Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? by James Montgomery Boice

Author:James Montgomery Boice
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2017-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

GOD’ S SOVEREIGN FREEDOM

In this day of multiple human “rights,” most people wrongly assume that God owes us something—salvation or at least a chance at salvation. But in Packer’s discussion of grace, which we referenced at the beginning of this chapter, the author notes rightly that God does not owe us anything. He shows astonishing favor to many—that is what grace means—but he does not have to. If he were obliged to be gracious, grace would no longer be grace and salvation would be based on human merit rather than being sola gratia.6

When we say that God is not obligated to be gracious we are talking about sovereign grace, and when we are speaking about sovereign grace there is no better Bible passage to study than Ephesians 1. Most Christians are aware of Paul’s teaching about grace in Ephesians 2. In fact, many have memorized Ephesians 2:89, which describes grace. What most do not realize is that the meaning of grace in those verses has already been defined by what has been said about grace in chapter 1. Chapter 1 is about God’s sovereign grace from the beginning to the end.

What is the difference between Ephesians 1 and 2? Both chapters use the word grace three times. But chapter 1 looks at the subject from God’s point of view, showing that we are saved because of what God has willed, while chapter 2 looks at the subject from our perspective, showing how these prior decrees of God impact the individual believer. The important thing is that Paul begins with God. What is more, in beginning with God he highlights the role of each person of the Trinity in this work.

1. The role of God the Father: election. “He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (Eph. 1:4-6). These verses are one of the strongest expressions of sovereign grace in Scripture, for they teach that the blessings of salvation come to some people because God has determined from before the creation of the world to give these blessings to these people—and for that reason only.

Many people today do not like this doctrine because they think it is not just. Some deny it outright. Some admit it but deny its effect by saying that the choice is based on God’s foreknowledge—as if there were anything good in us for God to foresee, apart from his having previously determined to put it there. Some ignore the doctrine. But it is hard to ignore election, since it is found throughout the Bible and in so many critical passages. Without God’s prior election of sinners to salvation, grace is emptied of its meaning.

2. The role of God the Son: redemption. Election is not the only thing God has done as an expression of his grace in salvation.

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