1. Why is God's grace necessary?

 "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His ight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." - Romans 3, 20.

 No man after the Fall can be saved through good works.  Therefore, as far as the law is concerned, all men afte4r the Fall are forever lost and condemned.  Of man is to be saved at all, his salvation must come entirely from divine grace.

2. What is God's saving grace?

 "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." - Romans 3, 23-24.

 We have grace, by which God is moved to forgive sins and bestow salvation on fallen mankind, His gracious inclination, mediated through Christ's suffering in our behalf, revealed in the Gospel and witnessed to all the world.

 Faith justifies alone because of its object, Jesus Christ, the Crucified.

3. What does it mean that Christ is the object of our faith?

 "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." - Romans 3, 24.

 Justifying grace is not bestowed upon the sinner by a simple pronouncement of God's will, but it is given in and for the sake of Jesus Christ.  God is gracious to sinful and condemned mankind in view of the fact that the Son of God has ransomed all sinners from the curse and condemnation of the law.

 Divine grace and human merit exclude each other, but divine grace includes the divine merits of Christ.

4. Does God's justifying grace include all men?

 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long- suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3,9.

 The unmerited love of God in Christ Jesus extends not merely to some, to the elected few, but to all men without exception.  Christ is the Savior of the whole world.  God earnestly desires that every individual be saved.  Scripture declares that salvation has been secured even for those who reject God's grace and are thus lost through their unbelief.

5. Is God earnestly eager to save all men?

 "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unot salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." - Romans 1, 16.

 Justifying grace is serious and earnest, because God eagerly proposes, by sufficient and effective means, to bring about the salvation of all men.

6. If God earnestly desires the salvation of men, and man is saved alone by grace, why are some saved and some lost?

 "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" - Romans 11, 33.

 Scripture clearly teaches (a) that those who are saved come to faith by grace alone, without any merit on their part and (b) that those who are lost fall into eternal death through their own fault.  Beyond these two statements, contradictory to human reason, the believer cannot go.  The answer involves a mystery of our faith, incomprehensible to the human mind.

7. How does God's saving grace justify the sinner?

 "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." - Romans 3, 24.

 It justifies the sinner through Christ.  It is grace in Christ or for the sake of Christ.  God is gracious to sinful, condemned mankind only in view of the fact that the Son of God, true God and true Man, through His atonement has redeemed all sinners from the guilt and condemnation of the law.  Divine grace does not exclude divine justice, but rather presupposes and implies the satisfaction of its demands through Christ's death.

8. Could God have saved man without Christ's atonement, because of His sovereign power?

 "Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people's; for this He did once, when He offered up Himself." - Hebrews 7, 26-27.

 Scripture leaves no room for grace without the payment of the penalty of man's sin.  Questions such as the above are foolish, for the fact that God is gracious to sinners only for Christ's sake is emphatically stated in His Word and must be believed by all men who desire to obtain divine grace.  "Divine grace and human merit exclude each other; but divine grace includes the divine merits in Christ."

9. Commit to memory the following golden passages of Holy Scripture showing God's grace to fallen mankind:

 "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - Saint John 3, 16.

 "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." - Saint John 1, 29.

 "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." - Romans 10, 9.

Test Paper - Lesson 8

1. Why does man need God's grace?
......................................................................................................................................................

2. Tell in your own words what God's saving grace is.
......................................................................................................................................................

3. Complete the following Bible passage: "Being justified freely.....................................................
.................................................................................................................." - Romans 3, 24.

4. God grants sinners His grace in and for the sake of ...................................................................

5. Cross out the incorrect statement(s).
a. God wants only the believers to be saved.
b. God wants all men to be saved.
c. God wants only the elect to be saved.

6. Complete the following Bible passage: "The Lord is ............ not willing ...................................
................................, but ............................................................................................................"
- 2 Saint Peter 3, 9.

7. Please cross out the incorrect statement(s): Some men are saved and others are lost.
a. Because God did not want them to be saved.
b. Because of special sinfulness on their part.
c. This is a mystery of our faith, which cannot be reasoned by the human mind.

8. Complete the following Bible passage: "O the depth of the riches .............................................
....................................................................................................................................................!
..............................................................................................................................................,.......
.....................................................................................................! - Romans 11, 33.

9. Complete the following statements: No man can be saved through ............................................
If he is to be saved, it must be through...........................................................................................

10. Explain in your own words the statement that Jesus Christ is the object of our faith.
......................................................................................................................................................

Make every effort to fill in the answers from memory.  If you are not sure of certain answers, you may look them up in the lesson.  Your paper will be graded according to the following standard: 10 correct: perfect; 9 correct: excellent; 8 correct: very good; 7 correct: good.