Reformation Month / Study / The Five Solas / Sola Gratia
Gratia
Salvation is God's gift from first to last.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.
¶ What does it mean?
We do not climb to God. He comes to the undeserving. Grace is not God meeting us halfway. It is God raising the dead and giving what we could never earn.
¶ What does it deny?
It denies that our religious effort, moral improvement, or spiritual performance can purchase standing with God. Good works follow grace. They do not buy it.
¶ Where do we see it in Scripture?
- Titus 3:5He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy.
- Romans 11:6If it is by grace, it is no longer of works. Otherwise grace is no longer grace.
- Romans 5:8God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
¶ Why does it matter?
Grace frees the conscience from bargaining. You do not keep October to make God love you. You open the Bible because he already has spoken, and mercy is the only reason you can hear him.