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Grace Alone
A Lutheran believes in "Grace Alone." That is, a Lutheran believes that on the basis of God's Holy Word that a person is forgiven and enters heaven by God's grace alone. The Biblical word "grace" refers to God's attitude of undeserved kindness toward us. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9).
It is not our conduct or performance that moves God to save us, it is his grace that moves God to save us. In fact, we can't do a thing to save ourselves. According to the Bible we are dead in sin (read Eph. 2:1; Romans 5:6). But God offers us full forgiveness and heaven as a free gift because Jesus lived and died to atone for our sin. Our salvation is not teamwork between us and God. It is not a matter of us doing our part and God doing His. We are not saved by God's grace plus our good works or anything we do. We are not saved by God's grace plus anything. We are saved by God's grace ALONE.
We don't deserve this. What we do deserve is eternal punishment in hell for our sin. But God, because Jesus bore our punishment on the cross, gives us what we don't deserve: eternal life. "For the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
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