Sola gratia
| Fivesolaeof the Protestant Reformation |
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| Sola scriptura |
| Sola fide |
| Sola gratia |
| Solus Christus |
| Soli Deo gloria |
| A series of articles on |
| Grace in Christianity |
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Sola gratia,meaningbygracealone,is one of thefivesolaeand consists in the belief thatsalvationcomes by divine grace or "unmerited favor" only, not as something earned or deserved by thesinner.[1]It is aChristian theological doctrineheld by someProtestantChristian denominations,in particular theLutheranandReformedtraditions of Protestantism, propounded to summarise theProtestant Reformers' basicsoteriologyduring theReformation.[2]In addition, salvation by grace is taught by theCatholic Church:"By the grace of God, we are saved through our faith; this faith entails by its very nature, good works, always enabled by prior grace, without which this faith is dead."[3]
History
[edit]TheCatholic Churchteaches salvation by grace alone in contradistinction withsalvation by faith alone:[3]
The Catholic Church teaches that good works done after regeneration (at baptism) and justification are (if certain conditions are met) meritorious and can contribute to salvation and attainment of eternal life, but only hand-in-hand with, soaked in, enabled by, grace, which alone saves us. Catholics believe in sola gratia. It’s a faith that is not separated from works (per James). Faith inherently includes these works. But we’re not saved by faith alone (that’s where Protestantism errs); we’re saved by grace alone. We may describe Catholic soteriology as follows:By the grace of God, we are saved through our faith; this faith entails by its very nature, good works, always enabled by prior grace, without which this faith is dead.
During theProtestant Reformation,Lutheran and Calvinisttheologiansgenerally believed that theCatholic doctrineof themeans of gracewas a mixture of reliance upon the grace of God and confidence in the merits of one'sown works performed in love,pejoratively called "legalism".These Reformers posited that salvation is entirely comprehended in God's gifts (that is, God's act of free grace), dispensed by theHoly Spiritaccording to the redemptive work ofJesusChristalone.
Consequently, they argued that a sinner is not accepted by God on account of the change wrought in the believer by God's grace, and indeed, that the believer is accepted without any regard for the merit of his works—for no one deserves salvation; at the same time, they condemned the extreme ofantinomianism,a doctrine that argues that if someone is saved, he/she has no need to live a holy life, given that salvation is already "in the bag".[4]It is also linked to thefive points of Calvinism.
TheEastern Orthodox Churchesaffirm salvation by grace, teaching:[5]
So we, as Orthodox Christians, affirm as clearly and unambiguously as any Lutheran, for example, that “salvation is by grace” and not by our works. Unlike medieval Catholicism, Orthodoxy does not hold that a person can build up a “treasury of merits” that will count in our favor at the Judgment Seat of Christ. What will matter then is our having surrendered our sin to God through confession, and our gestures of love (Mt. 25), together with the unshakable conviction that “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and the unique Way to eternal life.[5]
Beingsynergists,those ofWesleyan–Arminiansoteriology, such asMethodists,take a different approach tosola gratiathan Lutherans and Reformed Christians, holding that God, throughprevenient grace,reaches out to all individuals though they have the free will to cooperate with that grace or reject it.[6]
Recent activity
[edit]In November 1999, theLutheran World Federationand thePontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unityissued the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification"that said," By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works. "[7]
On July 18, 2006, delegates to the World Methodist Conference voted unanimously to adopt the declaration. The Methodists' resolution said the 1999 agreement "expresses a far-reaching consensus in regard to the theological controversy which was a major cause of the split in Western churches in the 16th century" about salvation.
Some conservative Protestants still believe the differences between their views and those of the Catholics remain substantial, however. They insist that this agreement does not fully reconcile the differences between the Reformist and Catholic viewpoints on this subject.[8][9][10][11][12]
See also
[edit]
- Christian views on the Old Covenant
- Conditional security
- Expounding of the Law
- Imparted righteousness
- Irresistible grace
- Justification (theology)
- Law and Gospel
- Paul the Apostle and Jewish Christianity
- Sanctification in Christianity
References
[edit]- ^Griffith, Howard (Spring 2018)."Luther in 1520: Justification by Faith Alone".Reformed Faith & Practice: The Journal of Reformed Theological Seminary.3(1).Orlando, Florida:Reformed Theological Seminary:28-37.Archivedfrom the original on 3 December 2020.Retrieved12 November2021.
- ^Barber, John (2008).The Road from Eden: Studies in Christianity and Culture.Academica Press. p. 233.ISBN9781933146348.
The message of the Lutheran and Reformed theologians has been codified into a simple set of five Latin phrases:Sola Scriptura(Scripture alone),Solus Christus(Christ alone),Sola Fide(faith alone),Sola Gratia(by grace alone) andSoli Deo Gloria(glory to God alone).
- ^abArmstrong, Dave (5 February 2018)."Is Grace Alone (Sola Gratia) Also Catholic Teaching?".National Catholic Register.
- ^Rublack, Ulinka (2017).The Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformations.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780199646920.
- ^abBreck, John (2 August 2010)."Salvation Is Indeed By Grace".Orthodox Church in America.Retrieved2 May2019.
- ^Olson, Roger E. (20 September 2009).Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities.InterVarsity Press. p. 95.ISBN9780830874439.
Arminians do not think so; they hold a form of evangelical synergism that sees grace as the efficient cause of salvation and calls faith the sole instrumental cause of salvation to the exclusion of human merits.
- ^Joint declaration on the doctrine of justification,by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church onThe Holy See home page
- ^"Welcome to WELS".Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2014.
- ^The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in Confessional Lutheran Perspective
- ^McCain, Rev. Paul T. (12 March 2010)."A Betrayal of the Gospel: The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification".First Things.ISSN1047-5141.Retrieved17 January2014.
- ^"News & Media".WELS.23 May 2023.Retrieved3 June2023.
- ^An Appeal to Evangelicals,by theAlliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Inc.
External links
[edit]
- Articles on the fivesolasfrom a conservative Protestant perspective