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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 “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 receive
and 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.