Recently, a man who had been raised in an Eastern Orthodox church told me of how he had come to faith in Christ. He said, “I believed in the Bible, in God, and in Christ, but I knew nothing about grace.” Then someone shared the gospel of God’s grace with him, and he came to trust in Christ in a personal way for his salvation.

The Protestant Reformation was a time of rediscovery. The medieval church had buried the Bible under a heap of human tradition and speculation. As a result, much of the biblical teaching about grace was ignored or distorted. Grace was thought of as a mystical substance or force, infused into people by sacraments, apart from active faith. While it was taught that grace was necessary for salvation, it was not sufficient. Grace had to be supplemented by meritorious works, such as reciting prayers, fasting, making pilgrimages, and giving to the poor. Since one could never be sure of having done enough good to gain salvation, assurance of salvation was impossible.

When men like Martin Luther and John Calvin began to study the Scriptures in a fresh way, they came to understand the doctrines of grace as they had never understood them before. The result was their own joyful experience of acceptance with God, which they were eager to share with others. Sola gratia, “salvation by grace alone,” became one of the watchwords of the Reformation.

It is not surprising that searching the Scriptures brings an understanding of grace, because this truth is so prominent in the Bible. In the New King James Version, the word “grace” occurs 148 times, usually translating the Hebrew word chen or the Greek word charis. “Grace” is found only 20 times in the Old Testament, which might lead to the conclusion that the Israelites knew little about grace. However, some other words need to be considered. The closely related term “favor” is found 96 times in the Bible, and 88 of those occurrences are in the Old Testament. Another closely related word is “mercy,” which is found 282 times in Scripture, 224 of those times in the Old Testament. These are raw statistics, but they indicate clearly that believers in Old Testament times, as well as Christians, knew that they needed the grace of God in order to enjoy fellowship with their Creator.

Basically, “grace” means goodwill, lovingkindness, or favor. In the Bible, the term does not always mean unmerited favor. For example, Esther found favor in the eyes of the king because of her beauty (Esther 2:15, 17). But when the Bible speaks of God’s grace or favor toward sinners, then it is emphasized that this favor is not earned, or based on anything in the life or conduct of the sinful person.

The Reformers gave special attention to the writings of Paul. There they discovered that God’s favor shown to sinners was utterly unearned. It was a free gift, flowing out of God’s unfathomable love for sinners whom He had chosen in Christ. Of the 148 occurrences of the word “grace,” 85 are found in Paul’s letters. Each of his epistles begins with a salutation, or benediction, which prays for grace to be upon the readers. What is not so well known is the fact that each of those epistles also ends with a similar prayer for grace. It is particularly in Romans and Galatians that Paul explains the gratuitous nature of our salvation in Christ.

In Romans, after an introduction in which he declares that the gospel is the power of God to salvation (1:1-1:17), Paul shows in great detail the need of all people for that salvation: All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and are therefore under condemnation, deserving nothing but God’s “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” (1:18–3:20, 23). Then he explains the free salvation from sin that God has provided through His Son. All who put their trust in Him are “justified freely [literally, “as a gift”] by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (3:22-24). Believing sinners are justified (declared righteous) in God’s court because Christ by His death has paid the penalty due to their sins; His righteousness is counted as theirs, because they are united to Him by faith (3:24-26).

Paul demonstrates the nature of grace as free and undeserved by contrasting it with the view of many Jews that salvation could be gained by the performance of good works. “We conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28). There are two clear and definite alternatives: We are either saved by grace or by works (see Rom. 11:6). Paul has shown that salvation by performance of works is impossible; therefore, the only way to be right with God is by His free and unmerited grace.

Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, based on the work of Christ alone, was the great discovery of the Protestant Reformation. But this understanding and experience of salvation can never be taken for granted as the unwavering possession of Protestants. The truth is always under attack from the Evil One, and believers are tempted to turn away from the gospel of free grace to some kind of works-salvation.

This can happen on a very sophisticated level, as in the current debate about justification initiated by the New Perspectives on Paul movement. But it occurs at a more popular level. Some years ago, in shopping malls, we asked people the diagnostic question from Evangelism Explosion: “If you were to die tonight, and God were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?” Almost without exception, the answers we received were expressions of some kind of works-righteousness. That was as true among people who identified themselves as Protestants as it was for Catholics. Even in classes on evangelism in our own congregation, some gave a “works” answer to the question!

It seems to be a part of natural religion to base acceptance with God on some kind of performance. We are tempted to think that God will be favorable to us because of the way we live—having regular devotions and family worship, keeping the Sabbath, tithing, etc.

All these things we ought to do—and if we are truly regenerate, and instructed from the Word, we will do them. But they are in no way the basis of our justification or acceptance with God. We are accepted because of Christ, and because of Him alone.

To speak in theological terms, we must say that although justification and sanctification cannot be separated, they must be distinguished. Justification is our being forgiven, and reconciled to God, and assured of eternal life with Him, through the completed work of Jesus Christ. Justification is complete at the time we put our trust in Christ, and can never be lost.

Sanctification is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who are justified, enabling them more and more to turn from their sins and to live according to God’s revealed will. The degree of sanctification varies from time to time and is never perfect in this life. Our own holiness, even though it is the fruit of God’s grace in our lives, can never be the ground of our acceptance by God.

Another temptation especially touches Reformed Christians. We identify ourselves as holding the “doctrines of grace.” This is proper, as long as we do not state our position in a prideful way and with disdain toward those who have not come to a full understanding of what “grace alone” means. A proud Calvinist is a contradiction in terms! Paul wrote to the Corinthians, who were “puffed up” (1 Cor. 4:6) in their assessment of themselves, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive?” (v. 7). If we understand the sovereign grace of God, it is because His Spirit has enlightened us; and we should hold this belief strongly, but with humility, thankfulness, and gentleness toward those who need further instruction. Those who understand grace should be gracious in their dealing with others.

Another mistake we can make is to hold tenaciously to justifcation by grace alone, and then to believe that we can live the Christian life without daily reliance on God’s grace.

Jerry Bridges has addressed this failing in his book Transforming Grace (NavPress). “My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our personal relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace. If we’ve performed well—whatever ‘well’ is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us….In this sense, we live by works rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’ of our own performance” (pp. 11-12).

We tend to neglect grace when we are thinking of our sanctification and Christian service because the Scripture calls us to strenuous effort in these areas. In 1 Timothy 6:11, we are exhorted to “pursue [a strong word] righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” Philippians 2:12 commands us to work out our own salvation “with fear and trembling.” But we are not left on our own as we do this, as we read in verse 13: “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

We respond to such commands only because of the enabling grace of God. In all our working, that Spirit of God is at work in us. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul wrote, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” John Calvin comments: “We should therefore learn that the only good we have is what the Lord has given us gratuitously; that the only good we do is what He does in us; that it is not that we do nothing ourselves, but that we act only when we have been acted upon, in other words under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit” (cited in Bridges, p. 161).

The benedictions with which our worship services are concluded almost always mention the grace of God. As we go out from such services to live for Christ, let us do so with confidence that, in every way, the grace of God is upon everyone who trusts in Christ, and that grace is sufficient for us in every aspect of our salvation, life, and service.