UPWARD GLANCE: Sola Gratia

The next two solas are stated in Scripture most explicitly in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Sola Gratia means “Only Grace.”

The idea that stands behind these two words is that salvation is only possible by the grace of God. There is nothing we can do to deserve divine favor, or even life itself. There is nothing we can do to oblige God into giving or doing anything to or for us because we have sinned. Everything we have and enjoy, particularly our salvation, comes from God’s sovereign decision to give us something we don’t deserve.

The Father took the initiative (1 John 4:10), Christ did what was necessary to give us new life even when we didn’t deserve it (Romans 5:6-9) and the Holy Spirit continues to give us good gifts that we are incapable of getting by ourselves (Galatians 5:22-23).

Grace has three sides to it: our need, our inability to deserve the fulfillment of that need or to fulfill it ourselves, and God’s willingness to fulfill it Himself anyways.

Because of grace, humility is mandatory. Paul yelled at the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4:7 for being prideful by asking them, “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” Everything good thing we have comes from God (James 1:17), so why would anyone act as though they were the source of anything good about them? How could I? Why would you?

Sola Gratia is relevant to you because everything good you have in your life is the direct result of Grace whether you believe in God or not. This is especially true of your salvation if you’ve trusted in Christ. Do you live like you remember that?

What do you think?

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