Romans 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
2 Timothy 1:9 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 granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
Eph 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:5-6 (above) and Ephesians 2:4-7 set out the glorious truth that God saves sinners for His own name. God saves sinners because (causal) of who He is and not because of what is found in the sinner. Now this is good news because those who know their own hearts know what vile and wretched people they really are in the sight of God. Grace flows from God and so it is directly and inextricably connected to the nature of God. This is to say that the nature of grace and the nature of God are in many ways one and the same since what comes from God must be consistent with His character.
Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
The Gospel of grace alone is also the Gospel of Christ alone. Sinners are said to be justified by faith alone in our day, but that phrase has lost its connection with its partners and so has changed meanings. In the Bible a person is justified by grace alone through faith alone, which is to say that a person is justified by Christ alone. When the Scriptures tell us with great clarity that we are not saved according to our works but according to His purpose and grace (II Tim 1:9), the Scriptures set out the truth in both a positive assertion and a negative assertion as well. In Ephesians 2:4-7 we see that it is the richness of the mercy of God because of His great love with which He loved that is what moved God to save sinners. Sinners are dead in sins and trespasses, but God makes them alive together with Christ. The text is rich with the character and activity of God toward dead sinners. But why does He do this? One, we see that it is because of grace that He does this. Two, we see that it is because He desires to show the surpassing riches of His grace toward sinners in Christ Jesus. Three, all of this is connected to Christ.
If all grace is in Christ and we can say that all grace is obtained or procured by Christ, then we may be able to distinguish between Christ and grace but we must never separate them. When the Bible says that sinners are justified by grace without the works of sinners it is saying that sinners are justified by Christ without the works of sinners. As Ephesians 1:3 teaches that all spiritual blessings are in Christ. II Timothy 1:9 says that this grace sinners are saved by is granted in Christ. Ephesians 1:5 says that God predestines and adopts sinners through Christ to Himself and that is to the praise of the glory of His grace. When sinners are said to be made alive together with Christ (Eph 2:4-7), they are said to be saved by grace. What is set forth here in the pages of Holy Writ is that there is no grace apart from Christ and there is no having Christ apart from grace.
One position that this leads us to is that all that God does in and for sinners is in and through Christ. All that Christ does is by the grace of God and is for the glory of God. We can say for sure that God does not deal with sinners in terms of salvation on the basis of their own works, but He deals with for salvation based on Christ and His works alone. This salvation that comes to sinners has been worked out from eternity in the plans and decrees of God, but it comes to sinners in Christ and it comes on the basis of grace alone. All of God’s plans and relations to sinners He is going to save is in and through Christ alone and yet by grace alone because it is to His glory alone. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. This is great hope to sinners. God does not look to sinners to do some work or even the slightest amount of work in order to be saved. Instead, He works this grace on them to break them of their pride so that they will have no hope in themselves but in Christ alone. The glory of His grace shines brightly throughout the universe as He saves sinners by Christ alone.
God Loves... Himself 
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