The one thing every Christian absolutely must understand about our common salvation is that salvation is by grace through faith, and not of works. This is summed up in Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Let's break down this concept into bite-sized pieces, and look at each part individually.
Salvation Is By Grace
Grace is specifically defined as a gift or a favor from God, given freely out of His goodness, despite our vile, undeserving nature. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The reason any salvation is offered is because God decided to offer it as a gift to mankind.
Man did nothing to deserve it or to obligate God in any way. Quite the opposite, in fact. Mankind, in his sinfulness, has driven God to wrath and is deserving only of Hell, but still God offers salvation. Romans 3:23-24 sums this concept up nicely by saying, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
Salvation Is Through Faith
Faith is literally the hope and belief in things which you have not seen. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” As stated in this verse, faith is not only belief in the unseen, but also it is, in and of itself, a form of evidence for the existence of the fulfillment of things hoped for. We are told why this is true in Hebrews 10:23. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”. The one we place our faith in is faithful toward us to deliver on his promises.
Faith is how we receive Gods gift of salvation. It is the vessel that we receive God's grace through. We put our faith in the gift of God, that is, the work of the Cross. Romans 5:14-18 tells us that, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”
Salvation Is Not By Good Works
Please understand that good works are our fruit. They are simply what behaviors we do as we walk through our lives. Luke 6:45 show this clearly by saying, ”A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
Salvation can't come from our good works because our good works are a physical manifestation of the Spirit of God in us that comes from salvation. Luke 6:46 puts it plainly, saying, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” This verse kinda states the obvious. If we call Christ our Lord, then consequently, we'll do the works he tells us to do.
The belief that our good works are what saves us is to put the cart before the horse. Never mind that it nullifies several of the verses that have been previously quoted in this article. Ephesians 2:9 is very clear, that salvation is “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” To believe otherwise is to obligate God, to put him in debt to you because of your percieved “goodness”. Romans 4:4-5 says, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Good works should naturally come from the heart of a Spirit-led believer. However, they are not, in any way, obligating God to reward us with salvation, because our wickedness and fallen nature will always outweigh any good we may do. Isaiah 64:6 shows us clearly our wretched state. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Conclusion
Though the individual offices and operations of grace, faith, and works require some thinking through, it's easy to see the truth from scripture. The Bible makes it clear that our salvation is by grace through faith, and not of works.
