Salvation by God Alone

Kellie commented on my recent rebuttal on one atheist's argument, that reading it, "Really makes me thankful for God's grace."

God's work in accomplishing my salvation is something I have been pondering of late. At our Women's Gathering this Thursday we read the prayer that the believers "raised their voices together" to pray after Peter and John were first arrested by the prominent priests of Jerusalem, questioned, and then released (see Acts 4:23-31).

In response to initial persecution for spreading the gospel of salvation through faith in the name of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by Peter in particular (see Acts 3:16, 4:10 and 4:12), the believers began their prayer with praise to God. They addressed their prayer with the descriptive title "Sovereign Lord", whereby they acknowledged that God not only has authority over all things, He also has power over all things. The believers went on to praise God for making "the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them." It is because God created all things that He has this authority and power over His creation. As we teach our children, God made the universe and so it belongs to him.

Having reflected upon God's supremacy, the believers prayed about the situation they found themselves in. In apparent contrast to God's supremacy, Jesus' apostles (the people God chose to be witnesses to the life, death, resurrection and ascension of His Son Jesus Christ) were experiencing opposition to the proclamation of their message. Yet the believers did not view this opposition as a refutation of God's authority or power. Rather they recognised that this was part of God's plan. "They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen." This is just how Peter had recently explained the execution of Jesus Christ at the hands of the same priests (Acts 2:23 and <3:18, for example). So rather than give up their hope of salvation, which was based in God's raising Jesus Christ back to life after his death (Acts 2:32-33&36 and Acts 4:2), the believers prayed that God would equip them to speak boldly about Jesus despite the opposition. They asked that God would perform "miraculous signs and wonders", so that despite the challenges and rejection of the gospel message by some people, others would believe the message and come to faith in Jesus Christ.

As a testimony to His authority and power, God answered their prayer. Luke records in Acts 4:31 that "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Later, in Acts 6:7, we read that, "the word of God spread." Not only that, but, "a large number of priests became obedient to the faith." What a wonderful testimony to the mighty power of God! Despite their public opposition to the proclamation of the message of salvation through faith in the name of Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:12), many priests later came to believe that exact message.

One of the lessons that has been brought home to me through reading and studying this passage, is that it is God alone who achieves our salvation. Often, we focus only on the reformation statement Sola Fides. "Faith Alone" encapsulates the Biblical doctrine that our salvation is accomplished only through faith in who Jesus Christ is (God's Son, the One who was sent by God as His Messiah to save His chosen people) and what Jesus Christ has done (in his death on the cross, Jesus was sacrificed as an atonement for our sins; this means that Jesus took the punishment for our rebellion against God in our place, so that we do not have to suffer the consequence of eternal separation from God that our rebellion deserves).

We can easily forget that there were four other "solas" that emerged from the reformation (You can read a brief description of the Five Solas and their historical development here.) Another of these five statements is Sola Gratia. In English, that is translated as "By Grace Alone". Grace is an often misunderstood term, but it simply means "a free gift". Grace is that which we receive through no effort of our own, not as a reward for anything we have done, but merely because God chooses to give. It is God's work that makes the salvation of Christians possible. Yes, he achieves this through their faith in His Son Jesus Christ. But it is vital to realise that it is God who grants Christians this faith in the first place. As it says in one of my favourite passages from the Bible, Ephesians 2:1-5:

"1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."