FEB 25

Ephesians 2:8-9
Memorise Ephesians 2:8-9
“our saving faith is the gift of God it is purely by His grace.”

We are saved by grace through faith. Yes it is our faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross that brings salvation. However, it is only by God’s grace, whereby the Holy Spirit’s enables us to have that faith to believe in the first place. Left to ourselves, our sinful hearts would otherwise never look for God and yearn to be reconciled to Him. By His divine predestination, the elect are given this saving faith to believe and be saved. Therefore, in Ephesians 2:8-9, this saving faith is called the “gift of God” that is given to us freely.

Paul also makes it clear that because this saving faith of ours is given to us completely out of the free will and grace of God, no one can boast that he earned his salvation. It is not because we built up our faith such that it is stronger than others that we are saved. It is not through good works that we have done that we are saved. It is also not that God foresaw that we would believe and so God saved us. It is purely by His grace.

All other religions practise some form of salvation by works. This is because all their founders are humans. Somehow, human beings have this idea that we need to earn our salvation and that more good works will give us hopefully enough points to secure a place in heaven. In reality, our sin is too deep and our works too small to ever obtain salvation through our own merits. Sadly, a vast majority of people have not realised this and they continue to plod on vainly trying to earn favour with God. Only Christianity whose founder is God Himself has the right way to salvation.

Yet even though we know that salvation is solely through grace, Christians sometimes still fall into the trap of pursuing a salvation through works. They lack assurance of their salvation through grace and look to things like attendance at church, service in ministries and more generous offerings, thinking that through them they can somehow earn their way into Heaven or gain extra merit with God. If you find that you too are believing in a salvation through works, you need to examine your faith as it is not the saving faith that the Holy Spirit gives.

Thought: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12b)
Prayer: O Lord, if I am relying on a salvation by works, forgive me and grant me the saving faith to believe that it is through Christ and Christ alone that we are saved by grace through faith.