Grace Only

Grace Only


So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 15:10-11 New Living Translation


I sat in a Bible study for about a month. Every week we discussed salvation and how it is obtained. I kept struggling with different ideas in my head. Every time I mulled over an objection, another verse popped up about salvation coming from grace. I pondered baptism, living a God styled life and keeping the Big Ten as vehicles to achieve salvation. Of course, we also need to stay clear of the traditional do not things. Do not curse, drink, smoke, lose your temper, and do not hold grudges. But the flaw in that sort of reasoning is that a person can actually obtain salvation through any of those things. How do you earn your salvation? Maybe I should ask if you think you have earned it on your own.

According to Paul and Barnabas, salvation comes from grace. God’s special favor is what brings salvation. Does not the scripture say that salvation is given by grace so that no man or woman can brag about their achievement (Ephesians 2:8-9)? I think we humans, especially we Americans, are driven to succeed. Some people feel the need to succeed even at the cost of others. This high desire to define ourselves by our achievements is not new, and is frankly an obstacle to receiving God’s full measure of grace. I see earning salvation the same as putting the cart in front of the horse. God saves us and then we respond to this salvation by getting baptized, by living with better more godly choices. Imagine falling toward the edge of a cliff, and someone grabs your hand to keep you from falling. Did you have any power in your rescue? No, you were wholly dependent upon the person holding you. I’ll put it a different way, a friend and I were bantering about salvation wholly from grace vs. human assisted salvation. My friend asked me, “Doesn’t the Bible say that we are dead in our sin?” He was quoting Ephesians 2:1, but I did not know it at the time.
“Yes it does” I said.
“Then,” he asked, “how does a dead man call for help?”

Prayer: Dear Father, thank you for blessing me with unmerited salvation. Amen.