“The Father himself loveth you.” It was he whose gracious mind first conceived the thought of redeeming his chosen from the ruin of the fall; it was his mind which first planned the way of salvation by substitution; it was from his generous heart that the thought first sprang that Christ should suffer as the covenant head of his people, as saith the apostle, “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. It is put among the relics of the past. Then why was a Redeemer needed at all? The Saviour completed his work, and in the sense in which Paul uses that expression, “He hath saved us.” This completeness is one peculiarity—we must mark another. Pauline Epistles His ministry began in the year of his conversion as a young man. It is grace, all grace, nothing but grace from first to last. Please see Blue Letter Bible's Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. Pentateuch Use Promo Code "Spurgeon" to get our new Spurgeon Trilogy $15 Off, and the first 50 orders will get Root & Fruit by Steve Lawson & Joel Beeke for free! This is not according to the common talk of professors now-a-days, for many of them speak of being saved when they come to die; but it is according to the usage of Scripture to speak of us who are saved. https://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/sola-gratia-by-grace-alone The Old Testament The New Testament Latin phrases that collectively served as foundational principles of the Protestant Reformation If any man be saved, he is saved by Divine grace, and by Divine grace alone; and the reason of his salvation is not to be found in him, but in God. Site by Mere. That is clear. It is the Son of God who is the Saviour of men, and men are not the saviours of themselves. If we can say of any man, or of any set of people, "Ye are saved," we shall have to preface it with the words "by grace." "No; I will produce it in my own workshop." God forbid that we should say a word against appealing to the feelings; this is most needful in its place, but then there is a due proportion to be observed in it. What hand had you in it “before the world began?” Why, fly back if you can in imagination to the ancient years when those venerable mountains, that elder birth of nature, were not yet formed; when world, and sun, and moon, and stars, were all in embryo in God’s great mind; when the unnavigated sea of space had never been disturbed by wing of seraph, and the awful silence of eternity had never been startled by the song of cherubim—when God dwelt alone. Is he not to us instructor, comforter, quickener, is he not everything, in fact, through his active operations upon our mind? God saves his people “according to his purpose,” nay, “according to his own purpose.” My brethren and sisters, do you not see how all the merit and the power of the creature are shut out here, when you are saved, not according to your purpose or merit, but “according tote own purpose”? To which class do we belong? GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point He neither chose them nor called them because they were holy, but he called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by his workmanship in them. Do you attribute this singular renewal to the existence of a something better in you than has been yet discovered in your unconverted neighbour? We are called in Scripture “a temple”—a holy temple in the Lord. “Glorious old dogmatism, when wilt thou come back again to earth? The well-taught man in Christ Jesus stands firm where the uninstructed infant would fall or be carried away. Let it be told to men that they are saved by God, and they say at once, “Then what is the good of the priest?” If they are told it is God’s grace then they say, “Then you do not want our money to buy masses and absolutions,” and down goes the priest at once. While he has to mourn over sin that dwelleth in him, Feb 1, 2018 - Explore willi knevel's board "Spurgeon quotes", followed by 357 people on Pinterest. 1. The Gospels Major Prophets Historical Books The forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. But what did bring them together in the dead of night amidst the glare of lightning, and the roll of thunder— what brought them together? Suppose that God saved men on account of their merits, where would you drunkards be? you who have been unclean and unchaste, and you whose hearts have cursed God, and who even now do not love him, where would you be? Other doctrine is slippery ground, like the slope of a mountain composed of loose earth and rolling stones, down which the traveller may slide long before he can even get a transient foothold; but this is like a granite step upon the eternal pyramid of truth; get your feet on this, and there is no fear of slipping so far as doctrinal standing is concerned. Why man, if it were by merit, what would become of you? Major Prophets As Spurgeon said in a sermon delivered 23 years earlier than the one quoted above: If any man be saved, he is saved by Divine grace, and by Divine grace alone; and the reason of his salvation is not to be found in him, but in God. It is written, “which was given us in Christ Jesus.” We ask to have mercy from the well-head of grace, but we ask not even to make the bucket in which it is to be brought to us; Christ is to be the sacred vessel in which the grace of God is to be presented to our thirsty lips. But we praise God for salvation because it is not the payment of debt, but the gift of grace. He says not, "Ye are partly saved," nor "in the way to being saved," nor "hopeful of salvation"; but "by grace are ye saved." Luke-Acts Whereas their old nature loved everything that was evil, their new nature cannot sin because it is born of God, and it loveth everything that is good. A preacher and teacher, his sermons have spread all over the world and his many printed works have been treasured classic for decades. It is through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus that the people of God become accepted in the Beloved. Pauline Epistles After you have believed, you can enjoy salvation by feeling its heavenly influences; but to dream of getting a grasp of it by your own feelings is as foolish as to attempt to bear away the sunlight in the palm of your hand, or the breath of heaven between the lashes of your eyes. Minor Prophets Though I have but a little oil in the cruse, and a little meal in the barrel, yet I have a lot and a portion in everlasting things. Scripture tells us— “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.” If it had been by works it must have been by debt; but since it is by faith, we can clearly see that there can be no merit, in faith. But what is the use of it? We shall probably deliver doctrine which many of you will not like, and if you should not like it we shall not be at all surprised, or even if you should be vexed and angry we shall not be at all alarmed, because we never understood that we were commissioned to preach what would please our hearers, nor were expected by sensible, not to say gracious men, to shape our views to suit the notions of our audience. He saves in infinite sovereignty of grace. This is the truth which shook all Europe from end to end when Luther first proclaimed it. Wisdom Literature Johannine Writings Present Salvation by Grace Must Be Through Faith. Better still is it that this doctrine not only gives the man something to hold but it holds the man. Suppose that he should keep the law all the rest of his life, he will then only have done what he was always bound to have done, and he will still be an unprofitable servant. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” — Ephesians ii. No: we believe that God the Father was the architect, sketched the plan, supplies the materials, and will complete the work. I never stood by the bedside of a godly man who reposed any confidence whatever in his own prayers, or repentance, or religiousness. God spake the world out of nothing, but nothing did not aid in the creation of the universe. God must freely extend the silver sceptre of his love to thee, for thou art a guilty wretch who deserves to be sent to the lowest hell. The Lord has declared over and over in his Word, “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” “By the works of the law there shall no flesh living be justified.” The apostle in the epistle to the Galatians is very strong indeed upon this point; indeed he thunders it out again, and again, and again. The Whole Bible Shall it be said that the stones of the building in which we are now assembled cut themselves into their present shape, and then spontaneously came together, and piled this spacious edifice? Can the dead make themselves alive? It will cover thee and make thee glorious. 8. Prophets Yes; but you really liberated him as soon as you paid his debts. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, August 4, 1872, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. How should there be any need for Jesus to descend into the world to redeem those who could redeem themselves? The New Testament Feelings are a set of The works being unfinished, the salvation would be incomplete; or, the salvation being complete, the main motive of the legalist would be gone. The apostle did not, however, overlook the work of the Son. while he has to confess innumerable shortcomings and transgressions, while sin is mixed with all he does, how can he believe that he is completely saved except it be by the free favour of God? Minor Prophets But then salvation would not be a gift by God’s grace, but rather something that we merited by our faith. If I can stand before the King and claim that I have done something to win his favour, I am quite willing to come.” But the herald replies, “No: if you are pardoned, you must understand it is entirely and wholly as an act of grace on God’s part. Within the circle of these words my theology is contained, so far as it refers to the salvation of men. But why did God make salvation to be by faith? It is not of ourselves, in the further sense, that it is not out of our original excellence. Even the very will thus to be saved by grace is not of ourselves, but it is the gift of God.