The Historical Tracings of the Doctrines of Grace | Part 1

Key Scriptures

• Jonah 2:9 – “Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
• Ephesians 2:8–9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
• Romans 9:15–16 – “For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”

Every generation of believers must answer this question: Who saves—God or man?

That question lies at the heart of every gospel controversy from the garden of Eden to the present day. It’s not merely academic. It’s not a matter of denominational preference or theological hobby. It’s a question of worship. If salvation is something God accomplishes entirely, then He receives all glory. But if salvation is a cooperative project between God and man, then man shares in the credit—and grace ceases to be grace.

The doctrines of grace exist to defend the gospel’s integrity. They proclaim that salvation is not the result of human decision, effort, or worthiness. It is entirely of the Lord—from eternity past to eternity future. “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). That’s the anthem of Scripture, and that’s the story these doctrines tell.

When we speak of “the doctrines of grace,” we’re referring to the biblical truths later summarized during the Reformation: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. Together, they form a fivefold confession of one reality—that God is sovereign in the salvation of sinners.

But these doctrines didn’t emerge from a theologian’s study or from the halls of a university. They arose from the battlefield of history. The church has never drifted into sound doctrine; she has always fought her way there. Whenever man exalts himself—whether through moralism, ritualism, or decisionism—grace must rise to rescue the gospel.

This study, over the next six weeks, is not an exploration of Calvinism as a label, but of Christianity as the Bible defines it. We’re tracing the story of how the church has come to confess, generation after generation, that salvation is of the Lord. We’ll begin where every doctrine must begin—in the pages of Scripture—and then trace how, throughout history, God raised up men to defend His sovereignty when it was under attack.

From the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 9 to Augustine’s defense of grace in the fifth century, from Luther’s Bondage of the Will to Calvin’s Institutes, and from the Synod of Dort to the 1689 Baptist Confession, this story is the story of the gospel’s preservation.

The doctrines of grace are not a cold system—they are the song of redeemed sinners who know that their salvation began in the mind of God, was accomplished by the Son of God, and is applied by the Spirit of God. To study these truths is to look at the gospel through a microscope and see every attribute of God magnified.

As we begin this study, we stand with the Reformers, the Puritans, and every faithful generation that has echoed Paul’s words in Romans 11:36: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”