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So far in our series on the 5 Solas, we have looked at the doctrines of Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.
Sola Scriptura teaches us that God’s Word is the final authority on which we stand.
Sola Fide teaches us that we are saved by faith, we are justified by faith, and we are to live by faith.
This morning, we are going to look at the third principle of the Protestant Reformation, Sola Gratia.
Sola Gratia, or by grace alone, is vital to our understanding of how we are saved.
Before we venture further on this subject, we need to understand what grace is.
The word grace comes from the Greek word “charis”.
χάρις - grace - unmerited favor
The theologian John Stott said, “Grace is God’s free and undeserved mercy towards us.”
It was the truth of Sola Gratia which inspired John Newton to pen the beautiful and beloved hymn, “Amazing Grace”.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.
John Newton was the captain of a slave ship.
During a violent storm at sea, he gave his life to God and renounced his work in the slave trade.
He became a pastor who spoke out against slavery.
He experienced the amazing grace of God and he developed a passion to bring others into an encounter with God’s amazing grace.
In most non-Christian religions, the concept of grace is completely absent.
There is no grace in Islam.
There is no grace in Buddhism.
There is no grace in any of these false religions.
Even the Book of Mormon states, “It is by grace we are saved, after all we can do.”
(2 Nephi 25:23) That’s not grace at all.
I do want you to know this.
“Among Protestants, there is a popular misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on grace.
Sometimes it is said, ‘Rome teaches that we are saved by works, but Protestants teach that we are saved by grace.’
This statement, common as it is, is a slander against the Roman Catholic Church.
Rome does not teach that one is saved by works apart from the grace of God.
She, in fact, teaches that one is saved by the grace of God.
The controversy is about the word alone.”
We teach, according to the clear teaching of Scripture, that you are saved by grace alone.
Open your Bible to .
Paul richly described man’s state before encountering God’s grace.
He said, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins.”
You were dead.
There was nothing you could do to change your situation.
Being saved by grace is completely opposite to being saved by merit.
Our salvation does not lie in what we have done.
Salvation belongs to God.
It is by grace alone.
Grace and works are antithetical to one another.
If there is any “work” that needs to happen, grace ceases to be grace.
To accept God’s grace by faith requires an abandonment of all other attempts to save yourself.
God’s grace does for us what we could never do for ourselves.
You might be thinking, “What role does faith play?
Isn’t faith a work of some sort?”
The answer is “no”.
Faith is the channel for salvation.
Faith is not an accomplishment or work.
Faith is the means by which we accept God’s grace.
1. God’s grace pardons us.
God, by his mercy and love, made us alive when we were dead.
The reason why people have trouble with this doctrine is because they fail to understand the depth of their own depravity, their own sinfulness.
You were dead and unless God did something, you would stay dead.
You were born this way.
You were born with a nature to sin.
God pardoned our sin by his grace through the work of Jesus on the cross.
This is a legal action.
A pardon means the verdict has been set aside.
You were convicted and found guilty.
Your sentence was death.
What you should receive because of your moral depravity is death.
Jesus took our punishment and paid the price for our sins through his death and shed blood.
God’s righteous requirement was satisfied and God offers us a pardon by his grace.
We had a debt that we couldn’t pay.
Jesus paid it all.
God’s grace cancels our sin debt.
Have you ever had a debt cancelled?
Have you ever been financially struggling and then you find out that someone took care of your bill?
I was reading about people who go into Walmart and other places who have lay-away and they pay for the items on lay-away.
If you have ever had an experience like that, it is an extremely joyous experience.
Think of what has been done for you through God’s grace.
Think about what you have been forgiven.
Think about all your failures and all your wrong-doing.
Now, know that you have been pardoned if you have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice by faith.
More could be said about this and the subject is rich and deep, but for sake of time, let’s look at another effect of God’s grace.
2. God’s grace delivers us from eternal damnation.
God’s grace doesn’t just take away our sins and provide us pardon from our sins; it also saves us from eternal damnation.
This is an uncomfortable subject and it is not talked about as much as it should be.
Some have even made jokes about it or think the Bible is not serious when it talks about it.
Let me tell you.
The Bible is clear.
Anyone who does not accept Jesus as the way of salvation is damned.
Jesus spoke often about it.
He knew it exists.
He doesn’t want anyone to go there.
It wasn’t created for people.
It was made for the devil and his angels.
God doesn’t send people there.
People make the choice through their free will to reject God’s plan of salvation.
In , Jesus described it as a place of torment.
He said it is an eternal place.
It is a place of complete darkness.
It is a place from which no one can escape.
We were all on the highway to hell, but God who is rich in mercy and by his grace delivered us from eternal damnation.
I want you to hear this.
It is easy to get fearful and afraid when speaking of this subject.
Two important things.
First, if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you have nothing to fear.
You are no longer a child of wrath.
You are a child of God.
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