Grace Alone, Faith Alone, in Christ Alone
Grace Alone
On April 22, I published an article in the Times Examiner entitled “The Sovereignty of God.” On June 10, I followed with an article entitled “Sharpening the Truth of Amazing Grace.” Grace is the sovereign gift of God. We do not earn Grace. We may be made in the image of God, but that too, is the sovereign gift of God. We are missing the mark, if we presume we can merit grace or salvation by our own efforts or wisdom. The sinful nature we inherited from Adam is too strong, too blinding, and too polarizing for us to truly know God or recognize our own depraved condition, nature, foolishness, and hopelessness. Grace is God’s loving intervention to cleanse, redeem, enlighten, save, and ultimately glorify whomever He chooses. But I cannot do justice to conveying these Biblical truths. Let Scripture, the Word of God, make the case.
Ephesians 2:8-9. For it is by Grace you have been saved through Faith—and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Psalm 65:4. Blessed are those You choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of Your house, of Your holy temple.
John 6:37. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
John 6:44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 15:16. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.
2 Timothy 1:8-9. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of something we have done, but because of His own purpose and Grace. This Grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.
Romans 9:14-16. What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all. For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s Mercy.
Acts 18:27. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to his disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by Grace had believed.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the Truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 1:12-13. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband’s will but born of God.
John 17:9. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given me, for they are Yours.
“Always choose the theology that magnifies the Grace of God and puts man where he belongs, absolutely, utterly dependent on God and His Grace.”—Harry Kilbride, a Reformed Baptist Preacher.
Justification is by Faith Alone
Genesis 15:6. Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
Romans 3: 21-26. But now a righteousness from God apart from the Law has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through Faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His Grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through Faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have Faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:28. For we maintain that a man is justified by Faith apart from observing the law.
Galatians 2: 16-17. Know that man is not justified by observing the Law, but by Faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our Faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by Faith in Christ and not by observing the Law, because by observing the Law no one will be justified.
Salvation is in Christ Alone
One of the most dangerous spiritual and civilizational errors has been spawned by the unthinking and indiscriminate embrace of multiculturalism and globalist secularism in the last half-century. This has been particularly prevalent in educational institutions and media and is sadly visible in many wayward liberal churches. This is the heretical idea that salvation is possible through non-Christian religions or whatever individualistic path or beliefs suits “seekers.” The Truth must be defended that Salvation is by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, in Christ Alone. Here are eight clear passages of Scripture affirming this essential doctrine of Christian Faith.
John 14:6. Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Acts 4:12. (Peter referring to Jesus) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
1 Timothy 2:5. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
John 6:40. My Father’s will is that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day..
John 6:45. In is written in the Prophets: They will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.
John 10:1-4. I tell you the truth, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The One who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow Him because they know His voice.
Matthew 7:15. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
2 Peter 2:1-3. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
The Importance of Scripture
Of course, a fourth pillar of Christian doctrine is Scripture Alone. God reveals himself through both nature and Scripture. There are also many helpful and profound Church and other Christian writings that warrant our attention, but Scripture Alone is the ultimate test of their validity.
Mike Scruggs is the author of two books: The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths; and Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You, and over 600 articles on military history, national security, intelligent design, genealogical genetics, immigration, current political affairs, Islam, and the Middle East. 
