Biblical Contemplation
Grace is the unmerited favor of God, freely bestowed through Christ, constituting the foundation of salvation and the means by which humanity is reconciled to God. It is wholly independent of human merit and serves as both the initiating and sustaining power of the Christian life. Beyond redemption, grace operates transformatively, enabling sanctification and faithful obedience. Theologically, common grace denotes God’s universal beneficence toward all creation, while saving grace effects spiritual regeneration. Thus, grace functions as the dynamic expression of divine love active in both personal salvation and the moral order of the world.
To live by faith is to trust in God’s providential plan, even without full understanding, relying on His guidance as revealed in Scripture.
Faith is central to Christian theology as the means by which believers receive justification before God. Conforming to sola fide, salvation rests solely on Christ’s perfect obedience and substitutionary atonement, received through faith apart from human merit.
According to various Christian traditions, faith is understood as:
- A sovereign gift from God, produced by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, by which the elect, irresistibly drawn, embrace Christ as their only Savior, in response to irresistible and unconditional grace.
- A free and cooperative human response to God’s prevenient grace, made possible by informed free will, and necessary to receive the salvation offered to all.
Manuals of Biblical Reflections
In Christ's Love
