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In Ephesians 2:8,
the apostle Paul says, “it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith...” He adds,
“and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by
works, so that no one can boast.”
During times of
doubt or personal struggle with sin, it is comforting and reassuring to
know that our salvation is not based on us, on how well we behave or how
strong our faith is.
Our salvation is
solely of God, by God and through God from beginning
to end. When Paul wrote that “it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith,” he does not mean the reverse, that it is by faith we are saved,
through grace. Faith doesn’t save us, God does. And he does it by
his grace, because HE is gracious.
Salvation isn’t something that can be
earned. God gives it to us freely. Our part is simply to trust God who
forgives us even though we don’t deserve it. That’s what faith is:
trusting God to love us and save us in spite of ourselves. Faith is
not a work that determines whether or not God will save us. God has
already done that in Jesus.
Notice how Paul explains it in Romans
4:4-8:
“Now
when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an
obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who
justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says
the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God
credits righteousness
apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never
count against him.”
Faith does not
cause God to save us. Faith simply involves trusting God and embracing the
salvation that God has already, by his grace, made real for us in Jesus.
Faith doesn’t cause salvation, or in any way bring about salvation. Faith
only allows us to see what is already true in Christ.
“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him,”
David said. That person is you. And your heavenly Father has made
it so by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.
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