Grace Alone - The 5 Solas Of The Reformation (Part 3)

Sola Gratia Grace Alone Pelagius • Welsh monk • disturbed by sinful lifestyle in Rome • intent on living a holy life • objected to Augustine’s prayer What did Augustine pray? "Give what you command, and command what you will.” What did Pelagius teach? •God would not command people to act righteously if it were not possible for them to do it. •People are born not with a sin nature but in a state of innocence or moral neutrality. •There is no transmission or transfer of guilt or fallenness or corruption from Adam to the human race. •Sin is only a matter of our free will. Sin does not arise out of our (fallen) nature. •Our wills are free 1) to choose right or wrong, and free 2) in the sense that they are independent of our nature. https://www.modernreformation.org/resources/articles/the-pelagian-captivity-of-the-church. accessed 6 August 2025 https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-pelagius-and-pelagianism/ #:~:text=In%20one%20place%20Pelagius%20says,his%20belief%20that%20grace%20is. accessed 7 August 2025 What did Pelagius emphasise? “Whenever I am called upon to speak upon moral training and the course of holy living, I am accustomed rst to display the power and quality of human nature and show what it is able to accomplish, and then from this to incite the mind of the hearer to (some) forms of virtue.” fi bolding mine; Ad Demetr. 2 init. quoted in Sam Storms, “10 Things You Should Know about Pelagius and Pelagianism” 27 January 2018 What did Pelagius teach about salvation? “Salvation is a matter chie y of following Christ instead of Adam, rather than being transferred from the condemnation and corruption of Adam's race and placed ‘in Christ,’ clothed in his righteousness and made alive by his gracious gift.” “What men and women need is moral direction, not a new birth; therefore, Pelagius saw salvation in purely naturalistic terms-the progress of human nature from sinful behavior to holy behavior, by following the example of Christ.” fl Michael S. Horton, Pelagianism: The Religion of Natural Man https://www.monergism.com/ thethreshold/articles/onsite/pelagiannatural.html accessed 6 August 2025 Implications of Plagiarism? •Given enough will power (with or without grace), you can not sin. . . . since sin is only a matter of your exercising your will. •You don’t need a new nature. You need good examples to help you to choose righteousness. Augustine • North African pastor/ bishop • had lived a licentious, libertine lifestyle before conversion • also concerned about holiness • opposed Pelagius What did Augustine teach? •Adam’s fall infected the whole human race with sin. •The infection of sin corrupted the entirety of our human nature including our wills. Therefore, humans are not born innocent. •Humans are born rebellious by nature and unable to stop sinning apart from the grace of God. •Salvation is more than Christ’s being our moral example. Salvation includes our receiving a new nature. What did Augustine teach about the will? •Humans have free wills that make genuine choices. •However, the human will is governed by the human nature. •Since all humans after Adam were born with a fallen human nature, our “free will” is in bondage to a corrupt nature that will inevitably choose sin unless grace intervenes. •Salvation includes the giving of a new nature that enables us to choose righteousness over sin. What does the bondage of the will look like? ““Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet!” “I was bound down by this disease of the esh. Its deadly pleasures were a chain that I dragged along with me, yet I was afraid to be freed from it.” —Augustine before conversion fl fl Romans 7:14–15, 18-21 (ESV) For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the esh, sold under sin. 15For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . . 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my esh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. . . .21So I nd it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. Did Adam pass on a corrupted nature? Psalm 51:5 (ESV) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Romans 5:12 (ESV) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— Romans 5:19 (ESV) For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Did Adam pass on a corrupted nature? fl Ephesians 2:3 (ESV) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our esh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Were we neutral toward God before salvation? Colossians 1:21 (ESV) And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, Ephesians 4:18 (ESV) They [the Gentiles] are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. fl How bad are we? As good as Pelagius says? Or, as bad as Augustine says? Ephesians 2:1–3 (ESV) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our esh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. How bad were we? Colossians 2:13 (ESV And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your esh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, Ephesians 2:12 (ESV) remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Were we free to turn toward God? Galatians 4:8 (ESV) Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. Romans 6:6 (ESV) We know that our old self was cruci ed with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Titus 3:3 (ESV) For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. If humans are born with a corrupted nature, are slaves to sin, and are dead to living for God, how do they change? They can’t! And they don’t want to. Do sinners naturally want to get right with God? Romans 3:11 (ESV) no one understands; no one seeks for God. Because our old nature is opposed to God and the message of the Gospel, God must draw us to Christ. John 6:44a (ESV) No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Grace precedes spiritual life Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— What is grace? 2 senses in scripture: 1. Grace = undeserved/unmerited favour 2. Grace = God’s power/ activity in us and /or on our behalf Grace as God’s disposition/inclination to treat sinners with undeserved/unmerited favour. Romans 3:24 (ESV) and are justi ed by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Romans 5:15 (ESV) But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. fi Romans 11:5–6 (ESV) So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. God’s grace as His power working in/for us. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV) And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all suf ciency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV) But he said to me, “My grace is suf cient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. fi 1 Corinthians 15:10 (ESV) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. What sort of person does God extend grace to and justify? Romans 4:5 (ESV) And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justi es the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, “A great artist . . . had painted a part . . . of the city in which he lived, and he wanted, for historic purposes, to include in his picture certain characters well known in the town. A crossing- sweeper, unkempt, ragged, lthy, was known to everybody, and there was a suitable place for him in the picture.” fi Public Domain “The artist said to this ragged and rugged individual, ‘I will pay you well if you will come down to my / studio and let me take your likeness.’ He came round in the morning, but he was soon sent about his business ; for he had washed his face, and combed his hair, and donned a respectable suit of clothes. He was needed as a beggar, and was not invited in any other capacity.” C.H. Spurgeon, All of Grace (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1886) 16-17. via Google Books. Public Domain The Temptation of Pre-conversion Reformation “Even so, the gospel will receive you into its halls if you come as a sinner, but not else. Wait not for reformation, but come at once for salvation. God justi eth the ungodly, and that takes you up where you now are: it meets you in your worst estate.” bolding mine; C.H. Spurgeon, All of Grace (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1886) 16-17. via Google Books. Repentance and grace “It does at rst seem most amazing to an awakened man that salvation should really be for him as a lost and guilty one. He thinks that it must be for him as a penitent man, forgetting that his penitence is a part of his salvation.” fi bolding mine; C.H. Spurgeon, All of Grace (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1886) 15 via Google Books. Repentance and grace “‘Oh,’ says he, ‘but I must be this and that ‘-all which is true, for he shall be this and that as the result of salvation ; but salvation comes to him before he has any of the results of salvation. It comes to him, in fact, while he deserves only this bare, beggarly, base, abominable description, ‘ungodly.’ That is all he is when God's gospel comes to justify him.” bolding mine; C.H. Spurgeon, All of Grace (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1886) 15 via Google Books. The Temptation of Pre-conversion Reformation fi “Do not attempt to touch yourself up and make yourself something other than you really are ; but come as you are to him who justi es the ungodly.” C.H. Spurgeon Why does God save us before we are cleaned up? Ephesians 2:7–9 (ESV) so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Abuses of Sola Gratia Solo gratia: Over-emphasising grace to the exclusion of the God-ordained (and graciously empowered) response of faith to grace John 6:28–29 (ESV) Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He has sent.” Is faith required for salvation? Acts 16:29–31 (ESV) And the jailer . . . . 30said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, . . . A) “Nothing. Just exercise your free will and follow Jesus as your moral example.” B) “Nothing. If you are elect and predestined, sola gratia.” C) Neither of the above Is faith required for salvation? Acts 16:29–32 (ESV) And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” How does God give us faith? Acts 16:29–32 (ESV) And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. How does God give us faith? Through the proclamation of His Word! Romans 10:17 (ESV) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Is my faith a self-produced work that earns my salvation? No!!! Faith and every other aspect of my salvation is a free gift from God. Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this [salvation] is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. How does sola gratia help with doubts? If God out of His grace gave undeserving you 1) a new nature, 2) faith, and 3) repentance, will He let you depart from grace? How does sola gratia help with doubts? fi Philippians 1:6-7 (ESV) And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and con rmation of the gospel. Abuses of Sola Gratia Participatory gratia: Gabriel Biel “Biel taught that the one true thing you could know about God is that God will surely give grace to those who do their very best. Biel's line of thinking here is exactly along the lines of Benjamin Franklin: ‘God helps those who help themselves.’” bolding mine; https://www.modernreformation.org/resources/articles/doyou-really-want-to-be-saved-sola-gratia. accessed 5 August 2025 Abuses of Sola Gratia Responsive Gratia: John Cassian “Semi-Pelagianism is a position rst associated with John Cassian, who popularized a doctrine of grace along the lines of Augustine-but with one crucial addendum. It is true that we cannot be saved except by the grace of God, but Cassian sometimes added that we must make the rst step towards God.” bolding mine; https://www.modernreformation.org/resources/articles/do-you-reallywant-to-be-saved-sola-gratia Who takes the rst step in salvation? Romans 5:8 (ESV) but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Titus 3:3–5 (ESV) For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior fi appeared, 5he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Who takes the rst step in salvation? fi fl Ephesians 2:3–4 (ESV) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our esh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— Charles Finney “Charles Finney was nearly the nineteenth-century reincarnation of Pelagius. Finney denied original sin. "Moral depravity is sin itself, and not the cause of sin," 6 and he explicitly rejects original sin . . . 7 referring to the notion of a sinful nature as "anti-scriptural and nonsensical dogma." 8 According to Finney, we are all born morally neutral, capable either of choosing good or evil. ” bolding mine; Michael S. Horton, “Pelagianism: the Religion of Natural Man” quoting from Charles Finney, Finney's Systematic Theology (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1976), p. 172, 177, 179. Charles Finney "Example is the highest moral in uence that can be exerted. If the benevolence manifested in the atonement does not subdue the sel shness of sinners, their case is hopeless." Charles Finney, Finney's Systematic Theology (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1976), p. 209. Charles Finney “Furthermore, Finney denies that regeneration depends on the supernatural gift of God. It is not a change produced from the outside. ‘If it were, sinners could not be required to effect it. No such change is needed, as the sinner has all the faculties and natural attributes requisite to render perfect obedience to God.’ 12 bolding mine; Michael S. Horton, “Pelagianism: the Religion of Natural Man” quoting from Charles Finney, Finney's Systematic Theology (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1976), p. 221, 226. Charles Finney “Therefore, ‘...regeneration consists in the sinner changing his ultimate choice, intention, preference.’ Those who insist that sinners depend on the mercy of God proclaim ‘the most abominable and ruinous of all falsehoods. It is to mock [the sinner's] intelligence!’”13 bolding mine; Michael S. Horton, “Pelagianism: the Religion of Natural Man” quoting from Charles Finney, Finney's Systematic Theology (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1976), p. 221, 226. Have you received a new nature? Titus 3:4–5 (ESV) But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. John 3:5 (ESV) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Have you ever asked God for the gift of a new nature? John 6:37 (ESV) All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Have you tasted God’s goodness so that you would even want a new nature that hates sin like God does? Romans 2:4 (ESV)Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Psalm 34:8 (ESV) Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! We never truly desire what we’ve never tasted (at least in some measure). Humility required “But no man can be thoroughly humbled until he knows that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, devices, endeavors, will, and works, and depends entirely on the choice, will, and work of another, namely, of God alone . . . then he has come close to grace, and can be saved.” Martin Luther “What Does ‘Sola Gratia’ Mean?” Levi Berntson https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/solagratia-mean. accessed 5 August 2025 Are you putting your hope of salvation in a decision that you’ve made? Or, is your con dence in your salvation in that facts that 1) God gave you a new nature without your earning or working for that new nature? 2) You exercised the gift of faith that God gave you freely out of the goodness of His nature rather than because you “worked up” the faith yourself or earned faith? fi 3) You exercised the gift of repentance that God gave freely to you? Amazing Grace