We confess sola gratia (by grace alone) and sola fide (through faith alone), as the response to the Romanist doctrine that we are justified and saved by the infusion of a medicinal substance (which they call grace), with which we are said to cooperate unto sanctification and thence, eventually, to justification. No, salvation (deliverance from the wrath to come, righteousness with God, and progressive sanctification) is God’s free gift. Grace is not a medicinal substance with which we are infused. It is God’s favor merited for us by Christ’s perfect righteousness earned for us and freely imputed to us by God. Faith is not a virtue formed by love but the gift of God with which we freely receive, rest in, and trust Christ and all of his righteous and suffering obedience for us. Continue reading →