By Alan Lee
The Definition We All Know
Ask any believer: What is grace? Most will answer with two words: unmerited favor.
If you search GotQuestions.org (a very influential site), you’ll read this:
“Grace can be variously defined as God’s favor towards the unworthy or God’s benevolence on the undeserving. In His grace, God is willing to forgive us and bless us abundantly in spite of the fact that we don’t deserve to be treated well… The fact that grace is a gift means that nothing is owed in return, but the price of such an extravagant gift came at a great cost for our Lord Jesus, who died in our place.”
That sounds right, doesn’t it? 99 out of 100 people would agree. But here’s the problem: it’s incomplete. And because it’s incomplete, it’s actually erroneous.
The Hebrew Word for Grace: Chen
In the Hebrew Scriptures, grace is the word Chen (C-H-E-N). In the Greek New Testament, it’s Charis. They are synonymous.
But when we limit grace to “unmerited favor,” we turn it into a purely New Testament concept centered on penal substitution—Jesus taking our place so we don’t have to die.
That idea appears exactly zero times in the Bible as the definition of grace.
So where do we find the first mention of grace?
Genesis 6:8 – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
Why did Noah find grace? The very next verse tells us:
“Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9)
Noah was a tzaddik (T-Z-A-D-I-K)—a righteous individual who did what God told him to do. He didn’t find grace despite his behavior. He found grace because of his righteous behavior. That means grace is not an unmerited favor. It is merited favor.
A Pattern Throughout Scripture
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Joseph
In Genesis 39:4, Joseph finds grace in Potiphar’s sight. Why? Because Joseph was living righteously, doing everything he was supposed to do. As a result, he was put in charge of Potiphar’s house.
Later, in Genesis 47:25, the people say to Joseph: “You have saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord.”
A righteous man (Joseph) merited grace, and because of that grace, many were saved.
Moses and the Golden Calf
In Exodus 32, God is ready to destroy Israel. Moses acts as a sanegor (defense attorney). He doesn’t throw the people under the bus. Instead, he says: “If You won’t forgive them, blot my name out of Your book.”
Moses was a tzaddik. The grace of God was upon him. And because of his righteous intercession, the nation was spared.
Notice: no sacrifices were made. Just a righteous man with the grace of God on him, standing in solidarity with the guilty.
The Pattern Is Clear
- Noah: righteous → grace → eight people saved
- Joseph: righteous → grace → a nation saved
- Moses: righteous → grace → Israel preserved
- Yeshua: righteous → grace → many saved
Grace is not about a substitute jumping into your place so you can do whatever you want. Grace is a covenant term. The stronger partner lifts up the weaker partner—but there are stipulations. Those stipulations are called terms of grace.
That’s why you can “fall from grace” (Galatians 5:4). You cannot fall from unmerited favor. If it’s truly unmerited, nothing you do can lose it. But if grace is a covenant agreement with requirements, then abandoning those requirements means you’ve fallen from that grace.
What About Yeshua?
Yeshua is the ultimate tzaddik. He lived righteously. The grace of God rested upon Him. And because of that, He tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9).
But here’s the critical point: nowhere in Scripture is grace defined as penal substitution. That doesn’t mean Yeshua’s death wasn’t substitutionary. It means that’s not the definition of grace.
We have taken the Passover lamb—which in Scripture is never about sin or repentance (zero verses)—and blended it with the Day of Atonement and penal substitution. We created a hybrid story that sounds true but is biblically inaccurate.
The Passover lamb is about community, solidarity, and identification. It’s about a group being saved out of Egypt. God focused on the blood, not the lamb. We’ll explore that more in the coming days.
Why This Matters for Passover and the Omer
Over the next 49 days, as we count the Omer toward Shavuot, my goal is to expand your understanding of grace, Passover, and the feasts.
We’ve already celebrated Passover. But there is a second Passover in the second month for those who couldn’t celebrate the first. That tells us something important: God makes provision, but He also requires righteousness.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread (the seven days from the 15th to the 21st) is not primarily about removing sin from your life. That’s a facet, but it’s not the core. The core is this: unleavened bread is poor man’s bread—quick bread. It means: When God tells you to leave your past and press into your future, don’t delay.
On the 21st day, they went through the Reed Sea (Yam Suf). The enemy was destroyed. Then God rained down bread from heaven.
A Final Thought
Grace is not “God gave me something I didn’t deserve, so I’m blessed.”
Grace is: A righteous person (tzaddik) lives righteously, merits the favor (Chen) of God, and through that favor, many others are saved.
You and I cannot merit grace on our own. That’s true. But somebody had to. That somebody is Yeshua—the righteous one. And now, because He merited grace, we are the beneficiaries.
But we are not passive recipients. Grace brings us into covenant. And covenants have terms.
So as you continue through this season, ask yourself: Am I living righteously? Am I walking with God like Noah? Am I interceding like Moses? Am I identifying with Yeshua in solidarity?
That is the full picture of grace.
Chag Sameach, and Shabbat Shalom.
Related Topics: Counting the Omer, Shavuot (Pentecost), Passover, Tzaddik, Sanegor, Penal Substitution, Covenant Grace, Feast of Unleavened Bread
Scriptures Referenced: Genesis 6:8-9, 39:4, 47:25; Exodus 32-33; John 1:17-18; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 2:9; Galatians 5:4
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