Favor is the obvious meaning. It is not totally clear why some do not like the definition of favor for grace. However, it does have an implication that it did not matter what you DO, once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior. In the spring of 1976, while a member of a large Sabbath-keeping church, I took the opportunity to ask one of the then leaders of the Theology Dept. what he understood as the definition of grace. I made a note of his reply in my study file on grace.
Unmerited favor implies that there also can be favor that is merited.
This is the first part of the salvation process, that we are cleared of the death penalty over us. There is nothing we as Christians can do to pay for our sins except die or accept Christ's death for us. Awesome is the favor we have received. The offspring of any being looks like the father in kind. A Christian is favored by God after justification for another additional reason.