Are We Saved by Grace Alone?
Share
Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther challenged the doctrine of the Catholic Church, leading to what we call the Reformation. On of his major issues was the biblical truth that salvation comes by grace alone through faith, not by works or indulgences (a system the Catholic church had where people paid them money to get out of purgatory and into heaven).
Through reading Paul’s letters, Luther saw that God justifies sinners not through their efforts or ability but as a gift of Christ. Luther rejected the Catholic teaching that sacraments and good deeds have value for salvation. As part of his message and reforming efforts, he wrote the Five Solas. Along with Grace alone, there is Scripture alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone.
By highlighting salvation by grace alone, Luther focused on the biblical truth of God’s love and righteousness as the ground for salvation. It is through nothing we can do on our own.
However, the idea of grace alone hasn’t been a settled doctrine, not completely. While the Catholic Church may have adjusted a bit, they still preach salvation of grace and other added acts. Are we truly saved by grace alone? If so, why are there other “solas”?
What Is the Biblical Idea of Grace?
Biblically, grace centers on God’s undeserved gift of His power and ability. Grace flows from God’s character, showing us His great love and desire to rescue us from sin and death. Since we didn’t have the strength for this, God had to empower us.
Scripture teaches grace as more than kindness. It’s God’s power working in and through us. Grace brings us from death to life, from separation from God to reconciliation to the Father.
Titus 2:11-12 shows us the active nature of grace. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.” Grace isn’t being nice or a passive action. It transforms us and grants us the ability to reject sin, to be free from our corrupt natures, and to live a set-apart life. Again, we could never do this on our own.
Paul recounts how God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). So Paul wrote, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Here, Paul equates God’s grace as power, and more than enough. We ourselves are weak, and this allows God to reveal His strength in and through us.
God’s grace comes to us through Christ. Jesus came “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), and from him “we have all received grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Jesus is the power of God, the grace given to us as a gift, and we receive it through submission to Him.
Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve: forgiveness, power, and a transformed life. It is His gift, His power, and His invitation to live in His love.
Where Do We See the Doctrine of Grace Alone in the Bible?
In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul makes the argument. Salvation comes completely from God’s grace and not human effort or works. He begins in the first three verses by recounting the hopeless human condition. We are dead in sin, following our own selfish desires, tempted by the world. In this, we deserve God’s wrath. We can’t save ourselves because we’re spiritually dead.
Through Christ, we aren’t hopeless, however. Paul says in verse 4, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us … made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.” Mercy refuses to give us the wrath and consequences we deserve. God forgives us through the blood of Jesus. Grace gives us the power and ability we don’t deserve. Both mercy and grace flow from God’s abundant love. God acted to rescue us, raising us up in Christ and placing us with the Father in heavenly places.
Next, Paul writes the famous truth in verses 8-9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation can’t be earned. It’s a gift. Faith is the avenue, but faith is also a gift, God revealing Himself to us. Grace humbles us; it leaves no room for pride. It glorifies God’s love, giving nature, and mercy.
From beginning to end, salvation remains God’s work entirely. Through forgiveness and grace, He creates a new people in Christ. Not by good works but for them. Those works come from Him, too; He prepared them before we even knew Him (Ephesians 2:10).
In context, Paul argues that salvation is entirely God’s work from beginning to end. He is not just offering forgiveness; He is creating a new people in Christ, formed by grace, for good works that God prepared beforehand (v. 10). Paul’s aim is to exalt God’s glorious grace (1:6) and show how it unites Jews and Gentiles in one new body.
Our only boast comes from what God has done, nothing of ourselves. With this in mind, Martin Luther challenged church doctrine gone awry.
How Did Martin Luther Express the Importance of Grace Alone?
Before he challenged Catholic teaching, Luther himself struggled with guilt and fear. The church had taught him he needed to do things to earn salvation, so he tried to get God’s approval through confession, fasting, and extreme obedience. But he found no peace, only more anxiety. He cried out to God. He studied the Scripture, especially Romans and Ephesians. Romans gives a systematic defense of the Gospel, and we’ve already explored the clear statements in Ephesians 2. Luther realized righteousness couldn’t be achieved. God had to grant it. Therefore, grace wasn’t just a help to human effort but the entirety of salvation. It was God’s work from beginning to end.
The Catholic Church offered grace through sacraments and moral obedience, something received based on works. Luther pointed out the Scripture declares something radically different. Grace was a one-sided gift, and God justifies sinners by grace and faith and Christ alone.
For Luther, this truth set his conscience free; it does the same for all who believe. It assures us that salvation doesn’t depend on performance, which led to manipulation and control by church leadership. Instead, salvation comes from Christ’s finished work. Good works follow grace and faith, not a precursor to them. “Grace alone,” then, doesn’t lead to moral laziness or more sin. Grace empowers and transforms, leading to a changed life of the heart, mind, and actions.
If we could achieve salvation, we can lose it. There’s no security in our own ability or merit. God possesses all power and never changes, so entering his work provides us with a sure inheritance and hope, a real freedom we participate in through the life of Christ.
Are We Saved by Grace Alone?
Looking at Scripture, the answer is both yes and no. It depends on what we mean by “alone.” As we’ve seen, God’s grace saves us through faith. Grace and faith work together. Faith is the way we receive grace, and there’s no separation of the two, just as we can’t divide the Son from the Father or the Spirit. Faith and grace are distinct in a sense but inseparable. Grace is the power; faith is the channel. Hence, the Reformers spoke of Sola Gratia (grace alone) along with other “solas.”
Sola Fide means “faith alone,” being justified through faith, not works. Solus Christus means “Christ alone.” Jesus is the only mediator and foundation for salvation. He himself is salvation. Soli Deo Glory means “to the glory of God alone.” God alone is worthy of worship and glory. Every knee will bow and tongue confess to this. Finally, Sola Scriptura means the Bible alone. The written word, inspired by the Spirit, expresses truth and stands as the authority to learn apostolic doctrine, like grace alone.
These truths are distinct parts of a whole. While “grace alone” is true, it remains so along with “faith alone” and the absolute need for the person and work of Christ. Each truth supports and interacts with the other as a complete revelation and work of God, a full picture of the Gospel.
We are saved by grace alone in that only God’s power becomes the source of our salvation, not our own. But “grace alone” doesn’t mean grace works apart from faith, Christ, truth, or hope. Grace doesn’t save apart from Jesus, revealed through faith and God’s written Word.
In our academic and Western culture, we separate ideas to better understand them individually – like being a specialist about the heart, lungs, or the brain. Yet these all exist as part of a whole. Remove the heart, brain, or lungs from the whole, and we’re dead. The same is true about faith, grace, love, truth, hope, and more. These all work together and can’t exist apart from each other because they are from the person of God. And God isn’t divided in any way.
Peace.
Related article: What Are the 5 Solas and Where Do They Come From?
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Olga Chetvergova
