“All men have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God: if the Mosaic law has given a more adequate experience of this to the Jew, it is an experience which is perfectly familiar and intelligible to the Gentile also. One condemnation impends over a sinful race, because one God is the God of all. Hence it is one justification which is proclaimed for all in the gospel, and proclaimed on the same condition of faith. Men are justified freely by God’s grace, i.e. it is absolutely unmerited on our part; it costs nothing to us. But it does not cost nothing to Him. On the contrary, it costs an infinite price. We are justified for nothing, by God’s grace, but through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiatory sacrifice through faith in His blood, with a view to demonstrate His righteousness. ”
Excerpt From: James Denney. “Studies in Theology.” iBooks.
“First of all, in the first phrase of verse 20, the apostle teaches that God gave the law to convict and to convince us of sin. And second of all, I want you to see in the second part of verse 20 that Paul teaches that despite the increase of sin by the law, grace has been even more expansive. Grace has super abounded, despite the increase of sin. Those are the two things that Id like to look at with you this morning in verse 20, the first part of the verse and the second part of the verse. And I think as we look at it, you will see the importance of grace and the reason why grace is the only way that you can be reconciled with God.”
Excerpt From: Dr. J Ligon Duncan. “Covenant Theology.” iBooks.
“But even in practice all believers at all times and in all schools of thought have attributed their faith and salvation to God’s grace alone. There is nothing that distinguishes them other than that gift of grace (1 Corinthians 4:7). Ultimately, therefore, this difference cannot lie in the human will. If one nevertheless insists on considering will the final cause, one is instantly faced with all the psychological, ethical, historical, and theological objections that have at all times been raised against Pelagianism. It introduces incalculable caprice and weakens sin; the decision about the outcome of world history is put in the hands of humans, the governance over all things is taken away from God; his grace is canceled out. Even if one ascribes the power to choose for or against the gospel to the restoration of grace, this does not help matters. In that case one introduces a grace that consists solely in the restoration of volitional choice, one that is nowhere mentioned in Scripture, that actually presupposes regeneration and yet has to bring it about only after the right choice has been made.”
Excerpt From: Herman Bavinck. “The Holy Spirit's Work of Calling and Regeneration.” iBooks.
“The different effects of the same preached gospel at the same time and place prove that regeneration is from sovereign grace: "Some believed the things which mere spoken, and some believed not." (Acts 28:24). This is because, "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48). Often those remain unchanged whose social virtues, good habits, and amiability should seem to offer least obstruction to the gospel; while some old, profane, sensual, and hardened sinners become truly converted, whose wickedness and long confirmed habits of sinning must have presented the greatest obstruction to gospel truth. Like causes should produce like effects. Had outward gospel inducements been the real causes, these results of preaching would be impossible. The facts show that the gospel inducements were only instruments, and that in the real conversion the agency was almighty grace.”
Excerpt From: Robert L. Dabney. “The Five Points of Calvinism.” iBooks.
“What then, in verse 24, is grace? Thats a term we throw around all the time. Sometimes we hear it explained in an acrostic that John Stott or maybe someone before him came up with. You've heard it, g-r-a-c-e. Gods riches at Christs expense. Thats a good explanation of grace, and one could do much with that. But I want to be a little more specific than that. Often times we say grace is "unmerited favor." Thats true, but you know you can show someone favor that they didnt earn without their necessarily being a breach in your relationship with them. You can give a child a free gift where there is not necessarily a terrible breach in the relationship. Grace is the bestowal of favor, even in the face of a breach of relationship. So we need a more specific definition for it.
What is grace? Grace is Gods free favor bestowed on those who deserve His condemnation at the cost of His Son. Gods free favor bestowed on those who deserve His condemnation at the cost of His Son. That is grace. Notice it is free favor. Theres nothing in us or about us that prompts that favor. God just loves us. Its bestowed on those who are not merely victims of sin, but on those who are perpetrators of sin. And its done so not by God sweeping that sin under the carpet, but at the cost of His own son. As Derek Thomas described for us a couple of years ago, the gospel is not that God forgives. The gospel is that God forgives at the cost of His Son. And those two things are very different. You leave out the cost of the Son, you dont have the gospel. You dont understand grace. Mercy in the Bible is Gods favor shown to us in our capacity as victims. We are all hurt by sin in this fallen world, but grace in the Bible is Gods favor shown towards us, even as we are considered as rebels against Him and His will. And so he overwhelms our sin and draws us into His favor and into His kingdom. Now, lets look at those three great words that I want you to concentrate on in these passages.”
Excerpt From: Dr. J Ligon Duncan. “Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans 1-8.” iBooks.
Excerpt From: James Denney. “Studies in Theology.” iBooks.
“First of all, in the first phrase of verse 20, the apostle teaches that God gave the law to convict and to convince us of sin. And second of all, I want you to see in the second part of verse 20 that Paul teaches that despite the increase of sin by the law, grace has been even more expansive. Grace has super abounded, despite the increase of sin. Those are the two things that Id like to look at with you this morning in verse 20, the first part of the verse and the second part of the verse. And I think as we look at it, you will see the importance of grace and the reason why grace is the only way that you can be reconciled with God.”
Excerpt From: Dr. J Ligon Duncan. “Covenant Theology.” iBooks.
“But even in practice all believers at all times and in all schools of thought have attributed their faith and salvation to God’s grace alone. There is nothing that distinguishes them other than that gift of grace (1 Corinthians 4:7). Ultimately, therefore, this difference cannot lie in the human will. If one nevertheless insists on considering will the final cause, one is instantly faced with all the psychological, ethical, historical, and theological objections that have at all times been raised against Pelagianism. It introduces incalculable caprice and weakens sin; the decision about the outcome of world history is put in the hands of humans, the governance over all things is taken away from God; his grace is canceled out. Even if one ascribes the power to choose for or against the gospel to the restoration of grace, this does not help matters. In that case one introduces a grace that consists solely in the restoration of volitional choice, one that is nowhere mentioned in Scripture, that actually presupposes regeneration and yet has to bring it about only after the right choice has been made.”
Excerpt From: Herman Bavinck. “The Holy Spirit's Work of Calling and Regeneration.” iBooks.
“The different effects of the same preached gospel at the same time and place prove that regeneration is from sovereign grace: "Some believed the things which mere spoken, and some believed not." (Acts 28:24). This is because, "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48). Often those remain unchanged whose social virtues, good habits, and amiability should seem to offer least obstruction to the gospel; while some old, profane, sensual, and hardened sinners become truly converted, whose wickedness and long confirmed habits of sinning must have presented the greatest obstruction to gospel truth. Like causes should produce like effects. Had outward gospel inducements been the real causes, these results of preaching would be impossible. The facts show that the gospel inducements were only instruments, and that in the real conversion the agency was almighty grace.”
Excerpt From: Robert L. Dabney. “The Five Points of Calvinism.” iBooks.
“What then, in verse 24, is grace? Thats a term we throw around all the time. Sometimes we hear it explained in an acrostic that John Stott or maybe someone before him came up with. You've heard it, g-r-a-c-e. Gods riches at Christs expense. Thats a good explanation of grace, and one could do much with that. But I want to be a little more specific than that. Often times we say grace is "unmerited favor." Thats true, but you know you can show someone favor that they didnt earn without their necessarily being a breach in your relationship with them. You can give a child a free gift where there is not necessarily a terrible breach in the relationship. Grace is the bestowal of favor, even in the face of a breach of relationship. So we need a more specific definition for it.
What is grace? Grace is Gods free favor bestowed on those who deserve His condemnation at the cost of His Son. Gods free favor bestowed on those who deserve His condemnation at the cost of His Son. That is grace. Notice it is free favor. Theres nothing in us or about us that prompts that favor. God just loves us. Its bestowed on those who are not merely victims of sin, but on those who are perpetrators of sin. And its done so not by God sweeping that sin under the carpet, but at the cost of His own son. As Derek Thomas described for us a couple of years ago, the gospel is not that God forgives. The gospel is that God forgives at the cost of His Son. And those two things are very different. You leave out the cost of the Son, you dont have the gospel. You dont understand grace. Mercy in the Bible is Gods favor shown to us in our capacity as victims. We are all hurt by sin in this fallen world, but grace in the Bible is Gods favor shown towards us, even as we are considered as rebels against Him and His will. And so he overwhelms our sin and draws us into His favor and into His kingdom. Now, lets look at those three great words that I want you to concentrate on in these passages.”
Excerpt From: Dr. J Ligon Duncan. “Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans 1-8.” iBooks.