Sola Gratia

Sola Gratia means that we are saved by grace alone, which is one of the five solas in the Reformation. Many do not understand what grace is. To put it simply, grace means getting what we do not deserve. Contrast with mercy which is not getting what we deserve. Grace is receiving from God what we did not earn nor worked for. 

The Bible says:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21-24).

The Apostle Paul tells us that God has given us a righteousness apart from obeying the law. That righteousness comes from Christ who lived a perfect life on our behalf. We all have sinned, yet God has given us grace as a gift. Paul used Abraham to illustrate his point:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God! For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not counted according to grace, but according to what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes upon Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” (Romans 4:1-8)

Grace is nothing that is owed to us. We do not deserve anything from God. God owes us nothing except damnation because we are sinners yet He "demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). The wages of our sin is death but God's free gift is eternal life in Christ (Romans 6:23), which is given to us by grace alone through faith (Ephesians 2:8).