The popular verse in Ephesians 2:8,9 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." Many people have difficulty in understanding this and those who understand have difficulty in accepting this.
Yes, the plain truth is none of our good works qualify us for heaven. Salvation belongs to the Lord and we can get that only by having faith in finished works of Lord Jesus Christ. Only by having faith on the sacrifice that He had done in cross on behalf of us.
What is Grace by the way? Grace can be defined as unmerited, undeserved favor which cannot be gained by doing any good work. God's immeasurable love towards fallen human race make Him send His only begotten son Jesus Christ to this world to die for us. To pay what is expected as ransom. The blood of the pure lamb as atoning sacrifice. It is not required for God to go to that extent to redeem us. But, the love pushed God and this is GRACE.
Depending on our good works for our salvation is like rejecting God's solution and bringing up our own offering. It is simply like Cain's offering. Are we smarter than God Almighty? Our good works won't qualify in front of God's just eyes. They are like filthy rags. But, Salvation just comes by believing and accepting what our Lord and Savior had done for us on cross. This will simply come by faith. This is what mentioned in Romans 4:5 as "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." So, there is nothing for man to boast with respect to Salvation because it is created by God Himself.
Grace is freely available for everyone. To get the grace, one need to put his/her faith on Jesus, believe that he has paid the price for his sins and accept Him as his/her only Savior. Grace is like a huge river and faith is like the container. If we have a huge drum, we will receive that much water and if we have a small cup, we receive only that much. The grace will make us grow in every aspect of our life.
So, a question might come. Is it sufficient to have faith in finished work of Jesus alone? and Shouldn't good works required? The next verse answers that, Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." If someone calls him a believer and don't do any good work, he is not a believer at all. Because, scriptures also say in James 2: 17, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."
So, in a nutshell, Salvation by faith through grace is like a starting point in Christian journey and continuing in good works till the end is like completion. Without the starting point, there is no end. Whatever good things we do, still we cannot boast. Because, if Jesus didn't love us first, we wouldn't have loved God or others and whatever we do, we will still be incomplete.
May all Honor, Glory and Praises be to our God, the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Yes, the plain truth is none of our good works qualify us for heaven. Salvation belongs to the Lord and we can get that only by having faith in finished works of Lord Jesus Christ. Only by having faith on the sacrifice that He had done in cross on behalf of us.
What is Grace by the way? Grace can be defined as unmerited, undeserved favor which cannot be gained by doing any good work. God's immeasurable love towards fallen human race make Him send His only begotten son Jesus Christ to this world to die for us. To pay what is expected as ransom. The blood of the pure lamb as atoning sacrifice. It is not required for God to go to that extent to redeem us. But, the love pushed God and this is GRACE.
Depending on our good works for our salvation is like rejecting God's solution and bringing up our own offering. It is simply like Cain's offering. Are we smarter than God Almighty? Our good works won't qualify in front of God's just eyes. They are like filthy rags. But, Salvation just comes by believing and accepting what our Lord and Savior had done for us on cross. This will simply come by faith. This is what mentioned in Romans 4:5 as "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." So, there is nothing for man to boast with respect to Salvation because it is created by God Himself.
Grace is freely available for everyone. To get the grace, one need to put his/her faith on Jesus, believe that he has paid the price for his sins and accept Him as his/her only Savior. Grace is like a huge river and faith is like the container. If we have a huge drum, we will receive that much water and if we have a small cup, we receive only that much. The grace will make us grow in every aspect of our life.
So, a question might come. Is it sufficient to have faith in finished work of Jesus alone? and Shouldn't good works required? The next verse answers that, Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." If someone calls him a believer and don't do any good work, he is not a believer at all. Because, scriptures also say in James 2: 17, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."
So, in a nutshell, Salvation by faith through grace is like a starting point in Christian journey and continuing in good works till the end is like completion. Without the starting point, there is no end. Whatever good things we do, still we cannot boast. Because, if Jesus didn't love us first, we wouldn't have loved God or others and whatever we do, we will still be incomplete.
May all Honor, Glory and Praises be to our God, the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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