Grace Alone

In listening to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' first two sermons on Romans (www.mljtrust.org) I have been bolstered in my faith mightily. The reminder in his poignant voice that faith is by grace alone, and no work of man, is encouraging as I seek to solidify my sharing the truth with others.

Men died throughout history for the straight-forward Biblical belief that grace is not administered through a sacrament like communion, nor is it granted through avoiding certain foods or performing certain acts of sacrifice on our part. God is fully responsible for our salvation. He grants it as a gift to us as we believe in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all sin, as the Bible says.

With this in mind, we must ask the question: does it matter if a person believes in transubstantiation with communion? What is the doctrine associated with this belief? It is a practice which says Christ is being sacrificed for the taker, again and again...that grace is passed to the recipient through the sacrifice. But is this right?? NO! May it never be! Christ died for our sins, once and for all. The Scriptures attest to this truth. He is not re-sacrificed in the church service for us, nor is He bodily dying as we take communion. He has died, has risen, and has come again. Now He is seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

A wrong understanding of this is to have a wrong understanding of salvation, which has eternal significance. We must be clear in the absolute love and mercy God showed in sending His one and only Son to pay the price for us. "It is finished." Christ said.

Standing true on doctrine is not hair splitting, nor is it unkind. We who have the truth are obliged to love God and mankind enough to proclaim how a man is delivered from this present darkness and put in a new position of reconciliation to the Creator God. In this current age of adding psychology to faith and promoting radical lifestyle changes, the work of God is often complicated erroneously. Salvation becomes a murky mix of works and some sort of belief, and thus we see born again believers weakened in their own faith and incompetent to share the Gospel--the Good News of the Bible.

I am seeing afresh how powerful the Solas of the reformation were and are. Here is a worthwhile read about them.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Keep the faith, the simple pure word of God,

Ann