What do we mean when we talk about the Gospel of Grace ?

The term « gospel » comes from the Greek and means « good news ». We believe that it is impossible for a man, in view of his corrupted nature, to earn eternal life by his own means. Human beings must absolutely rely upon the obedience of Christ alone to be saved (John 3.16, Romans 3.24-28). The La Rochelle Confession of Faith 1 devotes several paragraphs to explaining the work that Christ has accomplished. Here is an extract from it:

IV. THE WORK OF SALVATION

  • 16. The death of Christ

We believe that God, by sending His son into the world, wanted to show His love and His inestimable kindness towards us by delivering him over to death and by resurrecting him, in order to accomplish all justice and in order to aquire for us eternal life. Isaiah 53.6; John 1.29, 3.16, 15.13; Romans 4.25, 8.3, 32.33; Hebrews 22.14-15; 1 John 4.9.

  • 17. Our reconciliation

We believe that, by the one-time sacrifice that the Lord Jesus offered on the cross, we are reconciled with God, and are thus counted and considered just before Him. Indeed, we can only be pleasing to Him and participate in His adoption if He forgives and buries our faults. We affirm, therefore, that Jesus Christ is our complete and perfect purification, that his death paid full reparations for our sins, acquitting us of our faults and of the iniquities of which we are guilty, and that we can only be delivered by this means. Hebrews 7.27, 9.12, 24.28, 10.12, 14, 18; 1 Peter 3.18; Romans 5.1, 8-9, 8.1; 2 Corinthians 5.18-20; Colossians 1.14; Hebrews 5.7-9; Romans 4.24, 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5.21; 1 Peter 2.24-25; John 15.3; Romans 8.2; Hebrews 9.14; 1 Peter 1.18-19; Isaiah 53.5, 12; Matthew 1.28; Romans 3.23-24; Colossians 1.14; 1 Timothy 2.6; Hebrews 2.17; Acts 2.21, 4.12; 1 Corinthians 2.2; Philippians 3.8.

  • 18. Our free forgiveness

We believe that all our justness is founded upon the forgiveness of our sins and that we can find true joy only in this pardon, as David said. This is why we reject all other means by which we might think we could be justified before God and, without presuming that we have any virtue or any worthiness, we hold ourselves obedient uniquely to Jesus Christ our peace, whose reighteousness is attributed to us, covers our faults, and allows us to find grace and favour before God. Indeed, we believe that should we move away however slighly from this foundation - obedience to Jesus Christ - we would not be able to find any rest elsewhere, but that we would always be gnawed away at by anxiety since, considered on our own, we deserve to be hated by God, and that we will never be at peace with Him until we are firmly convinced that we are loved by Jesus Christ. Isaiah 1.18, 43.25; Jeremiah 31.4; Ezekiel 36.29; John 3.17-18, 5.24; Romans 3.23-24; 1 Corinthians 6.11; Colossians 1.14; 1 John 2.12; Psalm 32.1-3; cf. art. 17, nota 2; Luke 1.77; Romans 4.6-8, 8.1-2; Romans 4.2; 1 Corinthians 1.29-31, 4:7; Romans 5.19. Cf. art 17 ; Ephesians 2.8.

1 The gospel of grace, as articulated by the confessions of the Reformation, was put into practice all over Europe at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Reformed churches met to articulate afresh the « doctrines of grace », stipulating the conditions in which they must be accepted. Pierre Ch. Marcel explains: After fifty years of testing, confronted by seriously divergent expositions of faith, the authorities of the major reformed churches of Europe deemed it necessary to hold a one-off synod at Dordrecht, in the Netherlands (1618-1619). It was as a result of this that Five Articles (called Canons, or decrees) were, by unanimous decision, added as an annex to the Confession of Faith drafted by the National Synod of the Reformed Churches in France, held at Alès, in the Cévennes, on the 6th of October 1620[...].
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