What is “Grace Alone”?
At the center of what we believe is the teaching that salvation is an unearned gift of God’s grace. “By grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Grace: Greek, charis: a (sign of) favor, a gracious deed or gift, being a benefactor. For grace to be grace, it must be a gift given to you. If it is not that, then is it not grace. So faith, which itself is a gift (it [faith] is the gift of God) is also by grace, with grace also being something that God gives. So, salvation then is a gift on top of a gift!
“Grace alone” does not set aside justification by faith or justification by Christ. For salvation by “grace alone” rests on God’s universal love for all people.
The Source of this Grace
After humanity’s fall into sin, God first showed His compassion and promised a Savior. Genesis 3:15:
I [God] will put hostility between you [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between your seed [Satan’s followers] and her seed [the descendant of Eve]. He [the descendant of Eve] will strike your [Satan’s] head, and you [Satan] will strike his [the descendant of Eve] heel.
Read John 1:14-17
- In whom did God’s grace come to us? (note “grace” in vs. 17)
Read Romans 5:12-17
- Why was such grace needed?
- How abundant is the grace that we need?
By grace alone, God does the work to create faith within us. “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. By his [God’s] grace they [all who sin] are justified freely through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24).
Scripture’s Teaching on “Predestination” and “Grace Alone”
Although we cannot fully understand predestination [God choosing someone for salvation] on this side of heaven, Scripture teaches it.
Ephesians 1:5-6: God predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for himself, according to his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he [God] gave us in the Beloved One [Jesus].
Romans 11:5-6: So too, at the present time: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. And if it is by grace, then it is not by works [anything we do]; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.
2 Timothy 1:9: God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on what we have done, but based on his [God’s] own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
- How does predestination affirm the truth that salvation is by “grace alone”?
Bible Passages that Appear to Teach Spiritual Free Will Before Conversion
Romans 10:9-10: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with his heart and is justified and confesses with his mouth and is saved.
- In this verse, who is the “you” whom Paul addresses? (Romans 10:1 gives us a clue)
- If the “you” is the Christian (and it is), not the unbeliever, when will the salvation to which Paul refers take place?
Confess: Greek, homologeo, “same-word” as a verb. It is the say what already exists somewhere else. In this verse, the mouth confesses what is already in the heart. Thus, confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart are not two, separate independent actions, but one action taking place in two locations. The “and” functions to connect the mouth and heart into one, not separate them.
Revelation 3:20: Behold, I [Jesus] stand at the door and knock. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
- Who is the “someone,” the “him,” whom Jesus addresses? (Revelation 3:14-16 give us a clue)
- If the “him” is the Christian (and it is), not the unbeliever, what is Jesus telling the Christians at Laodecia?
Why “Grace Alone” is Necessary
Ephesians 2:1: You were dead in your trespasses and sins.
Colossians 2:13: You were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh.
Recognizing the truth of Scripture, Lutherans confess: “Since the fall of Adam, all who are born according to the course of nature are conceived and born in sin” (Augsburg Confession II, 1). This “inborn sickness and hereditary sin” (AC II, 2) make it impossible for people to earn God’s forgiveness. If salvation depended on our initiative, ability, or effort, we would have no hope. But God forgives our sins, as we confess in the Large Catechism, “freely and without condition, out of pure grace” (LC III, 96).
How the Lutheran Church Differs from the Roman-Catholic Church on Grace
If a Lutheran were to read Rome’s understanding of grace, he would, at first, think we agree. For “grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us” (Roman Catholic Catechism, section 2003). “Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life” (1996). So far, so good (except for the “help” part)!
However, “grace is [also] a participation in the life of God” (1997). “God’s free initiative demands man’s free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him” (2002).
It’s true: we cannot participate “in the life of God” without His grace. But this grace is not “a participation in the life of God” but a result of grace. If God’s grace were “a participation in the life of God,” then His grace would first depend on our participation, which would be impossible if we are born dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). And if we are born spiritually dead, then we cannot spiritually respond to God until after He gives us the gift of faith!
When Scripture does describe who we are before God—before He converts us by His grace—we are “enemies.” Romans 5:10: “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life!”
- Discuss how most of the Protestant churches and Rome agree, in principle, about salvation.
- However, what is different between Rome and the Protestant churches on the means God uses to give his grace to someone?
Good Works—A Result or Cause of Grace?
John 15:16: [Jesus speaking to His disciples,] “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and produce fruit.”
Matthew 5:16: [Jesus speaking to the crowd,] “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Romans 12:1: Therefore, brothers [Christians], by the mercies of God, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your proper service.
1 Peter 2:9: You [Christians] are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- As Christians, what do we do and what do those deeds look like?
The good works we do are a result, not a cause, of grace. Good works, then, are not a cause of our salvation. God’s “grace alone” is the reason we are saved.
However, that does not mean that works are not part of the Christian life. For the Christian does do good works because he is saved! God’s grace results in our faith; our faith results in our works.
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