April 1, 2004, Vol.3, No.7.

By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith

When I was a young preacher in the tiny village of Quitman, Arkansas, I invited our grocer to an evangelistic meeting. He said he would come if the preacher would preach on "Salvation By Grace Through Faith." I did not know that was the very subject the visiting evangelist would address that night. Yes, contrary to what many Protestants have been told, I believe with all my heart in "Salvation By Grace Through Faith."

In Ephesians 2:1-10 the apostle Paul discusses the salvation of the Ephesian Christians. He points out that at one time they had been "dead in trespasses and sins." (verses 1-3) But, Paul reminds them, God has made them "alive together with Christ." (verses 4-7) Thus, having once been spiritually dead, with only the dreadful prospect of a devil’s hell before them, they are now alive with the blessed hope of eternal bliss in heaven. Paul reveals how this wonderful change has taken place in verses 8-10. We, being under the New Testament just as were the Ephesian Christians, must be saved in the very same way they were. How were they saved? The apostle explains:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

But, what does it mean to be saved by grace through faith? Or, more to the point, “How can you be saved by grace through faith?”

 Past Condition: Dead in Sin

 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

The clause “He made alive” in verse one is in italics in the New King James Version. This indicates it was added by the translators. This is an unfortunate addition. The apostle’s entire point in verses 1-3 is the past condition of his readers. They “were dead in trespasses and sins.”

The “you” of whom Paul speaks are the Gentiles, in contrast with the “we” (verse 3), the Jews. Ephesus was a Gentile city. The Gentiles were “dead in trespasses and sins.” That is, they were separated from God (James 2:26; Isaiah 59;1-2) by their deviations from truth (trespasses) and violations of divine law (sins). Their whole walk, or manner of life (cf. Ephesians 4:1-3,17-19), was according to the age of this world, conformed to the sinful allurements of the flesh (1 John 2:15-17). They were under the dominion of Satan, “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 6:11-12). They were thus “sons of disobedience,” i.e., disobedient to God.

But “we all” once so conducted ourselves, i.e., all, both Jew and Gentile, lived in sin. The conduct of all was formerly for the fulfillment of “the lusts of our flesh,” the sinful desires of our lower nature (Romans 8:6-8). These desires arose in both body and mind.

As the result, they were “by nature children of wrath.” This doesn’t mean they were born with an inherently sinful nature. First, Paul doesn’t say they were “children of sin.” Rather, they were “children of wrath,” i.e., they were condemned to the wrath of God. If this is describing babies at birth, then all little children are condemned to receive the wrath of God. Who is so pitiless as to contend that babies who die in infancy are consigned to the horrors of hell? The term “nature” is sometimes used to mean “a mode of feeling and acting which by long habit has become nature.” (Thayer. 660) Some Gentiles did “by nature” the things demanded by divine law (Romans 2:14). Were they born obedient to God? Paul argued that “even nature itself” taught the Corinthians “that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him.” (1 Corinthians 11:14) Were they born thinking a man’s hair should be short, or was this long established custom? The point of the inspired writer is that all, both Jew and Gentile, had given themselves over to sinful lives and by long, established custom of life deserved the wrath of God.

Is this not equally true today? All around us are people, some very religious, whose mouths spew obscenities, filth, and lies, reflecting the degradation of their hearts. The sinful works of the flesh are their manner of life, their very nature. But who of us has not so lived? All we, as they, deserve the wrath of God. All, both Jew and Gentile, must in agony cry with Paul, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)

Present Condition: Alive with Christ

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

Whereas spiritual death is separation from God, spiritual life is fellowship with Him (1 John 1:1-3). That life is “with Christ” (verse 5) and “in Christ Jesus” (verses 6,7,10). As God raised His Son to eternal life, when we are united with Him and in a saved relationship in Him, He imparts that life to us. The bases of this life are God’s rich “mercy” (verse 4), i.e., kindness in helping the helpless, His “great love” (verse 4), i.e., active good will (1 John 4:9-10), and His “kindness” (verse 7), i.e., goodness or generosity. These great attributes of God toward us all came together in His “grace,” i.e., undeserved favor. Thus, it is “by grace you have been saved” (verse 5). God’s great purpose in our salvation is “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Verse 7)

How: By Grace through Faith

 How did this marvelous change from death to life take place? “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” We will discuss this wonderful truth in Part 2.