Saving grace (gratia saltJifica, χάρις σωτήριος), by which God is moved to forgive sin and to bestow salvation upon fallen mankind, is His gracious disposition (gratuitus Dei favor). or benevolent inclination, mediated through Christ's vicarious atonement, revealed in the Gospel, and witnessed to the world in order that it may be believed by all men, Rom. 3, 24. 25; John 20, 31. Luther: "God's love or favor, which He cherishes toward us in Himself"; "Gottes Huld oder Gunst, die er zu uns traegt bei sick selbst." Gratia Dei aliquid in Deo, sc. affectus Dei benevolus, est non qualitas animi in hominibus. Synonyms of grace, in this sense, are love (John 3, 16), mercy (Titus 3, 5), kindness (Titus 3, 4), etc., all of which describe more fully God's benevolent disposition by which He is moved not to condemn, but to save, fallen mankind by faith in His beloved Son.
Although the term grace properly denotes God’s unmerited favor in Christ Jesus, Scripture uses it also to describe the spiritual gifts or excellences which God, as the gracious Lord, works in all believers and by virtue of which they begin to fulfil the Law (willing and faithful service, 1 Pet. 4,10; patience in suffering, 1 Pet. 2, 19; conscientious administration of the office of the ministry, Rom. 15, 15. 16; etc.). In this case the effect, by way of metonymy, is named after the cause, or the gifts of grace are named after their divine Source. Nomen gratiae per metonymiam effectus pro causa pro donis ex benevolentia Dei in nos collatis sumitur.
Grace in this sense must be definitely excluded as a cause of forgiveness of sin and salvation, since Scripture teaches expressly that the sinner is justified and saved without the deeds of the Law, Rom. 3, 28; Eph. 2, 8. 9. The believer owes his salvation not to inherent or infused grace, or the grace which is in him, but alone to the benevolent disposition in God, or the gratuitus Dei favor. In other words, when we say that we are saved by grace, we do not refer to divine grace as it exerts itself in us, but as it is found outside of us, in God. So also faith does not justify and save either as a good quality (nova qualitas), or as a good work (opus per se dignum), or as a gift of God (donum Spiritus Sancti), or as a source of good works in us, but alone as the receiving means (ὄργανον ἀηπτικόν), by which man, who in himself is ungodly, appropriates to himself the grace of God and the merits of Christ through implicit trust in the promises of the Gospel.
In short, faith justifies solely by virtue of its object, which is Jesus Christ, the Crucified, Gal. 2,16; 1 Cor.'2, 2. Luther: Non per se aut virtute aliqua intrinseca fides iustificat, sed simpliciter quatenus habet se correlative ad Christum. This truth Scripture teaches clearly by placing faith in opposition to works whenever it describes the way in which the sinner is justified. Rom. 4, 5: “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness”; Eph. 2, 8. 9: “By grace are ye saved, through faith, . . . not of works.”
This sharp distinction between grace as God’s unmerited favor and grace as a gift of God (donum gratiae) in the article of justification is of the greatest importance; for all who teach that grace in the sense of infused grace (gratia infusa) is either the sole or a concomitant cause of justification inculcate salvation by works and have fallen from grace, Gal. 5, 4. In reality, while retaining the Christian terminology, they are teaching the paganistic doctrine of work-righteousness.
This pernicious mingling of grace and the gifts of grace is the basic error of the Roman Catholic Church, which in the Decisions of the Council of Trent (Sess. VI, Can. XI) has anathematized the definition of justifying grace as gratuitus Dei favor, from which infused grace must be rigidly excluded. But also the Reformed are obliged to rely on infused grace for justification since they deny that God’s grace (gratia universalis) is seriously offered to all sinners in the Gospel and the Sacraments. They are therefore compelled to rely for the personal assurance of their justification on something within themselves or upon their renewal, or their good works, in short, upon infused grace. The same is true of all enthusiasts who assume a revealing and sanctifying operation of the Holy Ghost outside the divinely appointed means of grace (the Word and the Sacraments), no matter by what names they may be known. Zwingli, in Fidei Ratio: “Dux autem vel vehiculum Spiritui non est necessarium” Since in this case the believer cannot rely for justification and salvation on the objective promises of God, he must rely on the feeling of grace (sensus gratiae) within his heart, or upon divine grace as it exerts itself in him.
It is true, wherever the grace of God in Christ Jesus is accepted in true faith, there good works must needs follow, and at times there will also be the comforting feeling of divine grace. But if the believer puts his trust in his spiritual renewal or in the presence of grace in his heart, Christ’s perfect work of redemption, or the objective reconciliation effected by Him, 2 Cor. 5, 19, is denied. But then also the essence of justifying faith, which is trust in the objective divine promises of grace. Rom. 4, 18. 25, is denied. In the final analysis, then, also the certainty of salvation must be denied; for if salvation is based upon good works, such a person’s hope of heaven is absolutely futile.
By reaffirming the true definition of justifying grace as gratuitus Dei favor and excluding from it the false conception of infused grace, correcting in this respect even St. Augustine, the Church of the Reformation returned to the apostolic purity of the Christian faith. The confessional Lutheran Church of America follows in the footsteps of the great Reformer and in the article of justification sharply distinguishes between grace and the gifts of grace, or between God’s unmerited favor and its benefactions in the believer’s heart. For this reason it constantly bears witness not only against Catholicism, Zwinglianism, and enthusiasm, but also against synergism (Arminianism), which denies the sola gratia and places the cause of man’s justification to some extent in him (aliquid in homine), thus inducing him to trust for salvation both in divine grace and in human goodness.
While the synergists include man’s moral conduct, or his selfdecision, or his right attitude toward grace, in justifying faith, the Arminians insist that justifying faith embraces also the good works of believers. According to their teaching the believer, seeking assurance of his salvation, must trust in the divine grace within himself (gratia infnsa), or in his sanctification.
From the above it is obvious how important it is for the Christian theologian to maintain the Scriptural definition of justifying grace; for without it he can neither teach the true doctrine of justification as revealed in the Gospel nor exclude from justification the doctrine of salvation by good works, nor can he rightly comfort any sinner who seeks assurance of salvation. Hence, wherever the Scriptural doctrine of justifying grace is perverted, the entire Christian doctrine becomes corrupted and paganized. It is for this reason that Luther and all orthodox Lutheran theologians so earnestly insisted upon having this Bible doctrine taught in the Church, that justifying grace is God’s unmerited favor in Christ Jesus. The Apology declares: “It is necessary that in the Church of Christ the Gospel be retained, t. e., the promise that for Christ’s sake sins are freely remitted. Those who teach nothing of this faith . . . altogether abolish the Gospel. (Art. IV (II), 120. Triglotta, p. 155.) Chemnitz says: "Gratia in articulo iustificationis intelligenda est de sola gratuita misericordia Dei." With this definition of justifying grace the Christian Church stands or falls (articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae).