“By grace alone”
Editor's note: On the June 17, 2010, my father sent this letter regarding "by grace alone." It is with great pride that I post this letter on Transformation Forum." While I personally enjoyed this letter, their is great value in sharing my father's thoughts and perspectives on this most basic doctrine of Christianity. This letter is share with all in love and in great hope! Pastor Steve Perez
On June 6th, I received an E-mail entitled “By Grace Alone,” immediately the rusty wheels of my eighty-one year old brain began to rumble and squeak as they began to slowly turn. Questions began to assail my mind: What is grace? Where does it come from? How does one obtain it? What role does it play in our Christian life? As I began to search my mind, I felt compelled to address this most beautiful subject in the TRANSFORMATION FORUM as my humble contribution.
As a simple definition, grace is god’s love to us. However, in a more expended definition, it is much more than that. Grace is a unique kind of love; because God gives it to certain persons that qualify to receive it. It is not a universal love that God bestows on everyone; it is only for the unlovable; the unreachable and unredeemable; those who are unworthy of it; those who do not deserve it; namely sinners. For example, Jesus does not qualify to receive grace; for He deserves the love of God. Grace is the means by which God’s love reaches out and redeems the sinner.
“But God demonstrates His own love, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Where does grace comes from? God, like everything else, is a substance made of many attributes. Man is made of many substances, such as flesh, bone, blood, muscle and so on, God is made of Holiness, Truth, Righteousness, Love and so on. His love is so profound that it compelled Him to send His beloved and only begotten Son to earth and die for the most unworthy and worthless, the most wretched and miserable, the most vile and filthy sinner, such as I; why? Only because of grace! The Bible teaches that God is not only a loving God, He IS love! If He were not love, He would not be God. He is as much God as we are flesh and bones.
“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…” “God is love…” John 3:16; 1 Jn. 4:16
How does one obtain such unique love (grace) from God? When Jesus began his ministry, in his first sermon He exclaim, “REPENT! For the Kingdom is at hand!” Saint Peter in his first sermon, inspired by the HOLY SPIRIT, also exclaimed, “REPENT and be baptized.” Without repentance, there is no (grace) remission of sins. The prodigal son repented, returned to his father, confessed his sin, and received grace. “A broken and repented heart, O God, thou will not despise.” Ps.51:17
What role does grace play in our lives? If it were not for grace, we could never establish a relationship with God, much less build upon it. Grace, is not given to us only at the time we are saved, grace is an ongoing daily activity from God to us. Since we abide in a body that its nature is sin, we are constantly sinning by thought, word or deed and therefore, in daily need of God’s grace for forgiveness. It is as Pastor Steve writes in his E-mail dated June 2nd, “As I grew older, I had many opportunities through my own sin to discover the significance of this most precious gift of grace.” And again: “Repeatedly I have discover the restorative powers of grace at the altar of confession and forgiveness,” Many Christians have died a Spiritual death because they focused on their guilt rather than God’s grace. The Bible states that King David was a man after God’s own heart; why, because David understood the unlimited, unswerving and immutable grace of God. After he raped a woman and had her husband murdered to hide his sin, yet, when he repented, confessed his sin and sought mercy, David found grace and forgiveness before the face of God.
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight. So that thou are justified when thou dost speak, and blameless when thou dost judge.” Ps. 51:3-4
Grace is also a preservative; it is through grace that God preserves His Elect. When we are weak, He strengthens us, when our faith begins to fail us, He reassures us through His Holy Spirit. He is our divine provider of all our needs to persevere. We have three enemies:
1-Our flesh, which possesses a sinful nature and every lust imaginable, lust for self-gratification, for self-adulation, self aggrandizement, self idolizing, power, wealth sex and the list goes on.
2- The world, with every conceivable lure, fad, style, addiction, the need to be ‘in,’ the need to belong, betraying and selling our self-respect, integrity and our very being to highest bidder.
3- Satan, as he continually seeks to destroy every child of God he can deceive with his lies and temptations.
“But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” Romans 7:23
“Do not love the world, nor the things of the world; if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 1John 2:15-16
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…” Rev. 12:9
Against these three enemies, we would never persevere if it were not for GRACE!
ALONE; As in “by grace alone;” This word is pregnant with power to define the true gospel from the modern day fallacies, to define you and me as believers and followers of truth or of heresies and defines the true Evangelicals from those contaminated with the Judaic leaven of works. This word ushered in the Protestant movement and revolutionized the Western religious community. Although, this ancient third century A.D. heresy (Better know as ‘Pelagianism’), has always existed, it is very much alive today among most Evangelical believers. It is a belief that denies original sin, denies the efficacy of grace, and affirms that man’s unaided will is capable of Spiritual good.
Many, if not most Evangelicals believe that a sinful man holds within himself the ability, power and will to save himself because when God told Adam: “The day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall surely die,” many believers do not believe Adam really died. This is the reason we hear believers often say, “When I came to the Lord,” “When I gave my heart to god,” “When I surrender my life to Jesus.”
When I, I, I, as if God had nothing to do with their salvation! However, contrary to this erroneous concept of salvation, the Apostle Paul states very clearly that we as sinners have no ability to think about our condemned situation, decide what to do about it or even the will to do anything. We are totally incapacitated physically, mentally and emotionally because we are spiritually DEAD! Dead people cannot come to Christ until God makes them alive.
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Eph. 2:1
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love(grace) with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive with Christ (By grace you have been saved). Eph. 2:4-5
Many Christians believe that by the good things (works) they do, they will be saved. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Jew believes that by keeping a list of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts,” (called the LAW), he is going to make to heaven; just like the Holiness Evangelicals of today. But again the Apostle Paul reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not as a results of works, that no one should boast.
Therefore, when we who believe say, “by grace alone,” we are affirming that salvation is by grace alone and not by anything, man does, no matter how good his deeds may be.
BY GRACE ALONE
Manuel Perez
NOTE: For further study that salvation is strictly by God’s grace alone, consider the following Scriptures:
Jonah 2:9 Salvation is from the LORD.
John 6:44 (Jesus said), “No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him…”
John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the father, but through me.”
Romans 5:6; 8 For while we were still helpless (To save ourselves), at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were (dead) sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 9:15-16 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. (All emphasis have been added)
In conclusion: “All truth is truth even if no one believes it and a lie is a lie, even if everyone believes it.”
Author unknown
by Grace Alone!
On June 6th, I received an E-mail entitled “By Grace Alone,” immediately the rusty wheels of my eighty-one year old brain began to rumble and squeak as they began to slowly turn. Questions began to assail my mind: What is grace? Where does it come from? How does one obtain it? What role does it play in our Christian life? As I began to search my mind, I felt compelled to address this most beautiful subject in the TRANSFORMATION FORUM as my humble contribution.
As a simple definition, grace is god’s love to us. However, in a more expended definition, it is much more than that. Grace is a unique kind of love; because God gives it to certain persons that qualify to receive it. It is not a universal love that God bestows on everyone; it is only for the unlovable; the unreachable and unredeemable; those who are unworthy of it; those who do not deserve it; namely sinners. For example, Jesus does not qualify to receive grace; for He deserves the love of God. Grace is the means by which God’s love reaches out and redeems the sinner.
“But God demonstrates His own love, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Where does grace comes from? God, like everything else, is a substance made of many attributes. Man is made of many substances, such as flesh, bone, blood, muscle and so on, God is made of Holiness, Truth, Righteousness, Love and so on. His love is so profound that it compelled Him to send His beloved and only begotten Son to earth and die for the most unworthy and worthless, the most wretched and miserable, the most vile and filthy sinner, such as I; why? Only because of grace! The Bible teaches that God is not only a loving God, He IS love! If He were not love, He would not be God. He is as much God as we are flesh and bones.
“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…” “God is love…” John 3:16; 1 Jn. 4:16
How does one obtain such unique love (grace) from God? When Jesus began his ministry, in his first sermon He exclaim, “REPENT! For the Kingdom is at hand!” Saint Peter in his first sermon, inspired by the HOLY SPIRIT, also exclaimed, “REPENT and be baptized.” Without repentance, there is no (grace) remission of sins. The prodigal son repented, returned to his father, confessed his sin, and received grace. “A broken and repented heart, O God, thou will not despise.” Ps.51:17
What role does grace play in our lives? If it were not for grace, we could never establish a relationship with God, much less build upon it. Grace, is not given to us only at the time we are saved, grace is an ongoing daily activity from God to us. Since we abide in a body that its nature is sin, we are constantly sinning by thought, word or deed and therefore, in daily need of God’s grace for forgiveness. It is as Pastor Steve writes in his E-mail dated June 2nd, “As I grew older, I had many opportunities through my own sin to discover the significance of this most precious gift of grace.” And again: “Repeatedly I have discover the restorative powers of grace at the altar of confession and forgiveness,” Many Christians have died a Spiritual death because they focused on their guilt rather than God’s grace. The Bible states that King David was a man after God’s own heart; why, because David understood the unlimited, unswerving and immutable grace of God. After he raped a woman and had her husband murdered to hide his sin, yet, when he repented, confessed his sin and sought mercy, David found grace and forgiveness before the face of God.
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight. So that thou are justified when thou dost speak, and blameless when thou dost judge.” Ps. 51:3-4
Grace is also a preservative; it is through grace that God preserves His Elect. When we are weak, He strengthens us, when our faith begins to fail us, He reassures us through His Holy Spirit. He is our divine provider of all our needs to persevere. We have three enemies:
1-Our flesh, which possesses a sinful nature and every lust imaginable, lust for self-gratification, for self-adulation, self aggrandizement, self idolizing, power, wealth sex and the list goes on.
2- The world, with every conceivable lure, fad, style, addiction, the need to be ‘in,’ the need to belong, betraying and selling our self-respect, integrity and our very being to highest bidder.
3- Satan, as he continually seeks to destroy every child of God he can deceive with his lies and temptations.
“But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” Romans 7:23
“Do not love the world, nor the things of the world; if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 1John 2:15-16
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…” Rev. 12:9
Against these three enemies, we would never persevere if it were not for GRACE!
ALONE; As in “by grace alone;” This word is pregnant with power to define the true gospel from the modern day fallacies, to define you and me as believers and followers of truth or of heresies and defines the true Evangelicals from those contaminated with the Judaic leaven of works. This word ushered in the Protestant movement and revolutionized the Western religious community. Although, this ancient third century A.D. heresy (Better know as ‘Pelagianism’), has always existed, it is very much alive today among most Evangelical believers. It is a belief that denies original sin, denies the efficacy of grace, and affirms that man’s unaided will is capable of Spiritual good.
Many, if not most Evangelicals believe that a sinful man holds within himself the ability, power and will to save himself because when God told Adam: “The day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall surely die,” many believers do not believe Adam really died. This is the reason we hear believers often say, “When I came to the Lord,” “When I gave my heart to god,” “When I surrender my life to Jesus.”
When I, I, I, as if God had nothing to do with their salvation! However, contrary to this erroneous concept of salvation, the Apostle Paul states very clearly that we as sinners have no ability to think about our condemned situation, decide what to do about it or even the will to do anything. We are totally incapacitated physically, mentally and emotionally because we are spiritually DEAD! Dead people cannot come to Christ until God makes them alive.
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Eph. 2:1
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love(grace) with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive with Christ (By grace you have been saved). Eph. 2:4-5
Many Christians believe that by the good things (works) they do, they will be saved. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Jew believes that by keeping a list of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts,” (called the LAW), he is going to make to heaven; just like the Holiness Evangelicals of today. But again the Apostle Paul reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not as a results of works, that no one should boast.
Therefore, when we who believe say, “by grace alone,” we are affirming that salvation is by grace alone and not by anything, man does, no matter how good his deeds may be.
BY GRACE ALONE
Manuel Perez
NOTE: For further study that salvation is strictly by God’s grace alone, consider the following Scriptures:
Jonah 2:9 Salvation is from the LORD.
John 6:44 (Jesus said), “No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him…”
John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the father, but through me.”
Romans 5:6; 8 For while we were still helpless (To save ourselves), at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were (dead) sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 9:15-16 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. (All emphasis have been added)
In conclusion: “All truth is truth even if no one believes it and a lie is a lie, even if everyone believes it.”
Author unknown
by Grace Alone!
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