Sola Gratia: It Is by Grace Alone

Before we can see the grace needed to save, we must first see the depths of the human heart. Why must we be saved by grace alone? Why can’t we save ourselves or even have a part in our salvation? The biblical doctrine that Augustine taught, and which changed the Reformers, was that salvation is entirely the work of God. We are not merely sinners who need a little help. We are sinners who need to be rescued.

I believe many people struggle to understand this because they have a mistaken concept of grace. Some define grace as an opportunity or a chance that God gives the sinner. We even hear Christians refer to God’s grace as a “second chance.” But the reality is that we would all need an infinite number of chances. Grace has nothing to do with the mere possibility of being saved. God’s grace leaves nothing to chance.

Grace is often defined as the unmerited favor of God, and rightly so. God is not obligated to give it. If He were under any obligation, it would no longer be grace. As Paul writes, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6). But saving grace is more than an offer of kindness. It is the power of God to save sinners. God does not simply make salvation possible and wait for us to do the rest. He saves.

Paul makes this clear: “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). The totality of our salvation comes from God. Even the faith by which we receive Christ is the result of His gracious work in us. Nobody can boast because it is God’s grace alone that does the saving.

That raises an important question: What came first, your faith or God’s grace? Did God have grace upon you because you believed, or did you believe because God had grace upon you? To answer, we must understand how Scripture describes our natural condition. We are hostile to God (Romans 8:7), do not seek Him (Romans 3:11), cannot understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14), and are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). These descriptions share one truth: apart from God’s grace, we are incapable of coming to Him on our own.

Sometimes people describe a sinner as someone struggling to stay afloat in the ocean. If God throws him a life preserver, perhaps he will reach out, grab hold, and live. But that picture is far too generous. Scripture does not describe sinners as people on the verge of drowning. We have already drowned. We are spiritually dead. A dead man cannot reach for a life preserver, no matter how close it comes.

What, then, does grace do? God comes down into the depths, brings our lifeless bodies to the surface, and breathes life into us. His grace makes us alive! This is why Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again (John 3:3). We cannot give ourselves spiritual life any more than Lazarus could bring himself out of the grave. Regeneration is God’s work, not ours. Paul says that even when we were dead in our trespasses, God “made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5). Grace precedes faith because grace gives us life to believe.

And this grace never fails. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). He also said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Jesus did not wonder whether those given to Him by the Father might believe. He spoke of their coming as a certainty. God’s saving call is effectual: when He graciously draws a sinner to Christ, that sinner truly comes. The same Savior who gives life also promises to lose none of those the Father has given Him (John 6:39–40).

Yet God’s grace did not begin at the moment of our conversion. It reaches back before time itself. Paul declares that God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world” and predestined us for adoption “according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:4–5). God did not choose us because He saw something good in us or because He knew we would first choose Him. He chose us because of what is in Him: His mercy, His love, and His sovereign grace.

Paul makes the same point with Jacob and Esau. Before either brother was born or had done anything good or bad, God’s purpose of election stood, “not because of works but because of him who calls” (Romans 9:11). Why did God choose Jacob rather than Esau? Not because Jacob was more moral or deserving. Grace is unconditional. God is under no obligation to save anyone. The most astonishing question is not, “Why doesn’t God save everyone?” but, “Why does He save anyone?”

None of this excuses us from the responsibility to repent and believe. The gospel commands us to come to Christ, and everyone who comes will be received. But our believing is not the cause of God’s saving grace; it is its fruit. God opens hearts (Acts 16:14), grants repentance (2 Timothy 2:25), and works in us according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

Think back to the moment you trusted in Christ. Perhaps you remember hearing the gospel, responding, and believing. You really did believe. But behind that response was the gracious work of God, giving you life and bringing you to His Son. From His choosing before the foundation of the world to His drawing you to Christ, salvation is of the Lord—all of it.

It is by grace alone.