Sola Gratia

 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:1-9 ESV).

 

Perhaps the most familiar cry of the Reformation is that we are saved by grace alone. Opposing the position that we are saved by grace with the addition of good works, the Reformers firmly stated that our salvation comes only by God’s grace. On the surface this assertion is not unfamiliar or confessed by the modern evangelical community. However, in practice it is simply not often present. As I have mentioned previously, much has been added to the simple declaration that redemption is solely a work of God in the life of a hopelessly lost individual. The Reformers’ cry was Sola Gratia.

 

This should not confuse us. Consider the darkness of the human heart. If our salvation depended on the good we do, no one would be saved. Our very best works are “like filthy rags” (cf. Isaiah 64:6). The Reformers found Paul’s words in Ephesians crystal clear: our salvation cannot be bought or earned by us; as a gift it comes by grace alone. Grace means “free and unmerited favor.” Salvation is God’s gift to us. Anything I might try to do to earn it would be ridiculously inadequate and completely unnecessary. You can’t earn a gift. As Frederick Buechner put it, “Grace is something you can never get but can only be given.” Another great reformer, John Newton, wrote the song “Amazing Grace,” to express this very truth.

 

I’ll reveal more in subsequent devotionals; however, today I urge you to be very careful in your acceptance of anything that would detract from grace as the sole means of your salvation. Rethink the message of our culture. It is taking us far away from the intent and truth of Scripture.