Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 1 | THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH: THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP / 271

3. Eph. 1.6

4. Heb. 10.29

B. Grace is undeserved favor. When God is gracious he acts lovingly toward us even though we have no reason to claim or expect that kindness.

C. The difference between “grace” and “mercy”

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1. Mercy is God withholding what we actually deserve.

2. Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve.

C hr i s t i an M i n i s t ry

3. In the New Testament Scriptures, grace means that God acts toward us just as he does toward his Son Jesus. Therefore, grace is truly unmerited and undeserved favor.

D. What do we mean when we insist that everything we have is Sola Gratia , by grace alone?

1. First of all, we mean that every human being who has ever lived comes into the world locked up under sin and is in a completely hopeless position, Rom. 3.10-12. The Pelagian error or heresy, is the belief that a person is not born with a sinful nature and can seek and believe in God completely out of their own free will. The Church has rejected the Pelagian error and taught from the Scriptures that a person can come to God only because the grace of God is already working in them.

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