“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but not I’m found, was blind but now I see.” (John Newton, “Amazing Grace”)

John Newton’s classic song “Amazing Grace” is certainly among the best known and most beloved hymns of all time. This is true among Christians, and surprisingly, it’s also true among non-Christians. I imagine Newton would be surprised to know how often “Amazing Grace” is sung in inter-faith and even non-faith settings. While most Americans know and can sing along with the old hymn “Amazing Grace,” many of us are confused about grace itself. I think Americans tend to make three mistakes when it comes to grace.

Many wrongly think about grace as something we can buy or earn. This misunderstanding of grace is based on the notion that our good works somehow play a positive role in our own salvation. The unbiblical assumption is that we are capable of good works that can contribute to our right standing with God. This seems to be the default understanding of most people in the west. This default belief is that God just wants us to be good, nice, and kind, and those who live such lives will receive a bit of grace to cover any pesky sins that stand between us and God. This is a heinous misrepresentation of the doctrine of hamartiology. Grace is not something we buy or earn!Many wrongly think about grace as God’s kind response to our decision to invite him into our lives. This misunderstanding of grace is based on the notion that God has made salvation possible for all but certain for none. The unbiblical assumption is that Jesus did almost everything necessary for a sinner to be saved – almost. Jesus has done the heavy lifting, so to speak, and now you just need to close the deal. All that’s left is now up to you. If you will just make the right decision as a totally free moral agent, you can finish what Jesus started. This is a radically unbiblical view of the work of Christ and the depravity of human beings. Grace is not God’s response to our decision!Many wrongly think about grace as something that changes our eternity but doesn’t necessarily change us in the present. This misunderstanding of grace is based on a purely transactional view of salvation, and that transaction only changes whether or not you spend eternity in hell. The unbiblical assumption is that those who pray the sinners’ prayer will go to heaven when they die even if their life is not changed as a result of their relationship with Jesus. This offer appeals to those who are frightened by the prospect of hell, but who are comfortable in their sin. This is a truncated view of salvation in which regeneration and sanctification are ignored. Grace is not something that leaves sinners in their sin!

If grace isn’t buyable or earnable, if it’s not merely God’s response to our decision, and if it’s not God simply changing where we spend eternity, what is it?

Ephesians 1 may be the clearest explanation of grace in all the Bible. After praying that the Ephesians would experience both grace and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, Paul explained the Trinitarian nature of grace.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

What is grace? Well, according to Paul grace can be thought of as the sovereign, saving work of the Triune God.

God the Father graciously set his love on sinners before the foundation of the world and in spite of our sinful rebellion. In other words, the Father’s grace isn’t something we can buy or earn. The Father’s grace is bestowed freely from before the foundation of the world.God the Son graciously humbled himself by becoming a servant and submitting to a substitutionary death on the cross. In other words, the Son’s grace isn’t something done in response to our decision. The Son’s grace was given while we were still sinners.God the Holy Spirit graciously gives us life out of death, and he seals God’s people, keeping them for the day of redemption. In other words, the Spirit’s grace isn’t something that only changes our eternity. It does that, but the Spirit’s grace also fundamentally changes us.

God’s grace is the source of our salvation from eternity past to eternity future. God’s grace is the foundation of our justification, the power of our sanctification, and the hope of our glorification. God’s grace is the only sure foundation for the salvation of sinners.

Sola gratia.