour, first and foremost, is The Gift of Him (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and not just ‘stuff’!
PS: If you are new to the Fear of God Bible, we use the original Hebrew names for God, people, and places, like Yerushalayim (Foundation of Peace) instead of Jerusalem.
God’s Favour is Connected to a Divine Inheritance
God’s favour is also connected by Jesus in His hometown sermon to the Jubilee Festival. This amazing time was part of the Judean Torah (Divine Instructions) that required people to forgive the financial debts of their brothers. The land was restored back to the original families and clans to whom God had given it, and to say it was supposed to be a time of jubilant joy would be an understatement. But scholars aren’t sure if the Israelites ever actually observed it for any significant length of time.
The fact that Jesus stood up in His hometown and informed them that the remarkable Isaiah Jubilee prophecy was completed in Him was a powerful statement. This shows us that God’s favour on us is for the forgiveness of spiritual debts first, which will then overflow in unique and special ways to you personally in the natural too.
I think it’s also interesting to note how even our decision to choose Him at the point of salvation rebirth is His favourable grace as you will see in these verses.
How to Use God’s Favour with Others
When you receive God’s favour in your life, it’s always for a greater purpose than just yourself. From the abundant overflow of God’s favour, you will increasingly be in a position to bless others through how you treat and serve them.
A WARNING:
You Can Get Out of Sync with God’s Favour
In the following scripture, we see that new believers, rather than unbelievers, are strongly urged to remain in God’s favour. This isn’t necessarily a question of salvation, but if you feel this might apply to your life, the best advice is to humble yourself and pray to God. Always thank Him for His shed blood, which removes any and all deviations (sins) from His perfect way. Here’s the verse.
God’s Favour is Connected with Miraculous Signs and Wonders
Now, signs and wonders can make some Christians nervous, but here’s a thought: even the fact that you have immense peace in the midst of a chaotic world right now is a sign and wonder! So even if you’ve never yet witnessed a healing miracle or anything else in an atmosphere where Jesus is glorified, it doesn’t make you any less if you have His trademark of Holy Spirit peace!
The first verse below shows there’s a choice when it comes to signs—will you believe that God did it because Jesus’ name was glorified, or will you have more ‘faith’ in the enemy doing it?
Final Thoughts and a Prayer for God’s Favour
I’m sure you’ll agree that the verses above are unique and ultimately show that He is the treasure for which you sell everything to buy the field, as Jesus said. God’s favour begins at the point where He removes the veil from your eyes and you come into your right mind to choose Him wholeheartedly at the altar of salvation.
This spiritual marriage covenant allows your spirit to become one with His Set-Apart Holy רוּחַ (Ruach) Spirit, and every day His wonderful visitations towards you grow and renew your spirit. This is such a special gift from Him, as it’s a fresh daily deposit of His mercies, favourable grace, and shalom peace for you.
If this doesn’t seem to be your current reality with Him, I am here today to tell you that it’s available and is the most beautiful daily gift you’ll ever receive in this world and the next. I speak from experience as someone who, after 28 years of dry and stale religion, received a fresh touch one glorious day, and NOTHING was ever the same again!
So I encourage you to pray with me:
My Lord Jesus,
I thank You for the steep bridal price You paid for me,
Because I know You loved me first,
So that I can love You and others more fully.
I thank You for everything You’ve done in my life already!
I believe wholeheartedly that You died for me,
And Abba-Father, wow, just wow! Through Your Almighty power of Your Holy Spirit,
You raised Him up from death
To seat Him upon Your glorious throne.
You just love to give me little previews, don’t You?
To show me what will fully happen to me one day,
That one glorious day, when You raise me up too,
In my own glorified body to celebrate with King Jesus!
But right now, my heart is aching,
With many different conflicting thoughts
[Give any burden to Him now]
I know deep down that my future in You is bright,
But right now, all I know is that I need You more!
I will never go from glory to glory without You,
So I ask, My Abba Father, in Jesus’ name for a fresh deposit of Your Holy Spirit,
My treasured gift in this fragile clay pot of mine.
Thank You, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Amen!