Our brief look at the Five Solas continues with a discussion of the next sola known as Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone. It is important for me to note that some of what is discussed in this doctrine overlaps rather nicely with the Reformed or Calvinist doctrine known as Unconditional Election, which I will address sometime in the not too distant future. In addition, there is some of this same overlap within any treatment of the five solas as well with respect to the question of man's good works. It is nearly impossible to avoid discussing the good works of men as not contributing to salvation in a treatment of Sola Gratia as well as Solus Christus and Sola Fide (the next post). However, it simply becomes a matter of emphasis and the place a discussion of a man's works has under the umbrella of a particular Sola or a particular point of Calvinism.
When Reformed theologians speak of Sola Gratia, i.e., grace alone, they are simply saying that mankind has no claim upon God at all. God does not owe sinful man anything much less salvation unto eternal life. The only thing that God owes to man - because man has earned it - is punishment for sin and rebellion against God. Thus if God is to save you, me, or anyone else it is on account of His grace and His grace alone. During the medieval period leading up to the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church did emphasize the need for grace in salvation; this cannot be denied. However, Rome believed that man had to do his own part to cooperate with that grace, so while Rome did believe that grace was necessary, she did not believe grace was sufficient. Today's saying "God helps those who help themselves" is an echo of the same belief and modern Evangelicalism has bought into this way of thinking. Modern Evangelicalism has bought into the belief that God owes everyone a chance to be saved and should a person be saved it is because of our own free-will decision to accept Jesus into our heart. A simple way to put this is that the grace of God only goes so far and man must meet it halfway for it to be effective.
The Reformers in reaction against such thinking insisted on grace alone because they rightly believed that man is incapable of coming to faith by any methods, plans, or techniques done on his part. The Bible clearly teaches us that faith itself is a gift from God. "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 2:8-9 ESV; cf., Philippians 1:29). Focus on the phrase "this is not your own doing" for just a moment and ask yourself, "what is not my own doing?" Paul's "this" refers the whole previous phrase, i.e., salvation by grace through faith; salvation is not your doing and not a result any contributing works on your part. Knowing that your salvation is by grace alone ought to prevent every Christian from boasting; such a fact ought to humble us and stimulate us to give all glory to whom it is due - the God who saves in Christ Jesus by grace.
This discussion is missing something that we take for granted far too often - the meaning of grace. Some may define grace as unmerited favor and this is a decent definition as far as it goes. Grace can be illustrated or demonstrated by the giving of a gift to someone who did not do anything to deserve it. However, grace as it is found and explained in the Bible goes much, much deeper than this. Grace in the Bible is the unmerited favor of God in spite of what you deserve from Him. What is it that you and I deserve from God? Nothing less than His eternal wrath and punishment. According to Leon Morris in an entry he wrote on "Propitiation" in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, the idea of God's wrath is "stubbornly rooted in the Old Testament where it is referred to 585 times." The New Testament does not shy away from the idea of God's wrath despite what many may claim to the contrary. The Apostle Paul, for example, reminds us that it is the wrath of God that is revealed to men against all ungodliness (Romans 1:18). It is this truth, it is this reality that makes grace so amazing! There is no hope for sinners apart from His love and grace - a grace that He owes to no one, yet He gives freely because He pays the debt we owe fully in Christ who bore His Father's wrath in our place. Let this truth stimulate a deep love for our God because of the grace He has given to you in Christ though you deserved the opposite! May God grant us the ability to grasp the depth and riches of His love that comes to us Sola Gratia - by grace alone.
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