Grace Through Faith

Grace through Faith

Christ came to this earth for one reason—to save humanity. However, in order to save humanity, He became our example of how to live a Godly life. He revealed to us that we must rely totally upon God for our salvation. He also established the Christian Church as the vehicle to spread the gospel and save the world. But most importantly, He died for our sins. Clearly, our salvation is in Christ Jesus, and He is truly the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

How are we saved?

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

It must be understood by the Christian that our works cannot save us. It is only by God’s grace that we are saved. In the original language of the Bible, the word translated for grace can also mean favor. In essence, favor can be seen as doing something that you do for someone, not because you have to, but because you want to.

Christ loves us and wants to spend eternity with us, thus we understand why He extends grace, which is unmerited favor. This unmerited favor reveals God’s love for us. In essence, grace is giving us something that we don’t deserve; a gift for the unworthy—this gift is eternal life (John 3:16).

God’s gift to humanity means that anyone can be saved if they accept Jesus as their personal Savior. Accepting Christ simply means believing that He alone can save us from us our sins.

The process to be saved can be summed up as follows:

Believe in Jesus. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Repent and ask Him to forgive your sins. 1John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Depend upon Jesus and live according to the Word of God. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

While this is an extremely condensed list, these are three crucial areas that must be met for those who desire to be saved.

Works and Faith

In my teenage years, I can remember looking for a job in the newspaper. I would often see jobs that had the following two requirements:

A valid driver’s license
Must be 18 years or older

After interviewing for a few of these types of jobs, I soon discovered that just because I had a valid driver’s license and I was 18 years old, did not guarantee me the job. Getting the job was still up to the discretion of the hiring manager. In this manner, we should understand that just because we keep the commandments does not guarantee nor does it mean that we deserve to be saved. We are still saved through God’s unmerited favor.

While I am not suggesting one is more important than the other, we should understand that good works aren’t the driving force behind our salvation, works are simply the results of our profession in Christ Jesus.

Notice what James says about faith and works:

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:26

From the verses presented thus far we should be able to understand that even though our good works and our law-keeping cannot save us, they are a revelation that we have faith in God.

If I tell my wife that I love her, but I am cheating on her with other women, my actions reveal that I do not love her regardless of my declaration. The same is with faith. Notice what James also says regarding our profession of faith:

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? James 2:14

In essence, James is telling us that our faith is irrelevant if our works declare an opposite reality. Therefore, if I say that I have faith in Christ, but my actions are wicked, then my actions reveal that I do not have faith in Christ. And thus we should understand that our works must be aligned with our faith in order to be justified or be right with God (James 2:27). Thus we can see that even though our works cannot save us, our works do come up in the judgment.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. Revelation 20:13