God Loves… Himself

It may seem tedious to have several posts on sola fide. Even more ridiculous, some would say, would be to spend much time on the word “by” in the phrase of justification by faith alone. I recognize the absurdity of it all in our modern day, but the spiritual reality of the day is that the Gospel of grace alone is being denied by many under the guise of justification by faith alone. I am not arguing that justification by faith alone is incorrect, but that what is being said about it today is different than what was taught about it in the Reformation and, more importantly, Scripture. We live in a day where the truth of the Gospel has been hidden using the historical language of the Gospel.

If we are going to hold to the doctrine of justification by faith alone as taught by Scripture, then we cannot allow for faith to be a work in the slightest way. The Scriptures tell us over and over that the Gospel allows man no room for boasting at all. The Scriptures tell us that we are justified by grace and not by works so that there would be no room for boasting (Ephesians 2:8-10). In all ways and at all times faith must not be a work. There is an analogy of this to a point in what is called the spiritual disciplines. We are told that the spiritual disciplines are things we must discipline ourselves to do. While I would argue that I Timothy 4:7 should not be used to justify what is called spiritual disciplines and it is exegetically improper to do so, that is not the point here. The means of grace are exactly that. They are means of grace. Grace is never merited or earned in any way, shape, form or fashion by any one other than Christ. Reading the Bible does not in and of itself bring grace to me or anyone else no matter how much anyone does it. Prayer does not in and of itself bring grace to me or anyone else no matter how much anyone does it. Grace only comes when God gives it and it is always based on Himself and nothing a human being does. Grace is always the prerogative of God and man can do nothing to even make it more likely that God would give grace. Grace is always based on God’s love for Himself within the Trinity.

If we try to teach that we should discipline ourselves in the modern sense of the word so that we may have grace, we have just taught a system of works. We should study Scripture and we should pray, but we must realize that it is God who teaches us spiritual things and gives Himself by grace in the study of Scripture. We do not go to Scripture to earn or make it easier for God to give grace; we go to Scripture to receive grace if God so chooses. We do not go to prayer in order to earn something from God; we go to plead with God for His sake to revive us again. It is in prayer that we receive grace rather than earn it. Grace is always optional with God at all times or it is not grace. We are to go to the throne of grace to receive grace and nothing but grace. If we go to prayer thinking we can get something because we pray, we are throwing ourselves back into a system of works. If we try to be holy in order to earn something or obtain something from God, we are throwing ourselves into a system of works. If we practice the sacraments or ordinances because we are trying to get something from God, we are throwing ourselves back into a system of works. Grace is always and only given because of Christ and in His name.

In order to get the issue of justification by faith alone drilled into our souls, we must always keep in mind that grace is never earned or merited in the slightest way. Our using the means of grace does not make it more likely that God will show grace, or grace is no longer grace. When we go to the means of grace we must always keep in mind that God has no obligation to show us grace because of our efforts. He does give grace through the means of grace but He is not obligated to do so. We only have Bibles because of grace and we only desire to study them if we desire to study them out of love for Him because of grace. If we desire to study them for selfish reasons, then we are trying to use the Bible to manipulate God for our own self-centered purposes.

I really am still discussing faith alone. I am trying to make the point that we have moved far from the truth of grace alone in Reformed circles too. We have many that have moved from baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Bible study, and prayer as means of grace where God may show grace if He pleases to being channels of grace at man’s disposal. That is Roman Catholicism, which believes it is the true Church and it has grace to dispense as it pleases. That is, when a person practices what Rome says, that person then receives grace. While many Protestants may not use Rome’s system, the same thought is present and many have forgotten that grace is always sovereign because it is God who shows it as He pleases. In justification by faith alone we must always remember that the reason it is by faith is in order that it would be to the praise of the glory of His grace which is always sovereign. A grace at our disposal is a grace that comes by the works of man. When we use the word “by” in justification, we are heretics unless we use it to set out the glory of a free grace that is not earned in any way by human effort but is in the hands of God to give.

We continue with sola fide in this post. I would like to continue looking at the link between grace alone (sola gratia) and faith alone, but also the other “alones”. The first four sola’s are tightly linked and cannot be separated in time or eternity. It is utterly impossible to have one without the other three. While the last sola (sola scriptura) of the five (in the order that I am treating them) is tightly linked, it is not linked in the same way. If grace is not received by faith alone, it is not grace alone but is grace plus some form of work. If we do not receive grace alone, then all of salvation and sanctification are not by Christ alone either. If salvation and sanctification are not by Christ alone, then they are not to the glory of God alone. In other words, the doctrine of faith alone is vital to all of Christianity. We cannot toss out faith alone without tossing out the core of Christianity.

Previously I mentioned that both the Arminian and the Reformed views of justification use the same words of “justification by faith alone.” Both use the same term, but historically the positions have meant something different by those same words. This is not a diatribe on Arminians, but on the Arminian position. This is also not a diatribe on Reformed people, but is against what seems to be a prevalent position among the Reformed today. If we do not stand firm on justification by grace alone through faith alone, we may appear gracious but we will have thrown out the Gospel and will be preaching another Gospel. It is true that there are many people in our day who use the words “justification by faith alone,” but that is a far different thing than truly believing in the justification by grace alone that comes through faith alone. Paul warned us sternly that there is no other Gospel (Galatians 1:6-9) and no one has the right to change the Gospel. We can strive for unity within a denomination and across doctrinal lines on some things, but we cannot have unity at the cost of the Gospel no matter what the reason is.

Martin Luther stood before the most powerful men in the professing Church and the political realm of his day and did not recant the Gospel of grace alone through faith alone. What we must understand is that he realized he was also standing before the living God, and he feared God more than men. It did not matter to him (ultimately) the men or the positions of men that he stood before. He could not give up the Gospel of grace. What we must understand is that we are also standing before the living God and we must learn to fear God more than men. It should not matter to us the position of men in a denomination or of the worldly courts, we must stand firm for the Gospel because the Gospel of grace alone through faith alone is the Gospel of the God we stand in the presence of each moment. If any man, woman, or child sells out justification by grace alone through faith alone that person is under the wrath of God. It matters not whether the person is a pastor or denominational leader, if that person does not believe (true faith) in justification by grace alone through faith alone that person denies the Gospel and we have no right to unite with that person. If a person agrees with us in words and yet not in the concept, we still have no right to unite with that person or persons. Even if people adhere to the phrase “faith alone” that does not mean that they adhere to grace alone in truth. Even if they adhere to the phrase “grace alone” that does not mean that they adhere to the biblical truth that is supposed to be expressed by that phrase.

It is also true that a person may not agree to a certain formulation of words but can still believe and trust in grace alone. Nevertheless, words are important and they have meanings. We have to explain and explain what faith really is and its link with grace alone, Christ alone, and the glory of God alone. The Gospel is so precious and so glorious that we can never for a moment relax our position on these things. One can say that we have so much in common with others that we should unite with them and work together, but let us not forget that the Pharisees had much in common with Jesus. Having a lot in common did not mean that they were truly united and it does not mean that we should be united with those who assert the Gospel of faith alone in words though they deny it in reality. If we would not work with people in the Gospel who assert that there is salvation in ways other than Christ, then we cannot work with them if they deny justification through faith alone. A denial of justification through faith alone (properly understood) is a denial that salvation is by Christ alone. It is also a denial that justification is by grace alone. Sola fide was utterly vital to understanding the thought and the Gospel that the Reformers taught. The question we have to ask in our time is whether they were biblical. If their teaching lines up with Scripture, then they taught the Gospel of God. If it does not, then let us repudiate the Gospel they taught. In our day we want to be both politically/denominationally correct and hold to the Reformers. We cannot have both if the Reformers taught the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ which is always by grace alone to the glory of God alone. That grace can only come through faith in order to be a grace that is truly grace and to the glory of God alone.

In the last post the effort was to set out that the true act of faith is to receive grace. In one sense faith is the sight of the soul (Hebrews 11) in that it is by faith that people looked ahead to see Christ and saw the certainty of the promises of God. Faith is what receives grace in order that there is nothing in the human being that merits or works for salvation. That is why only the humble receive grace because only those who are empty of self can have true faith which does nothing but receive grace. Salvation is by grace alone and must be received in a way that keeps all merit away from those receiving grace. That way is faith. We must point out this nature of faith or we will be in great danger of treating faith as a work. When we tell people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they will be saved, it is most likely that we will be understood as telling them that they need to make an act of the will to believe what Christ has said and therefore be saved. It sounds to them like they are being told to do something of themselves that they can do. But in fact they are being told to do something that is impossible for a proud and self-reliant person to do. If the very nature of faith is to receive grace, then it is the most humbling thing that we can tell a person that s/he must do if we tell them what it really means.

When we tell people to believe the Gospel, it must not be just an intellectual assent that we want them to give. The type of belief that saves is not one that just believes the facts but is a receiving faith. Understanding and believing facts is nothing more than the devil and any unbeliever can do. In fact, when Scripture uses “believe” in many cases what it really means is that one is to have faith but it is hard for people to understand what “faithing” is so it is translated as “believing.” In reality what we must tell people is that they are to believe (faith) in Christ alone in such a way that their faith is receiving grace alone to be saved. Only those who are broken from self and are truly humble can have true faith in Christ because to believe in Christ alone is to receive Him by grace alone and grace requires nothing of merit or works in those who receive it. The function of faith is that it receives grace. We cannot receive grace if we trust in ourselves in any way. This is a basic issue of faith.

John 1:11-13 shows how this works: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” It is clear from this text that those who received Him were those who believed in His name, but those who did not receive Him were those that did not believe in Him. Colossians 2:6 tells the same story: “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” It is by receiving Christ/grace through faith that one is saved and it is by receiving grace through faith that a believer grows. If a person truly believes, that person receives Christ. If a person receives Christ, then that person truly believes. A true faith has nothing to do but to receive Christ.

This points us to a vitally important part of justification by faith alone. If we take the word “by” as if to mean that faith is what we must come up with and it is faith itself that justifies us, then we are left with a justification that is by a work. If faith is something we come up with of ourselves (or even some of ourselves) then justification is by a work of man. This is an important point between Arminian and Reformed teaching. Both use the words “justification by faith alone” but both do not mean the same thing by it. The Gospel of justification teaches us that justification is by grace alone through faith alone. It would be more understandable to say that we are justified through faith alone. In fact, the longer phrase of “justification by grace alone through faith alone” shows this. Sinners are only justified by grace (Christ) and not by faith but through faith. Grace comes through faith and when it is said that a sinner is justified by faith alone it is an effort to say what Scripture says about men being justified through faith apart from works. What we must do is realize that Scripture is stripping men of any worth, merit, value, or works in terms of justification when it says that they are justified through faith without works.

The reason that Scripture strips men of anything they are or can do for justification is because justification is by grace alone which is to say that it is by Christ alone. Faith must be what receives Christ alone by grace alone because there is nothing else that strips man of all that he is or can do. What we must see is that a person must be stripped of all that s/he is or s/he will trust in his own merit or worth to some degree and so it is not grace alone that the person trusts in. A person that is not completely stripped of all merit or works cannot look to and have faith to receive grace and Christ alone by grace alone for salvation. This is not just playing with words or pointing to differences of semantics, this is an essential of the Gospel. The Gospel is by grace alone because it is earned by Christ alone and comes to human beings through faith alone. Anything else is a false gospel.

We will now move to thinking about sola fide (faith alone). This teaching of Scripture is easily distorted by a man-centered view of the world and of theology. However, if we start with the teaching of Scripture that God is God-centered and that all God does is to manifest His own glory, it will help us to understand the true activity of faith. We should also know that faith alone is related to Christ alone since God manifests His glory through Christ. Faith alone is tightly linked with grace alone because God operates according to Himself and grace is caused by Him rather than human beings. The activity of faith, therefore, is always primarily that which displays the glory of God through Christ and comes to human beings through faith.

Romans 4:16 – “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, ‘A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, ‘SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.’ 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.”

Romans 11:6 – “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.”

Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Habakkuk 2:4 – “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.”

James 4:6 – “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.'”

The five texts above demonstrate the main point about faith that we must hang on to with tenacity. Faith is not a human work or salvation would be by works. Faith is not something that a human being does in terms of work or effort, but it is the way human beings receive grace. Grace cannot be received by human worth, effort, work, or merit of any kind. Grace can only be received by the humble (empty of self) soul. As we see from Romans 4:16, salvation is by faith so that it may be in accordance with grace. So often we hear from Arminian and Reformed people alike that we must believe in order to be saved. That is true, but we are urged to have faith and believe as if an intellectual belief is all that is necessary. We are urged to believe without being told what the Bible says that it really is. If we do not understand something of the nature of faith and why we must believe we will miss the real point of faith and so miss the Gospel while teaching correct words about it.

Faith does not look to itself to see if it has faith, but looks to God in order to receive grace. Abraham believed in accordance with grace rather than His own works because he looked to God to perform the work rather than himself and even his own faith (Romans 4:21). Faith is what receives grace rather than faith being a work itself. If faith comes from human beings as something worked up by human beings, then salvation is by at least one work of a human being. If Reformed people are going to claim the five sola’s of the Reformation, they must hold to the teaching of faith (including justification by faith alone) that exalts the glory of God through Christ by grace alone as well. Faith has nothing to do but receive grace. When we are said to live by faith and work by faith, all that means is that we live and work by grace that has been received by faith. The proud always look to themselves and even faith alone. The truly humble do all by grace and so have nothing to boast of.

Sola gratia is an utter necessity for the Christian faith. There is no Christianity apart from the beauty of God shining in the glory of His grace in all aspects of the Christian faith. The world and the religious world pursues morality and good works while true Christianity is all of grace. Whatever is of grace is of God and whatever is of God in the life of true religion is of grace. It all must be of grace in order that it may be God shining forth in His glory. All of Christianity is of grace because it is all of His glory.

Religion apart from the truth of Christ acknowledges that all grace comes from Christ and that people need grace. However, it still wants to do something in order to obtain grace. That nullifies grace and makes it something other than biblical grace. Works come from grace rather than grace coming because of works. The fallen human mind and heart has these things reversed. All that the believer does is to be from grace alone in order that it is the life of Christ alone to the glory of God alone. When any work or merit sneaks in as a cause of grace in some way, biblical grace has been turned into something else. We must assert that 99.9999% grace is not grace at all because God will not share His glory with another.

We must view sanctification as by grace alone as well. In one sense there is no such thing as disciplining ourselves if we mean by that self-control to do the outward things of religion. Scripture does not use the term “discipline” in the same way modern Americans use it to refer to self-disciplined people. The reason that Bible study and prayer are means of grace is because they are means of GRACE. In order for them to be means of grace demonstrates that God is under no obligation to give grace to us in our study and prayer. Too often we hear people slipping into a form of works when they speak of what is termed “the disciplines” as if those things obligated God to give grace or that if a person does them that person will automatically be holy. When a believer studies the Bible God is not obligated to that person to show him or her great things in the Scripture or to be present with that person. When a believer is in something that people call prayer, God is not obligated to show grace to that person. All of God’s actions toward saved human beings are grace. For a believer to pray, that believer must pray in the name of Christ and go to the throne of grace to receive grace. We are never in true prayer unless we are at the throne of grace praising and worshipping God for being a God of grace and then whatever we ask it must come on the basis of grace. If we desire God Himself, that will only come by grace. If we are asking for other things, they must come from God who operates by grace alone in giving benefits to human beings.

Falling from grace alone (not the same as falling from grace in our lingo) is not limited to Pelagians and Arminians, but it seems that many in the Reformed ranks have been blinded by morality and external things in our day. The heart is so deceitful that it will use anything in an attempt to manipulate God and to get something from Him and yet still call it grace. We speak of human responsibility, yet that never obligates God to show grace. We speak of parental responsibility, yet that never obligates God to show grace. We speak of correct doctrine, yet that never obligates God to show grace. We speak of keeping the commandments, yet that does not obligate God to show grace. Some baptize infants and others baptize those who profess a form of the Gospel or even adhere to external Reformed theology and yet seem to deny that grace alone is a vital part of the Gospel itself. We press a choice or decision upon human beings without a thought of how that fits with the nature of true grace. We encourage people to live holy lives as if that obligates God to show them grace.

God does not need us in the slightest and is not benefited by us in any way. We live at His mere pleasure and He gives grace as it fits with His glory and pleasure. While we are commanded to seek Him that is far different than meaning that our efforts earn His presence or in some way move Him to be nice to us. No, what we must see is that if we are seeking Him in truth that is His grace as well. Human beings not only live at the mere pleasure of God, but their spiritual maturity is also at His mere pleasure as well. There is nothing within us that can move God to share His glory with us. We live by a sheer and utter grace at all moments. If we do good works, then those have been prepared for us as the workmanship of Christ. If we have love for God, that is also the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Living by grace alone means that we live in trust of the utter freedom of God to do all for the glory of His name and for His own pleasure. We live knowing that God is not obligated to us except as those who bear His name in Christ. This is true and free grace when we live and die by faith in His grace alone as uncaused by us.

Today we will continue on with the discussion of sola gratia (grace alone). The teaching of grace alone is not just an essential part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; it is an essential part of Christianity. The beauty of the glory of God’s grace shines and gives luster to all aspects of Christianity. A Christian must be strengthened by grace or s/he is strengthened in some way by self. We live by grace or we live by self. We are sanctified by grace or our sanctification is not according to truth. We bear fruit when the Branch works grace in us or our fruit is from the branch of self. We live by grace and do all by grace because we are to receive all from God who gives nothing other than on the basis of grace. The biblical doctrine of grace must saturate all that we do or we will be turned over to some system of works based on the strength and energy of self.

Colossians 1:5-6 is a beautiful text that shows us what is necessary for people to come to Christ, for people to grow in Christ, and then for people to bear fruit from Christ. The text reads like this: “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.” This text shows us that grace is at the heart of it all. What do people need to hear if they are going to hear the true Gospel of Christ? They need to hear that the Gospel is all of grace. What do people need to hear if they are going to grow in Christ? They need to hear of an increasing grace. What do people need to hear if they are going to bear fruit from Christ? They need to hear and understand grace in order to bear fruit. The fruit that a believer bears is really the character of God shining in and through that person. That is the glory of God that believers are to love and it is the life of Christ shining out through the believer by the work of the Spirit who works His fruit in the hearts of believers by grace alone.

It has been common to think that people need to be beaten over the head with threats of fire and brimstone and with dire warnings in order to grow. However, this text tells us that true growth and true fruit will only come when people understand grace. No matter what else a preacher must preach, he must preach grace or people will not bear true fruit. It is necessary for people to understand grace in order for them to bear true fruit. This is not to say that the topic of each sermon must be exclusively on grace, but as with the Gospel each sermon must point to or lead to Christ in some way. If there is no such thing as spiritual fruit apart from an understanding of grace, then we must show how this is absolutely necessary in all things as we preach and teach on many different things.

Holiness and sanctification are not from the will and hard works of man, but they (it) are from the work of grace in the human soul. Holiness is sharing in the nature of God rather than something that is obtained by a diligent will (II Peter 1:4ff). Jesus Christ Himself is said to be the sanctification of the believer (I Corinthians 1:30). No good has ever come to a human being in Christ apart from grace alone. Grace and truth were realized through Christ (John 1:17) and the glory that is seen in Christ is a glory of grace and truth (John 1:14). All that God does toward human beings in terms of salvation and sanctification is by Christ alone and so nothing can come to a human being apart from grace alone. It is only when people understand the grace of God in truth that they bear true fruit. As Jesus taught us in the Gospel of John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

A human being cannot bear spiritual fruit apart from Christ. No act of the will and no amount of hard labor or effort will produce one bit of spiritual fruit apart from Christ. It is not even that we do a percentage of the work and as long as part of it is from Christ we bear fruit, but there is nothing we can do apart from Him. If it is true that no one can do one spiritual thing apart from Christ, then all spiritual fruit is a work of grace alone in the soul. If all spiritual fruit is the work of grace alone, then we can see that people must understand grace in order to bear fruit and see it increase. While it may not sound like traditional American versions of Christianity, it is nevertheless the biblical truth. Until people are broken from self and look to grace alone to save them, they will not be saved. Until believers understand grace and so bear fruit from that grace, they will not be sanctified by grace alone which is true sanctification by Christ. God has saved sinners and will sanctify sinners to the praise of the glory of His grace alone. He must do it all by grace because He is holy and there is no other motive to move Him.

In this post we will continue our look at the teaching of sola gratia. As we think of the teaching of grace alone in terms of the Gospel, it might be that we think of it only in terms of justification. It might be true that there are people in the world who believe in a justification by grace alone and yet deny that the application of redemption is by grace alone. It might be that there are those who believe in justification by grace alone and yet deny a sanctification that is by grace alone. We must think of salvation in terms of grace and yet in terms of grace applying the whole of justification and sanctification. If at any point our theology or practice begins to step aside from the true grace of Christ, it is to that degree or distance apart from Christ who only operates by grace.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ by grace alone comes to sinners that are dead in sins and trespasses. There is utterly nothing they can do to earn or merit grace. If the application of redemption and all of redemption is not of grace alone, then redemption is not of grace alone. The application of redemption includes everything regarding the salvation of the sinner. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached in our day as if Christ lived, died, was buried, and was then raised from the dead and nothing else is left to do but for the sinner to believe. But the work of Christ must be applied by the Holy Spirit if the work of Christ is to be consistent with the grace that He purchased. In fact, the Holy Spirit was purchased by Christ or the work of the Spirit is not of grace and Christ alone either.

This may sound like another diatribe against Arminianism, and in reality it could be. However, this is also a diatribe against a lot of modern theology that goes under the title of Reformed. It seems as if the application of redemption is virtually a forgotten topic in theology today. We are told to preach the facts of the Gospel and urge sinners to believe. If a sinner believes, we are told that God has enabled the person to believe. However, what is the distinction between a sinner that believes the facts in his own power and one that truly believes by grace alone? It is the work of the Holy Spirit in applying the work of Christ to the sinner by grace alone.

In our day if a sinner is told that his heart must be humbled or that the sinner must be broken from his pride in order to believe, resounding words will be spoken against that person. Never mind that Jesus Himself told us in Matthew 18:1-4 that a person must be turned and become like a little child to enter the kingdom. Never mind that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We are told that if we do anything but tell a person to believe we are opposing the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Quite to the contrary, however, is the man who wrote the classic work on justification, James Buchanan. His is still the book that needs to be read on the subject. However, he also wrote a book on The Office and Work of the Holy Spirit in which he sets out the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion. Virtually all of the Puritan writers and the Reformed writers who followed the Puritans believed in justification by grace alone through faith alone but they also believed in the application of redemption by grace alone.

Let me make a bold and what may be called an arrogant statement. Without the teaching that Christ purchased the Holy Spirit Himself and the work of the Spirit in applying redemption to sinners, we do not have a consistent doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. We must always remember that the reason in history that people have stood for justification by faith alone is to protect justification by grace alone and by Christ alone. Unless it is the Holy Spirit that applies salvation by grace alone (and that includes His work in conviction of sin and regeneration by grace alone) we are left without a consistent Gospel of grace alone. If we teach that the sinner contributes anything to his salvation, many Reformed people would cry out that this is a teaching of works. But if the sinner is not broken from his pride and self-centeredness before he believes, then his act of faith is coming from his pride and is really an act of faith in himself. It is only when the sinner is broken from his pride that he can then trust in Christ alone by grace alone rather than himself. This is part of the work of the Holy Spirit in applying redemption. The Holy Spirit must break the sinner from his own strength, self, and pride in order for the sinner to look to Christ alone. If the sinner’s faith is not the work of grace alone, then the sinner is not saved by grace alone.

Regardless of a person’s doctrinal creed in our day, the teaching of grace alone is certainly not heard of very much. The facts of Christ are given and then it is left in the hands of sinners to believe. They are not told that the Holy Spirit must convict them of sin. That is left up to them to do if they are told about that at all. They are not told that the Holy Spirit must break them of their pride, but are left in their pride to believe. Whatever else that is, it is not a Gospel of grace alone. The Gospel of grace alone teaches a redemption applied by grace alone.

The issue of sola gratia is an enormous one. We have looked at God’s motives in grace and we have seen that God must be moved by Himself or grace is no longer grace. As we have noted before in the past few months, Luther wrote his masterpiece on The Bondage of the Will in order to defend the teaching of Scripture on grace alone. Today we have people who adhere to a creed of grace alone and yet throw the teaching of Luther on the will under the bus for their own purposes. As we have noted in previous posts, though perhaps not so clearly, one cannot have Christ alone for salvation without grace alone for salvation. One can preach Christ alone in some way, and yet without the teaching of grace alone there is no Christ alone in truth. One can preach Christ alone as a creed and yet not be saved by grace alone in truth. A stated belief in a doctrine is not the same thing as the reality in the heart.

At some point the recognition of what grace alone really means must come crashing into the reality of people today. It is not just a matter of whether a person says s/he believes that salvation is by Christ alone, nor is it a matter of whether a person says that s/he believes in grace alone. What matters is if the person has grace and Christ in the heart. We can fight over the issues of free-will and so on if we wish, but that can be nothing but intellectual subterfuge and an attempt to hide our own hearts from God. The doctrine of grace alone is unassailable and when anyone attacks it in name or in reality, that person is in eternal peril. A person who claims to be Reformed can have an intellectual belief in a creed and yet deny grace alone by what s/he states about grace. We are not dealing with tinker toys here; we are dealing with the glory of God in the salvation of eternal souls. It is to be unfaithful to God to simply state that if a person has a stated belief in Christ alone or in grace alone that the person is then a brother or sister in Christ. The person must truly disbelieve in self and believe in Christ to truly be a brother or sister.

One of the things stated in the modern day during discussions about Arminianism and Calvinism is that Arminians profess to believe in salvation by grace alone and by Christ alone. That may be true, but do they mean the same thing as God does in Scripture and according to His character when He says salvation is by grace apart from works (grace alone)? When Reformed people stand up and defend Arminians as a whole or in a particular denomination rather than particular Arminians, the best we can say is that it is very naïve of them. We could also say that we have to wonder what the Reformed person believes about Christ and grace alone when s/he is so willing to receive as brothers and sisters so many who just give lip service to a teaching. In a recent discussion with two Mormon “elders” they professed to believe in salvation by Christ alone. Roman Catholics profess salvation by Christ and grace too. In other words, there are so many people out there who profess Christ and grace by word that the terms are virtually meaningless without some pointed and specific discussion. Going under a theological title has never been enough to guarantee that a person believes in justification by grace alone and it is especially not today.

In the political realm the positions of major parties are not all that clear. A person can be more in line with the platform of the Democratic Party and still be a Republican. The same is true in the reverse. If a person wants to vote according to truth and conscience rather than just according to party lines, a person must look at the individual and look past the rhetoric and try to discern what the person really stands for. The same is true in theology. We must begin to look past the theological party that a person belongs to and begin to get at what they really stand for theologically. If a person does not truly stand for grace alone in terms of what it really is and not just in words, that person is not an orthodox person. What our churches and what our nation desperately need are men and women who are willing to be called names in order to stand for the truth of the living God. It is far easier to give in and call anyone a believer who mouths the words than it is to stand for grace alone. But if we are the children of God, then we are called to love God more than the whole world.

The doctrine of grace alone as it fits with soli deo gloria and solo christo is that important. It is not enough to be a good moral person and it is not enough to adhere to an external creed that is orthodox. There is no other real Gospel but that of a real Christ who really and only saves by Christ alone. There is no other real Gospel of Christ alone but the real Christ who really and only saves by grace alone. We can say words that do not express the real convictions of our souls and we can express the convictions of our souls by orthodox words that are not in accordance with the one and true Gospel. The issue of grace alone is worth splitting churches and denominations over. If a church is not one that truly holds to grace alone, it is not a true church because one must have the true Gospel to be a church. If a denomination is one that does not stand for grace alone but simply wants to get along for the sake of the denomination, it is no longer a Christian denomination. Grace alone is that important.

Last time we looked at the motives of God in saving sinners, which is at the heart of real and biblical grace and thus sola gratia. While it may be popular to look at grace from a man-centered perspective, the heart of man as fallen will never arrive at a true view of grace. As long as theologians look at theology from a man-centered view of God’s perspective, they will never see the real beauty of grace. Even more, as long as theologians, Bible teachers, and pastors think they are God-centered because they speak much of God but really as it has to do with man first, the professing Church will not repent of its self-centeredness and see the glory of God in Christ. We must return to think, love and serve the God who is centered upon Himself first of all and calls and commands all men to share in His God-centeredness.

In the past few posts I have taken pains in an effort to show that true grace is always God-centered in the sense that it is God’s love for Himself that moves Him to show grace. If there is any motive in God that is from something that man is or has done, then God has a motive that is not from Himself and God makes grace to be no longer grace. If man trusts in his own worth or as having done works that he thinks will motivate God to save him or to receive something from God, then man has made grace out to be something other than grace. But it is also true that if God has a motive in Himself that is not love for Himself then God makes grace to be something other than grace. This is an absurdity as God is perfectly holy and is perfect in His love for Himself (how He is love in perfection and holiness) and can never be motivated by anything greater than love for Himself. The teaching of grace as God-centered is simply glorious as it shows the true beauty of God in His determination and decree to do all to His own glory in all things. Grace must always be to the glory of God or it is not true and pure grace.

In order for biblical theology to protect the teaching of God and of grace, it must teach a grace that flows from the one and true God that loves Himself as triune and can only share that love from a motive that is out of His love for Himself. The God-centeredness of God is not just an optional teaching; it is a necessary teaching in order for biblical teaching to be pure in its theory and in its practical application. In one sense, there can be no teaching of grace apart from a God-centered God and yet there can be no truly God-centered God apart from a God that operates and saves on the basis of grace alone. I will give five verses below that weigh mightily on this thought.

Isaiah 42:8 – “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.”

Isaiah 48:11 – “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

These two verses show the biblical God who will not give His glory to another. God acts for His own sake and will not let His name be profaned. Over and over in Scripture we see that God does all for His own glory, for His name’s sake, and for His own sake. If God did something for another that was not for His name’s sake that would be giving His glory to another. God operates according to His name’s sake and so grace must always be motivated by God’s doing all for His own glory.

Acts 12:23 – “And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

Revelation 16:9 – “Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.”

These two verses show us the severity of God when men do not give Him the glory and also what true repentance is. If a person has an outward repentance from external sin and is now given over to good works, that does not mean that they have repented in truth so as to give glory to God. True repentance is when a person turns from seeking his or her own glory to living to the glory of God, which is God in the human soul working His own glory in and through that person. True grace, therefore, will never work in a person a motivation or desire to do anything apart from true repentance and doing all to the glory of God. The grace that works repentance will always turn the soul to love the glory of God and do all by that grace to the glory of God.

Ephesians 1:6 – “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

When we see this verse tied in with God doing all for His name’s sake and not giving His glory to another, we can see that grace will not share the glory, praise, and honor for salvation with any human being. Salvation is always by grace alone because it is always to the glory of God alone. He will not give His glory to another. We see that repentance is to turn to give Him glory. Repentance is by grace and so grace always shines the love of God for Himself. It is grace alone because God always loves Himself as His true motive and so always does all to manifest His glory.

We started looking at Sola Gratia (grace alone) last time. Today the subject matter will be on the motive or motivations of God in showing grace or perhaps the cause of grace. Abraham Booth’s (died in 1806) wonderful book, The Reign of Grace, points out an essential part of grace. He went to the first cause of grace from God’s perspective rather than man. He demonstrated from Romans 3:24 (being justified as a gift by His grace) that the Bible teaches that there is no cause within man for grace. The text says that sinners are “justified as a gift by His grace” and other translations use the word “freely” rather than gift. The real idea is seen in John 15:25 (“THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE”) which translates the same Greek word as “without cause.” The Jews hated Jesus freely or without cause. They hated Jesus, but the cause was not found in Jesus but in their own hearts. A literal translation of Romans 3:24 with an explanatory word added would read like this: “Being justified without cause within themselves by His grace.” This text points to an essential truth about grace in that without it, grace is no longer grace. That truth is that for God to save by grace He can find no cause within man to save man. Sola gratia teaches us that all the causes for salvation are found in God and that man is saved for no cause or reason found in him. When people are trusting in their own works or worth they are trying to provide God with a cause to save them and are not looking to grace alone. Grace cannot have a cause within a human being or it is no longer grace. God’s only cause in His grace is Himself or grace alone is simply an empty term without any real meaning.

This is a truth that should be driven home in each heart because it is necessary to see the beauty and freeness of grace. This truth should deliver souls from the notion that they can contribute anything at all to salvation. This should show us the brokenness of heart and the brokenness from pride and self-love that is needed. When the Bible speaks of a salvation that is by grace alone through faith alone, it is speaking of a salvation that comes to sinners apart from any worth or merit on their own. Yet unbelief is a state of unbelief in Christ from the depths of the soul and therefore a belief and trust in self and pride. A soul must be broken from its pride and trust in self in order to be saved from sin by Christ who does it by grace alone. A soul must be broken from any idea of merit in self or by self in order to truly trust in grace alone. To the sinner that the Spirit has enlightened to see how utterly vile and helpless s/he is, this is music to the spiritual ear. God saves sinners because of Himself (grace) alone.

The older orthodox teaching was that sinners had to be broken from all trust in self and pride before they would or could trust in Christ alone for grace alone to save. This showed the sinner that s/he must trust in grace alone or not trust in grace at all. It demonstrated to the sinner that the whole soul must be broken from trust in self in order to truly rest in grace alone which is the only way to trust in Christ at all. What we must get at is the connection of the motives of God in saving sinners with the sinner’s motives. God’s motive in saving sinners by grace alone is to shine forth the glory of His grace. There is not one place in Scripture that tells us that God’s motives are to make the sinner feel good about himself or that He needs just a little of the work of man to save man. The soul of man must in some way be broken from any hope in himself in order to trust in what God is really doing. If God saves sinners to the glory of His grace, then if a man trusts in himself as giving God a motive (whether man realizes that or not) that man is at odds with the whole purpose of God in salvation. Man must trust in God to save him in the way that God is really saving. That way is grace alone. Man must trust in grace alone to be saved. If man tries to do or be something before God in order to be saved, he is trying to give God a motive other than Himself to save a sinner. It is an effort to get God to love a sinner more than Himself and is opposite of how God really saves. God’s only motive is His own glory and for Him to obtain that glory He changes the heart of man so that man desires to be saved by grace alone as God views and shows it rather than any other motive at all. It is by God’s grace alone.

The Gospel of grace alone demands that the Gospel of Jesus Christ be motivated by God’s love for His own glory or it is not by grace alone. The Gospel that is meant to display the glory of God’s grace in His love for Himself cannot have any rivals in terms of the cause of salvation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ rings with the beauty and glory of grace because it rings with the beauty and glory of God in His love for Himself. The very beauty of God as love is His love for Himself. The delectability of God to the human soul is that God is so glorious in His love for Himself that He manifests His glory in saving souls totally out of His love for Himself. God’s love for Himself is manifested in Christ and then in all those that Christ lives in. God’s love for Himself is so great that the only cause that He needs to save sinners is His love for Himself. His love for Himself given to sinners who then repent of their self-love and then have His love in them is the very heart of grace. God’s motive to save sinners is His love for Himself and His determination to display His glory in Christ. That is why sinners are only saved by grace alone.