As we continue walking through the “5 Solas of the Protestant Reformation,” we now get to discuss why salvation is given by God’s grace, and not because we deserve it.
Undeserved love
There’s a way of viewing salvation that may strike many as odd, but it’s just as popular today as it was in the 1600s. At its core, it’s the belief that God saves us because we’ve done something to deserve saving. Those who are on their way to Heaven are only that way because they’ve somehow earned God’s favor, and with that, they’ve earned salvation.
Today, this is often because we have an inflated idea of our own worth. We get the idea that… well, of course God would send Jesus to die for me. I’m awesome! I don’t lie or steal, and I donate my time or money to people in need. I’m a good person, and good people go to Heaven.
Centuries ago, this idea of deserving salvation took on a different form. While we view our earned salvation through our morals, people throughout history have been much more focused on their actions. Like some modern circles of Christianity, there was a heavy emphasis on “Do this, don’t do that, and you’ll earn God’s love.”
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy… (Titus 3:5a)
The more we study God’s goodness, the more we’ll see our own wickedness. Even those things that seem to make us good people are often done for selfish reasons. It’s our own heart that makes it impossible for us to please God, which is why it would be impossible for God to save us with any work on our own part. We deserve nothing, yet God chooses to give us everything.
We want sin, not God
For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23a)
Left to our own devices, we will always run toward Hell. Many don’t realize it, but our choice to sin has brought us death. The first time we lied or got angry, we broke God’s law which He’s written on our hearts. And the older we get, the more we make ourselves an enemy of God.
as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
The reality is that there’s simply nothing we can do to save ourselves because there’s no good within us. We may have moments where we show the goodness of God, but even those times are done to make ourselves happy, rather than to glorify God. So the idea that we can do anything to earn God’s favor starts to fall apart as we study not only how holy God is, but how much we truly love sin.
God wants us, not our works
…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23b)
This is where God’s grace is not only important but absolutely necessary if we have any hope of salvation. Grace is easily defined as “God giving us what we don’t deserve.” And when it comes to salvation, that is absolutely true.
For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; (Isaiah 64:6a)
God doesn’t look for someone who is good enough for Heaven. He doesn’t look across the Earth and give grace to those who have managed to produce just enough good that He can love them. If we were to study the original meaning of “filthy rags” in that verse, we’d see God telling us that when we try to prove ourselves to Him with our righteous deeds, we’re basically presenting Him with used menstrual rags and saying “See God, look how clean I am!”
In reality, God doesn’t call us to do good. Instead, He gives us the ability to surrender to Him. He breaks through our love of sin, and hatred of Him, and shows us just how desperately we need Jesus Christ.
He doesn’t sit in Heaven waiting to be alerted to someone who has finally done enough good to deserve His grace. After all, giving someone what they deserve isn’t grace at all – that’s just doing the right thing. It’s by God’s grace, not our good works, that we are saved.
God’s grace, alone, saves us
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Here’s a very small of list things that don’t save us:
- Going to church
- Volunteering
- Not lying
- Raising our kids right
- Being a “good person”
- Giving money to the church
- Giving money to the poor
- Reading our Bible and praying every day
- Loving God
- Not being as bad as other people
- Obeying the Bible’s rules
- Having Christian friends or parents
- Being eco-friendly
- Working hard
- Being heroic
- Being a deacon, elder, or Sunday School teacher
- Having good intentions and trying our best
- Being really smart about the Bible
In contrast, here’s a complete list of absolutely everything that does save us:
- God’s grace
The point is that anything we try to contribute to our salvation gives us something to brag about. It lets us say that without our help, God couldn’t have saved us. We insist that we have some good within us that sets us apart from those who just weren’t good enough to squeak by. Although we acknowledge that salvation is a gift of God, we are still the ones who have to complete His work, and without our goodness we would never be saved. Or so we’re tempted to think.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekial 36:26)
And this is why understanding solo gratia is so important today. God is glorified by how good He is. His enemies are sitting under an eternal death penalty, one that they have fully earned and deserve. Yet instead of giving them justice, He gives them grace. He takes their hearts that are in absolute rebellion and instead offers the Holy Spirit. He does all of it.
God is amazing because He does what we never could. He sent His son to live the perfect, righteous life we never could. He poured out the punishment for our sins on Jesus Christ. And by His grace, He takes the righteousness of Christ and gives it to us, people who could never do anything to earn or deserve it.
Praise God that we are saved by God’s grace alone. Without it, we would never be saved at all.
Great blog Ray.