Grace Alone


Grace: “the hinge on which all turns,” this quote by Martin Luther exemplifies the focal point on which the entire argument for salvation sits. Without God’s undeserving grace, no person would come to know him. As I’ve been writing these, I’ve prayed that God would give me words to write down, and this morning I read something in Acts that is a perfect preface for sola gratia: grace alone. What I read was this:

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed- Acts 13:48

It’s really the last part that grabbed my attention. See, growing up I always thought that I first believed, and then God gave me eternal life. Instead it is the reverse: God appointed me to eternal life, and because of His grace that I could not resist, I believed in Him. Paul, in Romans 11, explains why salvation is made possible by grace alone saying,

But if it [salvation] is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Paul’s argument is similar to his argument about faith: if our salvation was not appointed by the Sovereign God before time was time and we could somehow choose God rather than our sin nature, then our salvation would be because of something we did, rather than something God freely and graciously gave us. This, apart from the fact that we physically cannot choose God, is why salvation MUST rest on sola gratia: grace alone. And, the proper response to God’s sovereign grace is praise, because all we who are saved can ask is “why me?” “Why did God choose to extend His grace to me?” And so, a verse that I’m going to leave you with is found in Ephesians 1:4-6,

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has blessed us in the Beloved