What is Sola Gratia?
The first of the Five Solas is Sola Gratia: grace alone. Sola Gratia stands in sharp contrast to the common belief of many people today, and says that salvation is brought about solely by the extension of grace by God. Sola Gratia says, rather succinctly, that one who is saved is saved by grace alone. Sola Gratia’s positive declaration is the sufficiency and ultimacy of grace; the negative declaration is that no work or good deed is able to save you. So while Sola Gratia says, on the one hand, “He who is saved is saved only by God’s grace,” it also says, “He who is saved has done nothing on his own part to earn, merit, or otherwise achieve salvation.”
This, as mentioned, draws a sharp contrast with the common opinion today. It starts with this: Sola Gratia undercuts the belief that humans are essentially good. The idea that all humans are—for the most part—good people is quite popular due to its affirming and inoffensive nature. This, however, is not the biblical teaching. No, what the Bible says is that all mankind is fallen in Adam [Romans 4:12, 19] and are “children of wrath” [Ephesians 2:3] by virtue of their sinful nature. As a result, a man cannot enter the kingdom of God unless he is “born again” by the Holy Spirit [John 3:3, 5]. Sola Gratia contradicts the notion of man’s goodness because it holds that were it not for God’s all-sufficient, all-effective grace, no man would be saved. Many believe—because they believe themselves to be mostly good—that they only need a little grace to cover their (relatively minor) mistakes. In essence, they believe that God’s grace works in addition to their good behavior, and that when both human and divine initiative are brought together, then someone is saved (this is called synergism—the presence of two or more movers in the event of salvation). Note, it is highly unlikely that anyone would deny that they need God’s grace (it would take a great level of delusion and self-deception for one to be convinced that he had never sinned), but what is most prevalent and equally dangerous is the belief that man does part of the work and God closes the gap.
The Biblical Foundation
Sola Gratia—it should be no surprise to learn—is the unanimous testimony of Holy Scripture. Christian salvation (that is, the salvation that is offered in the New Covenant, which is the salvation offered to men today) is always and entirely ascribed to the provision of God’s grace—and never to our works or inherent goodness.
The New Testament makes sure to draw a strong contrast between receiving salvation by God’s grace and achieving salvation by works of the Mosaic Law. The Apostle John makes this distinction succinctly when he states in his gospel’s prologue, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” [John 1:17]. The Apostle Paul also labors to make this point clear in the book of Romans. At the end of the third chapter he writes,
“By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested… for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” [Romans 3:20 - 21, 23 - 24]
In first century Judaism, it was understood that one earned God’s favor (and therefore, eternal life) by keeping the Mosaic Law. It was believed that keeping the Law made a person righteous. Paul, however, refutes that notion. Instead, he says that the Law demonstrates our unrighteousness, emphasizing the necessity of God’s grace. Because the Law cannot justify anyone, we stand completely dependent on God’s grace as the sole cause of our salvation.
According to Paul, one is justified as a “gift” by God’s grace—that is, we receive salvation without earning it or by obligating God to have favor on us [Romans 3:24]. Paul wants to make sure you understand that you did not do anything to earn your salvation. He makes it clear: you are saved by grace alone. He demonstrates this by simply defining what grace means. Romans 4:4 says this: “Now to the one who works, his wage is not counted according to grace, but according to what is due.” Paul also says in Romans 11:6 that, “If it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” See, Paul understood that you cannot have some grace and some works. Either you are saved by grace—and therefore your works have no part to play—or you are saved by works. There is no situation in which you worked for some and were gifted some. If that were the case, Paul says, then it would not be grace at all. The fact is, if God gave us what we had worked for—or what was due—then He would have to damn us all, for “the wages of sin is death” [Romans 6:23]. But no, God has not given us what He owed us according to works. Instead, He had grace on us and saved us according to that grace alone.
Now, some have attempted to subvert the clear meaning of Scripture by saying, ‘Paul is discussing works of the Law. Of course, keeping the Law isn’t necessary for salvation… but we still need to perform good works to remain in God’s favor.’
But I ask you: what good works do you intend on performing that are not in God’s Law? If you have a list of good works that will earn you God’s favor—which aren’t recorded in the Law—then I’d like to know how you got them and how you know that they are good. The fact is, though, that no such list exists. In fact, Paul himself says that it is the Scriptures that equip us for good works [2nd Timothy 3:16 - 17]. So if we want to perform good works (which we ought to, not as a means of obtaining salvation but as a natural result of our sanctification) then we are told to look to the Scriptures, specifically—it seems—the Law. But Paul says that we are justified by grace apart from the Law and apart from works… Could it be more plain?
Now, others have argued that the works of the Law in view are ceremonial works like circumcision. And while it is true that Paul specifically identifies circumcision in his epistle to the Galatians, a closer inspection shows that his grief over the Galatians’ practice of circumcision grew out of his grief over people attempting to earn salvation by works. Look at Galatians 2:16: “a man is not justified by the works of the Law… since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” Here Paul makes a blanket statement about “works.” He does not qualify it by saying ‘works of the ceremonial Law,’ but he just calls them “works of the Law.” Now, look at how Paul uses the terms ‘works’ and ‘Law’ in Romans chapter 3. In Romans chapter 3 Paul is condemning the Jewish people under sin, and names a list of moral failings. It is in this context that Paul says, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested” [Romans 3:21]. So we see that Paul’s use of the term “Law” is not in reference to the ceremonial law but the moral law.
Therefore, the plain meaning of the Scripture stands: we are saved apart from keeping the Law. That means we are saved apart from any consideration of us having performed good works. No, we are saved by grace alone which is given by God as a gift.
Application
Because we know that our salvation was given to us by grace apart from any consideration of our works, we need not be concerned with maintaining our salvation by performing good works; God has given us eternal life as a gift apart from our own goodness, He will by no means revoke that gift if we are found to be lacking goodness. Rather, understanding the love and grace of God, we ought to be encouraged to confess our sins to Him knowing that He will forgive us and sanctify us, giving us the strength we need to serve Him—not out of necessity but out of thanksgiving.
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” [Hebrews 4:16]
See Also:
Ephesians 1:7
“In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace.”
Ephesians 2:5
“Even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:8
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
2 Timothy 1:9
“[God,] who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”
Titus 2:11
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.”
Titus 3:7
“So that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
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