God Loves… Himself

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 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. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.

It is utterly and absolutely vital to maintain and defend the doctrine of justification by grace alone. It is necessary to do so because it is biblical, but also because the freedom of God in giving grace and salvation must be asserted at all costs. It is also necessary to maintain this because of the attributes of God. While self-absorbed and self-centered humans think of themselves at the center of all things even if they have a God-centered theory, the fact of the matter is that God is the center of all things. Some non-Christians see how little they are and they are the ones defending the protection of the earth and animals to the detriment of human beings. It gives them the idea that they are serving something larger than themselves.

In verse 6 above we see that God freely bestows grace on sinners in the Beloved. This “freely” teaches us that grace comes to sinners because of God and not because of some good found in us. This teaches us that grace comes to sinners solely because of who God is and not because of something worthy or meritorious about us or done by us. Grace is given to sinners without any cause found in them or done by them, but instead all the cause of grace is found in God. This is also seen in the fact that this grace is given to sinners in the Beloved. Sinners must be in Christ to have this grace. In one sense we can see this because all spiritual blessings are only given in Christ (v. 3). It is only those who are united to Christ by grace who receive grace because of Christ who alone has merited and procured grace for His people. This is a great encouragement to sinners who have sensitive consciences and who see something of the gravity of sin. They don’t deserve grace, but that is no bar to them receiving grace. The bar to receiving grace is to think that one can be worthy of it to some degree.

This freedom of God to show grace quite apart from sinners deserving it does not lead people into sin when they understand it, but it leads and drives them to a thirst for God and His glory. Only those who have unregenerate hearts will think of grace as an excuse to sin. But the grace that saves is the grace that will give men a hunger and thirst for righteousness instead of sin. This grace is what moves men to holiness and it is what drives men to behold the glory of God in His grace. Grace comes to sinners in Christ and because of Christ and those who are in Christ live by the life of Christ and their life is Christ. Those who are in Christ have life because of grace and they walk by grace. Those who are in Christ are in the Beloved and while their hearts may stray here and there and nothing they do is perfect, nevertheless they live by grace and grace alone instead of their own imperfect hearts.

The greatness and freeness of this grace because God shows grace because of Himself rather than the sinner is a great encouragement to the worst of sinners to come to God. The poor believer with enlightened eyes may see himself as beyond hope, but his eyes need to be adjusted to behold the grace of God in the Beloved. Sinners are loved in Christ and because of Christ. Sinners are beheld by God in Christ and not standing by themselves. Saved sinners have grace procured for them by Christ and they are to seek it for the sake of His name and not for their own names. It is true that the holier a person is the more that person will have access to grace, but let us never ever make a mistake about where this holiness comes from. True holiness comes by grace and the soul that receives that grace receives more grace. If grace comes because of holiness then that turns grace into something we can obtain by our works. No, no, and a thousand times a thousand no. Holiness comes by grace and the one made holy by grace receives grace upon grace (John 1:16). It is of the fullness of Christ that we receive grace, not because we have worked for it.

What this should and perhaps must teach us is that all should seek grace because of Christ and in the name of Christ. Sinners of all kinds (regenerate and unregenerate) should seek grace because that is the only thing that can regenerate them or make them holy and give them (freely) more of God in Christ. The freeness of grace in terms of its coming apart from our own merit and works should drive us to seek Christ. God loves to save sinners and bring saved sinners to Himself to the praise of the glory of His grace. Seek Him by grace as it is the only way!

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 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. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.

The Gospel of grace alone is the Gospel which glorifies God alone as it strips man of any hope in his own works and glory. The Gospel of grace alone is the Gospel which is focused on what God does and on God saving sinners according to Himself and for His own purposes. Those who believe that God saves them for what they do and because of who they are in themselves have no basis for salvation at all. Sinners either believe that God loves them because of who they are or what they have done or they believe He loves them based on who He is. Since God alone is the origin and source of all true love, He must love sinners based on who He is rather than on what sinners are. This is part of the glory of grace. God saves sinners and gives them spiritual blessings according to Himself. God loves sinners because of who He is. God predestines sinners and adopts them because of who He is. God is motivated to save sinners for Himself.

The self-sufficient God saves sinners according to the good pleasure of His will (literal translation) and not according to their own good pleasure. This is getting at the heart of true grace. It was the pleasure of God’s will that moved Him to save sinners and not because the sinner was worthy or did anything that had merit or worth. God saves sinners because He is pleased to save sinners and it is His pleasure to save sinners because it glorifies His grace to do so. Most people seem to think that God will save them whenever they decide that they want to be saved, but that is precisely backwards. God saves sinners according to His own pleasure and when and if He decides to save them. If God saves sinners to the praise of the glory of His grace, then sinners are saved by grace and grace alone. If sinners are saved by grace alone, then there is nothing in them worth saving and no merit in them at all either. Salvation by grace alone means salvation by God alone. God saves according to Himself and the glory of His grace as He pleases. Anything else is something other than grace alone.

The text also shows us this by setting out how grace is given. It tells us that God saves to the praise of the glory of His grace “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Once again, clearly, grace is only found in the Beloved or in Christ. All spiritual blessings are only found in Christ and are given in Christ alone. But even more, grace is given in manner consistent with grace. While the English word is “freely” and that is at least part of it, we must understand something of the concept as well. For grace to be given freely, it must be given apart from worth, merit, or causation on the part of the one receiving it. If God saved for any other reason that because of who He is and because of His grace, salvation is because of another reason and not because of His grace alone.

If God is to save sinners on the basis of grace and give that grace freely, then God saves by grace and gives grace in accordance with grace. Sinners are saved by a grace that is free of merit on the part of sinners. Sinners are saved by a grace that is free of worth on the part of sinners. Sinners are saved by a grace that is free from the works of the sinner. Sinners are saved by a grace that is free from the morality of the sinner. Sinners are saved by a grace that is free from the righteousness of the sinner. Sinners are saved by a grace that will only save in accordance with grace and so that it is to the praise of the glory of the grace of God. There is no room for the sinner to be a part of any cause in his or her own salvation as that would diminish and detract from the grace of God in saving sinners for His own glory. There is absolutely no room at all for sinners to glory in themselves as they have nothing to boast in. They are saved apart from their own worth and merit and all causation, which leaves them nothing to boast in but the glory of His grace and the glory of the cross of Christ. The Gospel of grace alone was planned by grace, purchased by grace, and applied by grace. This grace is freely bestowed on sinners and so they have nothing to praise and glory in but His grace. Away with the glory of self.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 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. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.

If the mind of the believer could be removed from a worldly way of looking at things that is focused on self and the senses, spiritual things would take the life and focus of the mind and the person would be like an alien in this world. The believer would love different things, live for different things, and the world would not hold any charms for him. Spiritual blessings would take the mind of the believer rather than worldly things. The thought of the blessings of God would be primarily spiritual. The believer would think of the doctrine of election is such a privilege and of such grace that his heart would be taken with God instead of the things of the world.

The idea that the standing of human beings is not of works and not all about the efforts of human choice is rather radical in most places, but then that God Himself would choose people in Christ before the foundation of the world is astounding if one really thinks about it. Not only did God choose people, He chose them to be holy and blameless in His presence. Now this is a spiritual blessing beyond compare! God takes people who are nothing but sin in and of themselves by nature and practice, but instead of casting them into hell for all eternity He sends His Son to die for them and earn for them a perfect righteousness and in that they are considered holy and blameless before God in His Son. One can think of this only in a doctrinal way, but even then this is a great doctrine. But when one thinks of it in the context of an infinite God doing this for His enemies, His grace stands out and is exalted. This is a God worthy of complete adoration and total submission.

But this taking sinners and giving them a standing before Him of being holy and blameless in His presence is not where the wonder and glory of His grace stops, because He takes those people and in great love He predestines them to adoption as sons. Indeed and most assuredly this adoption as sons is in Christ Jesus because all blessings are in Christ Jesus. But it should not be missed that this adoption was done in love. God has taken His enemies, children of the devil, and He loved them and sent His Son to die for those enemies that His love would dwell in them. He took away the chains of their bondage and He took away their nature which was to be children of the devil. Out of love He adopts them as His sons and He makes them heirs of Christ and gives them eternal life rather than what they deserve which is eternal death in hell.

What shines in this glorious reality? It is the grace of God in Christ Jesus. While there is all the talk in the modern day of this universal love of God where He saves all people because He loves all in the same way, this text knows nothing of nonsense like that. This text teaches with great clarity that God chooses some and He loves some. Those whom He sets His love on He adopts as His children. Not all are His children but instead they remain children of the devil and are in bondage to self, the devil, and their sin. The children of God are freed from their bondage and slavery to those things and are now in the Beloved of God and are loved of God. The grace of God shines in this ever so brightly. What distinguishes one lost sinner from another is not the will of man or the works of man, but instead it is the grace of God.

In this great grace of God sinners can rejoice with an everlasting joy. In this great grace of God those who see that they are still sinners and really bad ones at that can rejoice in the grace of God. No, grace does not excuse our sin and is not a motivation to continue in sin, but grace gives comfort to sinners who fight with sin day in and day out. Their hearts accuse them because their motives are not perfect and they know that they have little love and little faith, but God in His great grace has given them a perfect standing in His presence in Christ. These sinners know that they are not perfectly faithful each hour much less all the time, but they have grace in Christ. These sinners know that they can do nothing good unless it comes from Christ first, and yet they would have it no other way. These sinners live by grace and want nothing but grace. The honor and glory is all His and that is exactly what these adopted children want. They want to do all for His glory though they fall far short. But these people have the strength of grace and that is all they need. The God of glory is their God and He is so by grace alone.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 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. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.

Here is one of the most comforting passages in all of Scripture, but it is comforting because it sets forth a thorough God-centeredness in terms of grace. We can read passages like this, as is often done, as if it is nothing more than a statement of doctrinal truth or perhaps a sort of historical narrative. But this passage should be read with adoration on the glory of God. It is not possible for passages like this to be analyzed as one analyzes a novel as this passage shines forth from the depths of the glory of God and those depths are unfathomable. It is possible to understand the doctrines of this passage and perhaps the logic of it and yet be blind to the real beauty and glory of it. God has revealed this for the good of His people and He is the good of His people. When the people of God are in awe and wonder of this glorious God, then that is what is best for them.

The finite mind, and especially the fallen finite mind, has no idea of what it means to be blessed with every spiritual blessings in Christ. It is also true that this is something that those who are drawn to God through Christ will grow in understanding of for eternity. But Paul starts off with declaring how blessed God is. Only a Being that is eternally and infinitely blessed could possible give sinners every spiritual blessing. Perhaps we think Paul is blessing God, but it is far more likely He is declaring the glory of how blessed God is. How great and how wonderful is this great God who from His eternal blessedness grants, gives, and procures blessedness for sinful human beings in Christ. Since all of these blessings are in Christ, all of these blessings have been purchased by Christ. But God the Father sent the Son to do these things out of His great kindness and love.

While the world pants after worldly things, the believer is to pant after spiritual things. The world has to work and earn what it gets, unless it steals them, but the believer is given all things by grace. While it is the case that many people obtain worldly wealth from parents and other relatives, many waste that wealth. But all spiritual blessings in Christ are safe and secure in Christ and cannot be wasted or taken. The great wisdom of God is in giving these according to how He is working to mature His children. For all eternity these great spiritual treasures are safe in Christ and so these are available both now and for eternity.

The eternal God is perfectly blessed in all ways. He lives within His perfect triune Being in perfect joy, perfect love, and perfect fellowship. He has utterly no need in His perfect self-sufficiency. It is from this perfect blessedness and self-sufficiency that the saints (all true believers) are given all spiritual blessings in Christ. It is not that God looks upon human beings and picks out the best and the most worthy. It is not as if those who work the hardest or the best are picked out and given blessings for what they have done. It is not those who have worked hard at being holy and have practiced and practiced until they develop some high level of purity. But God, because of who He is, has taken vile and wretched sinners and has chosen them to make them holy and blameless in His sight. This is a blessing beyond human comprehension. The great and blessed God who hates sin has taken some rebels who hate Him and sin against Him on purpose and with great joy and gives them eternal blessings in Christ Jesus. If our hearts were not so hard we would gasp at such a spectacle as that.

But this great God has done this out of sheer and glorious grace. He has taken rebels and those who lived at enmity with them and He has given the all spiritual blessings in Christ by grace alone. These wicked sinners hated holiness, but He has made them holy and granted them a holy standing before Him by grace alone. These wicked sinners had no love for Him at all and lived out of self-love which demonstrated them to be children of the devil, but God has taken His enemies and has taken away their enmity and gives them a perfect standing before Him in Christ and He does that by grace alone. This blessed God is the source of all blessings and He only gives blessings by grace and grace alone. How sinners should fall on their faces while turning from their love for self with disgust and loathing and cry out to God for grace. What a glorious grace this is and all should seek it with zeal.

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.

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.

In reflecting upon sheer and glorious grace, it is necessary to look at the nature of grace, the source of grace, and the objects of grace. If we are wrong on any of the three parts of grace, we are wrong on all parts. The three parts go together and they fit together, so if one part is wrong the other three will not fit as well. As usual, the human mind will twist things and Scripture in order to get things to fit a wrong notion. But surely it is obvious that if we are wrong about the nature of grace, that would at least have a major influence on the source of grace and the objects of grace. In fact, if we are wrong about the objects of grace we will twist the nature of grace and the source of grace as well in order to allow for people to receive grace (in theory).

The nature of grace cannot really be separated from the source of grace (God as triune), but perhaps a distinction of sorts can be made. Throughout Scripture (and two of the verses above) it is quite plain that justification by grace is not the same thing as salvation by works. However, when one begins to narrow that down to grace alone, we can easily see that this means that no works have any part in the sinners justification. When the effort is given to show sinners just what it means to have no works in justification, they get angry because unregenerate sinners hate real grace. Even more, there are those who have the name of orthodox and have brought the name “grace” into many things that are works but also go under a different name. This is why this is so vital to the Gospel.

Grace is either free of causation or it has some causation. Grace is either free of causation on the part of the receiver or it has some causation on the part of the one receiving. Grace is either free of causation on the part of the giver or it has some causation on the part of the receiver. While these points/questions may seem arbitrary or even silly, they are actually quite vital in understanding the nature of grace. When we speak of grace apart from works, it is not that the intent is that grace is apart from the works of Christ, but instead it is apart from the works of man. This is a huge muddle that we must get clear. For the Gospel of the glory of God in Christ to be totally apart from the works of men, it must then be totally on the works of Christ. The work of Christ in this life, His sufferings on the cross, and His resurrected life as Mediator for His people are the total basis for the Gospel instead of any work of man. Grace is glorious because it has to do with the Person and work of Christ in obtaining salvation for sinners apart from any work they can do.

The moment we make the move at trying to understand the nature of grace, it takes us right into the character of God and the character of man. If grace is nothing more than God being able to overlook sin and save all human beings, then that has a lot to say about the nature and character of God that contradicts Scripture. It is not that there is something called grace out in some corner of the universe that has nothing to do with who God is, but instead the very nature of grace is determined by the giver of grace. If we look at why the Giver of grace gives grace, that is also helpful in determining the nature of grace as well.

For the moment we will take Ephesians 1:5-6 (see at the top of page) and say that God gives grace to the praise of the glory of His name. This is to say that God saves sinners by grace so that He would be manifested and glorified in doing so. Even more, Ephesians 2 says the same thing in a different way. What we must see in this, however, is the God-centeredness of God in showing grace. It is the nature of God that determines the nature of grace.

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.

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.

One of the most insidious ways that the concept of grace is abused and used to distort the truth of the Gospel is to make grace man-centered rather than God-centered. What this does, in effect, is to turn things totally around and put man in charge of his own salvation with God pleading with men to choose Him. In reality, however, God is in charge of all things including salvation and man should seek the Lord pleading with God to regenerate him.

When grace is turned from its thorough God-centeredness and the focus is turned on man, it is no longer a biblical grace that is being spoken of but instead is just another man-centered message. Not only does a man-centered message of salvation leave men in the bondage of self while focused on self, it also gives the appearance of God being focused on man as well. Indeed, this is a travesty when this happens and it seems that this is the majority report in the modern day.

True grace comes to man based on God showing grace because of who God is and despite all that man is and what man does. This is to say that true grace is always found in Christ and because of Christ and what He has done rather than anything that man has done or can do. Grace is not only shown because of God and not because of what man has done, but it is impossible for man to do anything to earn any merit before God because men are totally depraved and as such have a complete inability to please God. Even more, grace is shown by God not because of what men will do or can do, but because they can do nothing. Grace is given to sinners because God saves sinners in spite of who they are rather than because they can do one thing or many to please Him.

A man-centered focus will leave men focused on men and their ability to do something in order to be saved, but a God-centered focus will leave men focused on God and His ability to save. How beautiful and delightful the glory of God in His grace is to those sinners who come to the realization of the truth that they have no ability to save themselves and there is nothing they can do to earn the slightest merit before God. When sinners are awakened to see these things about themselves and of what they so richly deserve in terms of the wrath of God for all eternity, it is a wonderful thing for them to see and understand that grace means that God saves because of God and not because of any merit they can do or any act that they can come up with.

The Scriptures teach us that even sinners love those that love themselves, so what we see is that when it is taught that grace saves sinners if they will just believe or if they will do some duty or duties, they will be deceived into thinking that they love God when in fact any unregenerate person would love God out of a heart that loves self supremely. But true grace teaches us that sinners hate God and are at enmity with Him and that is especially true of very religious sinners who trust in self and their duties. Oh how the glorious doctrine of a God-centered God is abused at precisely the point of grace and the Gospel in our day.

God saves sinners to the praise of the glory of His grace and He does that to the praise of the glory of His grace alone. He does not save sinners because of anything in them or of anything they do or can do, but because of Himself and the glory of His grace. This is so hard for the proud sinner who may be an outwardly wicked man or a very religious man because there is nothing man can do to contribute, but instead the very best a man can do is something else he needs to be saved from. God saves sinners by Himself and for Himself. God saves sinners out of His own self-sufficiency and so we can behold the luster of grace in that. But the proud sinner wants some of the glory and as such demonstrates that s/he does not understand grace because the Gospel of grace alone is where there is no boasting but in the cross of Christ.

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.

The Gospel of grace alone has been under attack at all times in the history of the Church. It may shine brightly for a moment, but even while the fire is being lit there is an assault launched in some way. For some the works of man are boldly taught as a way of salvation, but for others the way of works is hidden under the language of grace. The concept of grace is attacked and so many trust in the word grace or a concept of grace that is simply not biblical. It is true that the Gospel of grace alone is not friends at all with the libertines or those who think that grace alone enables them or frees them to sin, but again that is not true grace.

One of the problems with men understanding grace and then bowing to grace is that of the proud and wicked heart of man that is filled with self. In order for men to be converted they must die to self in order that they trust in grace alone, but self is full of pride and pride blinds men to spiritual truth and self and pride always have justifications for self ready to give. Self will not die without a hard fight. One basic principle to keep in mind is that self cannot and will not cast out self, so it must be grace that does the work. As long as men are under the control of self and pride, they will fight grace and hate grace because grace is always the enemy of self and pride.

The fallen heart of man is a perpetual factory of idols and that does not stop when man becomes religious, but instead it just continues on and in many ways it becomes worse. Religion enables the heart of man to be a great idol factory as well. In fact, the great idol of man is self. It is the self that man will do all of his religious acts for. It is for self that man will pray. It is for self that man will seek God, which clearly means that self is trying to use God to do what self cannot do. The great pride of man will always want something to do in order to maintain some element of control in his own salvation, though indeed that control is a figment of his imagination and is itself an idol. True grace which is always sovereign is hated by man who wants to rule over self and be his own sovereign.

It is utterly vital to understand that grace is always opposed to works for salvation in any form and in any way. True grace will work in the soul and the truly converted soul will be one that turns from sin during the life, but at the point of justification it simply must be insisted on that no work at all can stand with this free and sovereign grace. The soul that is saved by grace apart from works is saved by grace alone and without one work. Oh how the moralist hates this and how the proud heart hates that as well, but there is no work and no action regardless of how much sacrifice and how religious it is that can help grace to justify a human soul.

As Romans 11:6 shows us with great clarity, if it is of grace it is not of works. We can go on and say with great joy that if it is of grace apart from works then it is grace apart from one work at all because a pure and undiluted grace cannot have one work or that would mean that it is no longer pure and undiluted. One work would dilute grace (theoretically speaking) to where it was no longer grace alone.

Yet regardless of the power of the Scriptures in setting out grace apart from works, all through history men have tried to bring in a work or works in disguise and in doing so they are teaching a different gospel and that within the realm of orthodoxy. Instead of hating pure grace, the soul should love the glory of God that shines through the Gospel of grace alone. God alone is self-sufficient and the Gospel of grace alone really means that the Gospel is about how God saves sinners through Christ by Himself without the help of man at all. The Gospel of grace alone teaches us that the way people use justification by faith alone is a way of introducing a work and works to the Gospel. As said before, using the terms of orthodoxy people have brought heresy into the Church. The Reformers would not recognize much of what goes under the Gospel of today.