“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” - Ephesians 2:8
The distinction is that we can do nothing to earn or unearn salvation. Forgiveness is God’s gift to humanity. Because we are loved by God, we feel called to love our neighbors.
Martin Luther actually disliked the term “Lutherans” because he did not want to be the center of the Reformation. Luther preferred the term, “Evangelicals” (which had a different connotation than it does today) because it comes from the word, “evangelion” which means “the gospel” or “the good news”.
