And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works…Romans 11:6

Grace is a very complex concept and not a natural posture for most of us. God is full of grace. He first of all gives general grace to all people everywhere. There is a predictability to his grace by the rising and the setting of the sun and the seasons of the year. The bible tells us the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. Everyone is treated the same when it comes to common grace.  

God's grace is usually defined as undeserved favor. It is undeserved because we are sinners who do not deserve God's grace but He extends it to us anyway through Jesus Christ. Grace cannot be earned because there is no way to be good enough when perfection is the standard. 

In that moment when we surrender our sinful ways to a loving and forgiving God we become recipients of grace. This grace extends from that point in time throughout eternity. At this moment of surrender we enter a new phase where by faith be begin to live as a blameless person under the grace of God. However, there is often a disconnect when we start to live life as a disciple of Jesus. For some reason, after receiving grace and forgiveness we often slip into the mode that we now must do things or perform a certain way to please him. We are disappointed with ourselves if we don't read our bible often enough. Or we condemn ourselves if we fail to live up to the standard we perceive is necessary to remain under grace. Or we are compromised disciples because we keep some hidden sins that no one else knows about. Another problem is that we do not extend grace to others who offend us. 

Understanding grace is a huge part of discipleship and one of the reasons that being a disciple of Jesus is best lived out in a community of believers where we grow together and can remind each other what grace means to us now that we are recipients of grace and people of faith.