Salvation By Grace Through Faith: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
In most Anglophone countries, some girls are named ‘Grace’. In modelling and other deportment activities, one can be described as ‘carrying themselves with grace.’ The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘grace’ as ‘smoothness and elegance of movement’. The other definition talks about ‘courteous good will.’ When used as a verb, it describes the action of ‘bringing honour or credit to someone or something by one’s attendance or participation’. However, in the Christian tradition, grace is biblically explained thus: ‘Because we are completely unable to earn favour with God, the only way we could be declared righteous is if God freely provides salvation for us by grace, totally apart from our work.’ (Grudem 1994:729). In common parlance, grace is defined as God’s unmerited favour to sinful humanity. A common illustration used on many pulpits is of someone who is on death row who is then pardoned on account of someone else having volunteered to die on the behalf. Some preachers have over-emphasized grace to the detriment of holy and ethical living once one has been saved. On the other hand, other preachers have become too religious to prescribe rules and laws in order for someone to be saved. I found Andrew Wommack’s treatment of the above text balanced, and I shall rely on some of his insights (Wommack 2009). As the title of his book ‘Living in the Balance of Grace and Faith: Combining Two Powerful Forces to Receive from God’ says, there should be balance between Grace and Faith. It should never be ‘either/or’ but both. Grace is required from God, and faith is required from the recipient of salvation.
Starting from Genesis 3 we understand that the ancestors of all humanity, Adam and Eve fell. They disobeyed God and were punished with death. Through their sin, all humanity were placed on death row. However, God’s first act of grace was to kill an animal and cover their nakedness with animal skins. He then promised to destroy the serpent through the crushing of its head by the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15). In Genesis 6 we are told that humanity again became so corrupt that God regretted having created them. In destroying humanity by a flood, God spared Noah and his family by grace. Romans 6:23 in the New Testament then tells us, ‘The wages of sin is death’. It is important to mention that death mentioned here is not physical mortality. Death describes the eternal separation from God, ‘…cut off from experiencing any good from him, and that they live forever in hell, receiving only his wrath eternally (Grudem 1994:657). In order for Him to redeem humanity, God initiated a plan out of His love. ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, may not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Through this action, God was able to extend to humanity what has been termed ‘common grace’ which affects all creation. God’s grace is to every living human being (Titus 2:11). When the gospel is preached to humanity, anyone who responds to God’s love positively receives ‘saving grace’ as a free gift from God. This saving grace is not a reward for good works. The positive response to the gospel is called faith. So, salvation is by grace only from God’s side, but through faith from the human side. A prominent American preacher went into error by teaching that since Jesus Christ died for all sinners, it meant that all humanity from then onwards are saved without doing anything else. God’s grace is already there since Jesus Christ atoned for sin more than 2000 years ago. All we have to do is to respond in faith to the love of God and we will be saved. Once we receive the word of truth, we are born again (Jn 3:3).
Some theologians and Ministers of the Word have over-emphasized this saving grace to argue that one can then go on to live anyhow but still retain their salvation. They take Ephesians 2:8-9 to be the only scripture which teaches justification. Martin Luther challenged the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrine of indulgencies based on the above text. He then struggled with James 2:14-16 which talked about faith and works. Paul asked the question “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” – Romans 6:1. In verse 2 his answer to that rhetorical question was an emphatic, ‘By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?’ Which then brings us to a correct exposition of James 2:14-16. Once someone has been saved by God’s grace through their faith, they have to show their faith by doing good works. The unsaved world can only see our faith through the good works which we do. ‘By allowing the world to see in us a character, strength, manner of life, way of living that is so different that they are rendered without defence, speechless (Kendall 2012:167). James was concerned that those who professed that they were saved ignored the poor among them. He expected them to meet the physical needs of the poor as a way of demonstrating their faith. James, therefore, was not contradicting Paul. Instead, he was providing the means through which our confession of faith can be seen by those who do not believe. Good works after one has been saved by grace is the evidence that one has faith.
In a nutshell, we can summarize the above thus:
- All human beings are born in sin (Rom. 3:23).
- God loved the world and gave his Son to die and atone for human sin (John 3:16).
- God provided for salvation as a gift of grace and not to reward good works (Eph. 2:8-9).
- For them to be saved human beings must respond to the grace by faith which comes by hearing the word of truth (Rom. 10:17).
- Those saved must demonstrate their faith by generosity, meekness, kindness, and moral conduct (James 2:14-16).
I end with this clarion call: If anyone has not yet received Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord of their life, contact us through this website and we will help you make that decision. No amount of sin can prevent you from being saved. God still loves you and is calling on you to come back to Him and experience salvation by grace through faith. For more messages please visit our blog page.
Reverend Silas T Nyadzo is the resident Pastor of Apostolic Faith Mission International Ministries UK Church on Mission (Leeds)