Grace, Faith and Salvation: All In One

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. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

When I opened my Facebook account in the internet this morning, I was met by someone's question on "wall" asking me, "So, Luisa, what do you believe? Saved unconditionally by grace or on the condition of your faith?" Perhaps he was testing my faith and the belief through which I stood - meaning, doctrine. Honestly, my doctrine is the King James Bible. I know he was a Christian. He may even be a pastor. Maybe it was his own way of telling all people who could read it what salvation means - through question and answer. I could even so much relate him to our church pastor who would ask a professing Christian where he is in faith. Is he a deep-seated Christian? Does he need to understand more? Or, is he just pretending to be one?

Before anything else, let me share to you the meaning of grace, faith and salvation. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, grace is unmerited heavenly assistance (or gift), while salvation is saving a person from sin. Hebrews 11:1 says about faith as "... the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Going back to Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by the grace (unmerited heavenly gift) of God through faith (substance and evidence of hoped-for and unseen things respectively) in Jesus Christ. Salvation, therefore, is not done by ourselves, by our good works, by our powers, by our influences, nor by our bribes. It is a gift from God, otherwise we might boast before Him and men.

In heaven one day, people saved by the grace of Jesus Christ through faith will give Him all the glory, praise, honor, thanksgiving and adoration for the salvation He alone so freely offered to them whom He chooses. Then, let me ask you, friends. Have you accepted the salvation of Jesus Christ wholeheartedly? If not, then please say the prayer of salvation on the left side of this blog with true repentance and acceptance. It is your choice now or tomorrow may be too late.

By the way, good works come naturally to God's saved people. It should be because we are already new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). We may be not be perfect, but God will always be there to guide us.

Happy reading!

(c) August 2009, Luisa Mercado