How are we saved? What is the mechanism by which God judges who has been saved and who will be lost for all eternity? That’s a big question, and one we should know the answer to, if we want to be assured of our salvation. How does salvation happen? It’s all about grace, right? You know the most famous hymn of all time...Amazing Grace...it saved a wretch, like me. But is that all there is to it? Let me give you this illustration. Let’s say you’ve committed a terrible crime and have been brought before a judge. The judge finds you guilty, because like I said, you committed a crime. As the judge hands down his sentence on you, he does something unusual. He says that since a terrible crime has been committed, a lifetime prison sentence is mandatory...but you don’t have to go to prison if you don’t want to. If you choose not to go to prison, he will send someone else in your place...his son. The choice is yours. When the judge said you didn’t have to go to prison if you didn’t want to, he was showing mercy. When he said he would send someone else to prison for your crime, he was giving grace. Mercy is not getting what you deserve...the rest of your life in prison. Grace is getting something you didn’t deserve... someone else to go to prison for you. Who would refuse an offer like that? Lot’s of people. Those who refuse to accept the fact that they committed a crime, are the first to reject the offer. They justify their action as normal and say everybody does that. Others, refuse to believe there is even a judge or a real prison. “You can believe, but I don’t have to.”
Refusing to believe that you are guilty, or that there is a judge or that there is a prison will not postpone your sentencing. Those who reject God’s offer of salvation have done this. God’s grace is only an offer. It is not automatically applied to everyone. You have to choose to accept His offer. That is basic idea of how mercy and grace operate. But there is one more element to this salvation equation. It is faith. You have to believe there is a judge, a prison and someone who will take your place. Romans 5:1-2 “1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” By grace...is the “why” of salvation. Salvation is by God’s gracious nature. That is why He has offered this gift. The gift was the blood of Jesus, the perfect payment for our sins. Your salvation is only possible because of God’s gracious payment by Jesus. Through faith...is the “how” of salvation. We accept this gift through faith, by putting our trust in the work that Jesus did for us. Putting our trust in something is shown by action. It goes farther than just belief. God’s grace is motivated by God’s mercy. Your faith is motivated by your trust in the work of Jesus.
You cannot separate grace and faith. They are linked together in these verses that demonstrate the process of salvation. Let me say it in a way that makes it easier for me to understand, maybe it will help you also. This is my paraphrase of Ephesians 2:8-9. “By God’s gracious sacrifice, He has provided you with an opportunity to be saved, through putting your faith in the work of Jesus...not in your work...so you can’t brag about it.” The grace is God’s part and the faith is your part. They must work together in order for you to be saved. Neither one of them by themselves will accomplish salvation. Here is what I mean. God plays a role and you play a role. That’s how God made it. If God’s grace alone caused the salvation of mankind, and you had no part in it, then everyone would be saved automatically. But we know that’s not the case. And also, if your faith alone could produce your salvation, then it wouldn’t matter what you put your faith in. You could put your faith in this tumbler and you would make it to heaven. But that is completely insane. That idea, by the way, is a very common “religious” position, held by many in the world today. It basically says, that it doesn’t matter what you believe in, we all end up in heaven when we die. It says there are as many paths to God as you want there to be. You can believe in a specific religion or no religion at all...in the end we all end up in the same place. This idea is in direct contradiction with the words of Jesus Himself, when He said “no one comes to the Father, except through Me.” Romans 10:9-10 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart (your faith) that God raised him from the dead (God’s grace), you will be
saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” These verses once again tie grace and faith together in the salvation equation. By your action of confession, you are showing that you have put your faith in God’s gracious act of raising Jesus from the dead. You may have heard me say that faith is shown to be active in our life by our actions. It is based on this passage. James 2:14-18 “14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” This passage is not saying that works are an additional thing we must do for salvation. It is illustrating that good works will come naturally if we have true faith. If your faith does not motivate you to good works, it’s not faith at all. Faith is motivated by trust and the natural response of faith is good works. It’s like this. If you put flour, eggs, butter, sugar, salt, baking soda and milk in a bowl, then mix it up and put it in the oven... for some time. Do you know what the result will be? The result will be a cake. It will be the result every time. A cake is the natural result of those things. The result of God’s grace and your faith produces salvation... and then good works...over time.
Good works don’t create salvation...it’s the other way around...Salvation creates good works. So if you are saved and still have time on earth, good works should be the natural result. But here is the challenge. Several religious systems stress that doing good works is actually required along with God’s grace and our faith in order to produce salvation. This belief has been around for as long as the church has been around. So, is it true? Do we need to do extra things or work to add to this formula of salvation by grace through faith in order to ensure we are saved? The bible is very clear about this. Romans 3:27-28 “27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” Romans 11:5-6 “5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Galatians 2:16 “know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” Romans 5:1-2 “1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
These scriptures clearly say that we are not saved by the good works of keeping the law, which was the major issue back then. It still remains today in some denominations and in catholicism. If the idea of doing good works is required in order for you to earn your salvation, has been ingrained in to your thinking by a religious system you grew up in, consider these passages. Luke 23:39-43 “39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Was there an opportunity for the thief to do any good works? No, there was not. All he had was faith that Jesus was the King and his faith was put into action when he rebuked the other thief. Luke 12:8-9 “8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” The thief acknowledges Jesus was innocent and asked Jesus to remember him. He put his faith in Jesus when he spoke out in His defense. One guy rejected Jesus and the other one acknowledged Him. But each of them had a choice. Now, here’s a question for you. Did the thief who accepted Jesus get rejected in paradise because he had no good works to go along with his faith? No, Jesus took him to paradise.
This issue has been addressed in scripture as well. In both the old testament and the new testament. In 1 Samuel we read about how the Amalekites had come and raided one of the Israelite cities while King David and his men were gone. The Amalekites carried off the women and children and the treasure of the city. When David come back and found what had happened, he and all his men were grieved and it says they wept till there was no more strength left in them. They decide to go and find the Amalekites, but while on the way 200 of the men were not able to keep going so David allowed them to stay behind. The rest of the men continued and found the Amalekites, defeated them and got back everything that was taken. The problem arose when they met up with the 200 men who had not continued with the rest into battle. 1 Samuel 30:21-25 “21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24 Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” 25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.” The wicked and worthless soldiers who went into the battle didn’t want to share with those who stayed behind. It would not
be fair to divide the spoil evenly. But that assumes that the spoil belonged to them because they had worked for it, and they could decide what to do with it. But look what King David says in verse 23. 1 Samuel 30:23 “23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.” David makes it very clear who was responsible for them winning the battle and giving them the spoils. It was God’s decision to make this happen, it was not by their own work, so they don’t get to decide how to distribute it. Jesus told a parable that illustrated this exact same kingdom principal. Matthew 20:1-16 ““For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on
receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” The workers in this parable all accepted the owner’s offer by faith, believing that he would pay them. So, he put them to work. Some came early and some came late, based on when the owner called them, but because of the owners grace toward each of them, they all received the same reward. In this way, God offers the reward of heaven to all who accept His gracious gift of salvation. When it comes to your reward of living for eternity in heaven with God, it does not matter when you come to Christ. All will be treated equally based on the gracious love of the Father. However, additional heavenly rewards are spoken of in several verses, and are given based on our good work here on earth. The question of wether or not you had good works on earth is not evaluated at the front gate of heaven...it’s evaluated after you go in. Salvation is accomplished by accepting the gracious gift of God, through faith. And when that has happened in a person, it will produce good works over time.
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