Researched by the Ignaria editorial team · Updated 2026-07-29
Grace alone (sola gratia) asserted that salvation is entirely the work of God — not a cooperative venture in which human will contributes anything to the initial movement toward God. Luther drew this from Augustine's anti-Pelagian writings, arguing that even the faith that receives grace is itself a gift of God, not a human contribution.
Calvin pressed this further in his doctrine of election: the very fact of perseverance is secured by God's unconditional choice, not by human cooperation with grace.
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What the primary sources show
"I openly confess, that I should not wish Free-will to be granted me, even if it could be so, nor anything else to be left in my own hands, whereby I might endeavour something towards my own salvation" — Luther's sharpest statement that sola gratia requires denying any human contribution, including the will's consent.
"Scripture, when it treats of justification by faith, leads us in a very different direction. Turning away our view from our own works, it bids us look only to the mercy of God and the perfection of Christ" — Calvin's grounding of grace alone in Scripture's consistent redirection from human works to divine mercy.