What is "Sola Gratia" ?

The words "sola gratia" mean "all of grace." This was part of the motto adopted by the Protestant Reformers, to express what they had come to recognize as the heart of Biblical religion (the other two-thirds being "sola scriptura" and "soli deo gloria").

In using this expression as the title for these articles, we are seeking to establish two points: first, our conviction that the salvation and everlasting happiness of human beings depend entirely upon God acting graciously toward them; second, we are endeavoring to show solidarity with the essential interpretation of scripture which distinguished the Reformation. On one hand we repudiate all thought of human beings possessing any moral or legal merit before God such as would obligate God to bestow salvation. The sad reality is that the entire human race has become morally corrupt in God's sight and is without hope of true happiness apart from the grace of God, grace which God is pleased to bestow through the incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, we disdain all thought of novelty. There is a great deposit of biblical understanding in the writings of the Reformers, Puritans, and those who followed in their train. We are thankful for these gifts of Christ to His church and freely own our indebtedness to them in the great things of God.

The "we" of whom and for whom I speak is the Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Mebane. "Sola Gratia" is an attempt by the congregation of Grace Reformed Baptist to share the good things we have received with our neighbors in Alamance County. The Holy Spirit in I Timothy 3:15 identified the church as "the pillar and ground of the truth." The church does not make truth or decide what truth is. The church upholds the truth which God Himself has given inerrantly in His Word, the Bible. Through these articles we are seeking to fulfill a portion of our responsibility to God and His truth.

Without any thought that we are adequate spokesmen for God's truth or that we possess a corner on the truth, our desire is that God's Word be given some voice in the public arena. Opponents of Divine Revelation have largely succeeded in excluding God's Word from our public life and discourse. Through these articles we hope, by God's grace, to make relevant application of Scripture to the ideas, practices, and problems common to all.

Your questions and comments are welcomed. But most of all, we urge you to take what you read and examine it by the Scriptures. If what you read is truth, please respond to it not as the word of men, but of God.