7. VIEWING GRACE THROUGH LAW:
   Whatever understanding the Jews had of grace while living under the Sinai law, grace was eventually viewed through meritorious law-keeping. This belief and behavior was specifically identified also by their keeping of all the traditions that they produced over the years that surrounded the Sabbath. To many Jews at the time of Jesus, therefore, grace was activated in one’s life, not only by keeping the Sinai law in reference to the Sabbath, but also by keeping all the traditions of the fathers that surrounded the Sabbath. If one sinned against any of the attached “laws,” which all Jews knew they did, then atoning good works could be offered in order to sanctify oneself of his violations of the law. In view of sin, and in order to keep the law perfectly, the religious leaders thus instituted their own assortment of laws (traditions) in order to make sure that the Sinai law, including the Sabbath, was obeyed.

The self-righteous Jews were motivated by meritorious obedience to earn the grace of God, not realizing that God already had pleasure in them because of His loving grace. Unfortunately, they sought to live as the returning prodigal son in order that the father allow him to be counted only as one of the servants in the field (Lk 15:18,19). The prodigal had simply forgotten that by grace he was already an heir because he was a son of the father. He could not work himself back into his father’s grace because he was already there. He could not work for that which he already had as a son of his father. The same is true of us as God’s children, “and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rm 8:17). How much better can it get!

• Once one obeys the gospel, he or she becomes a child of God, and thus lives within the realm of God’s grace.

1. NIT-PICKING LEGALISTS:
   Jesus stated, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:27). This statement was made in the context of what Jesus and His disciples did on the Sabbath in reference to picking and eating the grain of a field through which they had just walked (Mk 2:23). In reference to what Jesus and His disciples did with the grain of the field, the Pharisees accused Jesus, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath” (Mk 2:24). They were nit-picking religious leaders in reference to their own restrictions concerning the Sabbath. They were so, not because of some violation of the Sinai Sabbath law, but because they were making judgments that were based on their “attached laws” to the Sabbath law (See Rm 2:1-4).

What the disciples were doing in reference to eating grain was lawful according to the Sinai law. If one were on a journey, and according to the Sinai law, he had a right to eat the grain of a field as he passed through the field, though he could not put a sickle to the crop. But this act is not what motivated the Pharisees to make an accusation against the disciples. The Pharisees accused Jesus and the disciples of doing the simple “work” of picking out the grain so they could eat it. Unfortunately, the nit-picking Pharisees interpreted this to be work on the Sabbath. But it was not.

The Pharisees viewed their relationship with God through the strict obedience of their interpretations of the law, not through grace. Since they had elevated their interpretations of the law to the same authority as God’s law, if one disobeyed their interpretations, then it was the same as disobedience to God’s law. And in the case of the disciples extracting grain in order to eat it, according to the religious leaders at the time, such “work” was “not lawful on the Sabbath.”

• If one elevates the religious traditions and ceremonies of man that are not a part of the law, to be obeyed as the law of God, then he has added to the law of God.

So in the immediate context of the situation, Jesus reminded the religious leaders of the example of King David when he, in his flight from the murderous hand of Saul, was at the point of starvation. David subsequently went into the tabernacle of God and ate the showbread, which bread under the Sinai law, was to be eaten only by the priests (Lv 24:5-9; 1 Sm 21:6; Mk 2:26). But because David was under grace at the time, he did not sin by doing that which was not lawful. On the contrary, as the future king of Israel, his life was to be preserved. The higher law that he survive released him from the law that only the priests could eat the showbread. It was the case that a higher law stood above a written lower law of God.

But if we view David not sinning on this occasion against law—which thing even the Pharisees believed—then Jesus’ lesson is that law must be viewed through grace. However, if we reverse this order in reference to our understanding of grace, and view grace through law, then David sinned. We are thus susceptible to keep adding to God’s laws one statute after another, precept upon precept, in order that God’s law be obeyed perfectly (See Is 28:10). If we get involved in this statute-adding religiosity, one day we will wake up and find ourselves in a religion that has no room for grace. When a group of people bring themselves into conforming to a legal system of religious laws they have collected together over the years into a catechism of law, they have brought themselves into the bondage of law-keeping (traditions).

• Any religious tradition or ceremony that is not established on the authority of the word of God brings those who keep such into bondage.

[Next in series: Articles 9,10]

5. NO RIGHEOUS PERSON:
   If we seek to earn grace through law-keeping, and thus guarantee payment by God through our added performances of rites, ceremonies and good works, then we are spiritually dead in the water. Paul wrote, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested … even the righteousness of God that is by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Rm 3:21,22). This of necessity is true because “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Rm 3:10). We are all continual sinners, regardless of our superficial self-righteousness in the performance of law. It seems that some have forgotten what the Holy Spirit said through Paul in Romans 4:4: “Now to him who works [in order to earn his salvation], the reward is not credited according to grace, but according to debt.”

In our frustration to live perfectly in reference to law, all honest people will confess as Paul,

Therefore, has that which is good [law] become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might be manifested to be sin [through law], was working death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful (Rm 7:13).

So Paul concluded, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold into bondage to sin” (Rm 7:14).

The more we come to the reality that we are forever doomed to the bondage of sin without grace, the more we are driven to grace. Therefore, recognition that the law of God reveals sin in our lives drives us to grace. If we were honest with ourselves, then we would understand that law is indirectly a driving force to grace because we realize, as Paul, that we are all lawbreakers, and thus, held in the bondage of sin. We are held in bondage because we cannot keep law perfectly in order to deliver ourselves. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “For without law, I was once alive. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Rm 7:9).

• Law reveals that we must be saved by grace because we cannot keep any law perfectly in order to save ourselves.

In the context of this point we might conclude that if law reveals sin in our lives, then it would be good to live without law. But Paul wrote, “I would not have known sin except through law” (Rm 7:7). It may seem to be a glorious theology to believe that we are not under law. Or, we might be as the antinomian who believes that we are saved by faith alone, regardless of any obedience to moral or social laws of God.

But the theology of antinomianism (faith only) actually leads one into bondage. Though we might believe that there is no law by which we should live, our sense of religiosity would still drive us to create our own scriptures of “law.” We would invent laws to guarantee that we were not under law. The curse of those who believe that we are not under God’s law is that in maintaining some identity of their faith, they must establish for themselves religious codes and catechisms that would identify their faith.

Of course, such thinking is quite hypocritical, and thus contradictory. The fact is still true that God’s law brings freedom. It frees us from bringing ourselves into the bondage of our own self-imposed laws, while deceiving ourselves into believing that we are right with God on the basis of our own religious inventions. Therefore, as a charter statement of freedom, Paul wrote, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Rm 7:12).

• God’s law is holy, just and good because it delivers us from the bondage of establishing our own religious laws.

1. REVERSING THE ORDER:
   As all religious leaders who impose obedience to human religious rites and ceremonies, the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day had reversed the order of obedience, and thus contradicted the very purpose of the Sinai law on the Sabbath. They made the Sabbath, and the keeping of their assortment of attached laws associated with it, the means by which one would be judged a faithful “Sabbath keeper.”

Instead of a day of rest for the people, the Sabbath, with the added assortment of over one hundred rites that the Jews surrounded the Sabbath, was relegated to a show of religiosity. Keeping the Sabbath, therefore, became an attempted means of self-justification before God. When the Sabbath was combined with all the invented religious rites that surrounded the Sabbath, then one could boast that he was a faithful Sabbath-keeper.

The same takes place in the religious world today with those who have little or no knowledge of the word of Christ. This is often the reason why assembly-defined “Christianity” has become so popular. However, when we identity the church by the performance of fulfilled religious rites and ceremonies on Sunday morning, between an opening and closing prayer, then we have a flawed definition of God’s people.

All such performed assembly rites and ceremonies are often promoted by religious leaders who view grace through their obedience to their legal assembly ceremonies. Theirs is thus a distorted message that is no different than the Sabbath-keeping zealots who confronted Jesus about His violations of their Sabbath rites and ceremonies.

• Our definition of church by obedience to prescribed assembly rites and rituals on Sunday morning relegates the members’ faith to an empty, and often spiritually sterile, if not emotionless, legal performance of assembly rules during the supposed “hour of worship.”

[Next in series: Articles 7,8]

3. The origin of religion:
   It was true that the Sinai covenant was continued active in Israel through the Israelites’ obedience to the Sinai law. However, and as all those who become ignorant of the law, the urge for self-justification became a part of the Jews’ religiosity once they set aside the purpose for which the Sinai law was originally given.

The Jews’ religious traditions, therefore, became absolutely necessary when they forgot the original purpose of the Sinai law, and often, the very statutes of the law. What statutes they did remember were surrounded with traditional orders of behavior in order that there be a guaranteed adherence to the Sinai law.

The same is true today in reference to the law of Christ. Many people today are as the Jews of old. In many cases, people today have also given up a knowledge of the word of God (See Hs 4:6). Since many people today have given up a knowledge of the New Testament word of Christ, but at the same time seek to remain religious, they have constructed all sorts of religious behavior in order to feel justified before God. Whether the Jews in the first century or Christians today, at least one very important lesson is learned from all this religious confusion. No matter what century in which we live, there are always those who have convinced themselves that they are right with God on the basis of performing their own religious traditions. Jesus saw this coming (Read Mt 7:21-23).

Many religious leaders today are no different than the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. For example, the religious leaders of the Jews sought to guarantee the keeping of the Sabbath law by surrounding the original Sabbath law with numerous amendments of the law. In order to honor the Sabbath, therefore, the Jewish religionists of the day imposed on the people their own self-justifying Sabbath behavior in order to guarantee that the Sabbath was strictly honored. For example, the “Sabbath-day journey,” which journey is found nowhere in the original Sinai law, was an imposed “law” that was to be obeyed in order to guarantee that one obeyed the Sabbath.

Today, the same is true in reference to the religiosity of many people. In order to be considered faithful, religious performances, especially surrounding the assemblies of each particular group, are orchestrated in order that all attendees walk away from the assembly feeling good, thinking that now after the “closing prayer,” they are justified before God.

• When the assembly of any group becomes the identity of the group, then the adherents should realize that they have established a religion that is identified by assemblies, not by their obedience and behavior of the gospel.
• 4. Attaching law to law:
  The Jews of Jesus’ time were no different than ourselves in attaching self-imposed laws (religious rites and ceremonies) to the original law. However, the religious leaders of the Jews forgot, in reference to the Sabbath, that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:27). Those who use law as a means of self-justification always view law as an avenue through which one can stand just before God. In other words, some Jews kept the Sabbath in order to maintain a salvational relationship with God. The keeping of the Sabbath, however, was meant to be a sign of their covenant with God, not a means by which they would justify themselves from sin (See Ex 31:13). The Sabbath was set aside as a day of rest for the people, not as a day of worship.

The self-righteous always view justification through law-keeping. In reference to ourselves today, many Christians keep certain rites and ceremonies on Sunday morning in order to be justified before God. We thus preach grace from the pulpits, but bring ourselves into the bondage of our own self-justification through obedience to a prescribed order of religious ceremonies. We must simply remember that we are already justified by grace before we show up on Sunday morning. In fact, we show up at the assembly because we are justified, not in order to be justified.

It is the same with the assortment of religious traditions that we witness today among so many religious groups throughout the world. It is supposed that obedience to all the religious rites and ceremonies of each particular religious group will deem the adherents justified before God. The rites and ceremonies are thus perpetuated in order to make the adherents feel that they are justified before God on the basis of their perfect obedience of the rites and ceremonies.

However, we must never forget that self-imposed human religious rites and ceremonies, even the keeping of God’s laws, can never profit as a means of self-justification. Law cannot be the answer for a consistent relationship with God simply because we are all law breakers (Rm 3:9-11). Though law is just, good and holy, it still reveals sin in our lives for which there is no human solution (Rm 7:12-14).

When we consider our particular religious rites and ceremonies, who will stand forth and be the judge as to which are right and which are questionable, if not contrary to the established identity of church. In the first century, the Jews had a religious police force of scribes and Pharisees whose job it was to maintain the legal order of religious behavior among the people. Today, it is certain that we have the same who “come out of Jerusalem” in order to make judgments concerning the teaching of John the Baptist.

• It is by God’s grace that we can live free of guilt because we know that we cannot keep His law perfectly.

Keeping all our religious rites and ceremonies may present before others a facade of religiosity, or even lead us into deceiving ourselves that we are righteous in obedience to law. Therefore, our religiosity in itself is of no benefit in reference to our justification. This is true simply because the Holy Spirit said it was true: “For by works of law no flesh will be justified” (Gl 2:16).

[Next in series: Articles 5,6]

Since God is love, then of necessity He must be a God of grace. God the Holy Spirit thus wrote through the guided hand of an apostle, “For sin will not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace” (Rm 6:14). This statement, as well as others that are married to this theme of the book of Romans, is always perplexing for those, who through meritorious law-keeping, still have an urge to justify themselves before this God of love on the basis of perfect keeping of law.

But this is not how it works with a God who is identified by love. This was the mental and behavioral challenge that faced the early Jewish Christians. Salvation by faith in the grace of God was at first a glorious reality in the hearts of most in their relationship with their Creator. But a decade or two after the initial rejoicing, there was creeping into the thinking of some disciples a theology that would destroy the very foundation upon which the early Christians initially stood. The Holy Spirit saw the threat, and subsequently delivered Romans and Galatians to the church in order to save the church from going into the oblivion of just another religion.

1. Saving grace:
   In order to apply the above principle of Romans 6:14 to our relationship with God through law, it must first be noted that in the Greek text of the verse the Greek article “the” does not appear before the word “law.” Some translators, unfortunately, have placed the article in the text. However, it was not placed in the Greek text by the Holy Spirit just in case some might conclude that Paul was speaking specifically about “the law,” that is, the Sinai law. In order that some not come to this erroneous conclusion, he wanted to emphasize the fact that there is no law under which we could live by which we could save ourselves.

Indeed, and in reference to his specific argument against the meritorious keeping of the Sinai law, our inability to keep law perfectly was true in reference to the Jews who lived under the Sinai law. It is likewise true in reference to Christians who are now living under grace. Unfortunately, the Jews’ legal adherence to the ordinances of the Sinai law in order to justify themselves before God was futile. It was this theology that was finding its way into the first century church.

• It is impossible for one to save himself through perfect obedience of law simply because no one can keep law perfectly.

Paul’s specific proposition by his intentional use of the word “law” without the article in the text of Romans 6:14 was to reveal that before God no one can save himself solely through obedience of law. His point was that Christians in general, regardless of whether they were Jews or Gentiles, are not under any system of law by which they can, through law alone, justify themselves before God through perfect law-keeping.

(This argument is brought out in another verse to which we will later refer. We must be cautious, therefore, with those translations that insert in the text the definite article “the,” when reference, both in Romans and Galatians, is simply to “law” in general. However, sometimes the article is used, but it is used in those cases where the context is an argument against salvation through law-keeping, specifically to any ordinance of the Sinai law. But when the article is dropped, the argument is that there can never be any self-justification before God on the basis of perfect law-keeping.)

2. Struggling with grace:
   By the time God’s grace was revealed through the incarnate Son of God two thousand years ago, the Jews had for centuries before lived under the bondage of their own self-imposed religiosity. Some supposed that acceptance by God was based on the foundation of how well they performed the statutes of the Sinai law, as well as their added religious rites and ceremonies, which eventually they observed to the exclusion of the Sinai law itself (See Mk 7:1-9). Therefore, when the gospel of the grace of God was finally revealed through the Lord Jesus Christ, most Jews, who sought to justify themselves before God through their own self-imposed traditions, found it very difficult to comprehend the concept of grace. They simply could not shift the responsibility for their salvation from themselves to someone who was crucified with thieves on a cross outside Jerusalem.

The same is true today in a religious world where every imaginable religious order has been constructed in order for faithful adherents to self-justify themselves before God. And in the religious world of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism where Jesus Christ plays no part in the theology of millions of adherents, obedience to religious rites, rituals and ceremonies is the norm. In fact, such non-Christian religions are often identified by the outward performance of their unique religious rites, rituals and ceremonies.

• A cult is defined by the adherents’ strict observance of all the catechisms that define the cult.

By the time the incarnate Son of God was revealed in Bethlehem, the Jewish religious leaders of the day had “re-scriptured” their own relationship with God. Their relationship with God was based on their meritorious obedience to the Sinai law, as well as the numerous religious traditions that they had elevated to the status of law. They subsequently promoted their religiosity of self-justification through their twisted interpretations of the Sinai law, which interpretations were combined with an assortment of religious traditions to which they strictly adhered.

Judaism, or the Jews’ religion, subsequently became a quagmire of religious traditions by the time Jesus arrived on the scene (See Gl 1:13,14). Subsequently, self-righteous Jews deceived themselves into believing that they had a supposed salvational relationship with God that was based solely on their performance of the Sinai law. Strict adherence to their religious traditions that they had elevated to the status of law, was supposedly a guarantee of their justification before God. They were thus somewhat arrogant about their religiosity in law-keeping, taking every opportunity to criticize Jesus for breaking their religious traditions.

• We know that religious traditions have been elevated to the status of law when those, who set themselves forth as policemen of the traditions in a particular religion, judge others for not keeping the traditions of the religion.

[Next in series: Articles 3,4]

We stand in awe at the profound historical statement that the Holy Spirit made through the apostle Paul: “For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace that is reaching many people may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Co 4:15). This would be all the redemptive work of the Son of God from the incarnation to the crucifixion, and finally, the Son’s ascension to the right hand of God. This gospel journey of the Son of God is all for our sakes. When an individual understands this truly indescribable blessing of grace from God, he or she is caused to respond with dedicated thanksgiving. The word “abound” in the text assumes that something is done; something happens in our lives. This is more than a good feeling on Sunday morning. This is a living thanksgiving, a response to the gospel that causes transformed lives (See Rm 12:1,2). As will be noted later, this was an appropriate statement to be written to some of the Corinthian Christians who were not living up to the motivational power of the gospel.

• Discovering the nature of true Christianity: In order to prepare His immediate disciples for this life-changing motivational power that was soon to come after His ascension, and before sending them out on mission trips during His earthly ministry, Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Mt 10:8). Unfortunately, this statement of Jesus is commonly misunderstood. As a result of this misunderstanding, a “colonial churchianity” is often allowed to prevail among those who should be abounding in thanksgiving in response to the gospel. When the gospel was first preached to former colonial countries, many did not understand the implications of the 2 Corinthians 4:15 statement of Paul, as well as what Jesus said in being a generous giver. Subsequently, many of the first legally converted people simply carried on with their former colonial behavior.

What makes it difficult for some to understand Jesus’ statement to freely give as one has freely received is the colonial culture in which some find themselves. The colonial empires of the past freely gave to the nations of their empires, not realizing that they were creating a dependency culture within the culture of the nations of their empires. Citizens subsequently developed a culture of freely receiving, but never really learning how to freely give. When the first evangelists (missionaries) went to these colonial “possessions,” they often enabled the colonial practice of freely giving everything to the local folks. Unfortunately, they were somewhat weak in teaching the local folks that the heart of the gospel inspires one to abound in freely giving. Nevertheless, the local folks were very thankful for the free schools, free church buildings, free Bibles, free tracts and free books they were freely given. But because the local folks lived in a colonial culture of dependency, they often found it quite difficult to freely give to others locally in response to the free gift of God’s grace they had received. (We will later compare this colonial culture in the following chapter with the nature of the gospel culture of the Macedonian disciples.)

• Discovering that receiving assumes giving: So maybe it would help to insert interpretive comments in the context of Jesus’ statement to His disciples. We must read the Matthew 10:8 statement of Jesus in this way: “Freely you have received [something], freely give [something].” On the occasion of Matthew 10, Jesus gave His disciples a message to proclaim to the people to whom they were being sent. The message was that the kingdom of God was at hand (Mt 10:7). With the message that the kingdom was at hand, the messengers were also freely given the gifts of healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and casting out demons (Mt 10:8).

On both of the occasions of sending out disciples in Matthew 10 and Luke 10, the disciples received something freely. They were subsequently to give freely from the blessings that they had freely received in order that others be blessed by their blessing. If we would apply the principle of “freely receiving-freely giving” to ourselves as disciples of Jesus, then freely receiving all things that have been given to us through the gospel of God’s grace assumes that we will freely give in a responsive thanksgiving for God’s grace. In this way our thanksgiving will abound to the benefit of others.

We must emphasize this point because this is the very heart of Christianity, and thus, the definition of Christian behavior. Because Jesus was incarnate in the flesh of man, He paid a great price for being in the physical presence of His disciples in order to freely give them something, that they in turn should freely give. He freely gave up heaven in the form of God in order to be in their presence in a state of poverty (See Ph 2:5-11). “Yet for your sakes He became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Co 8:9). There was thus a price paid for their free gift of grace. The condition for their receiving freely was the great price of His incarnation. In order to freely give, Jesus’ disciples must likewise pay a great price of freely giving what they have freely received. This is grace abounding in action. Christians realized that they have been “justified freely by His grace” (Rm 3:24). They realize that they have received the Holy Spirit from God so that they “might know the things that are freely given to us by God” (1 Co 2:12).

• Discovering grace-oriented givers: This is the way grace abounds. This is Christianity in action. See if this is not true in the context of sending forth the early disciples that is recorded both in Matthew 10 and Luke 10. Jesus instructed on both occasions, “Carry no money bag, no wallet, no [extra] sandals” (Lk 10:4). “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two coats, nor sandals, nor staff, for the worker is worthy of his food” (Mt 10:9,10). Those messengers who were sent out by Jesus were not to rely on themselves. They were to present themselves as an opportunity for others to freely give. In this way, the messengers would be able to identify in the villages those who were inclined to freely receive, and thus, freely give.

This is quite amazing. The messengers were going into villages throughout Palestine to which neither Jesus nor themselves had previously gone. So when they proclaimed, as John the Baptist, that the time of regeneration had come and the sovereignty of God was soon to be revealed, those willing recipients of the message within the villages freely received the messengers into their homes and freely provided for them living quarters and food. We must not miss this point. Those who received the messengers, freely did so. They were thus qualifying themselves to also be messengers of the free grace of God. They freely received Jesus’ messengers, who freely gave themselves and a message of good news to the household. As the hosts freely received, they in turn freely gave to Jesus’ messengers (See the behavior of Gaius in 3 Jn 1-6).

This is what grace does, and this is what Jesus meant when He initially stated to His messengers, “Freely you receive, freely give.” Grace generates thanksgiving within the hearts of those who have freely received. This thanksgiving motivates the receivers to freely give something to others. As a price was paid by Jesus to freely give Himself on the cross, a price must also to be paid by the disciples of Jesus to freely pass on the gift of grace. If the recipients did not freely receive, then certainly they would not be motivated to freely pass on to others that which they freely received. If they did not freely pass on that which they had freely received, then they would be behaving contrary to the behavior of grace. They would not have truly understood the nature of the grace of God. And by not truly understanding, they disqualified themselves from receiving the precious message of the gospel. So Jesus instructed His “missionaries” in such situations to kick the dust off their feet and move on.

So what about those who do not discover the blessing of a grace-motivated life? If one does not fully understand the gospel of God’s grace, then he or she often becomes a religious leech who always wants to freely receive, but never freely give. So in sending out His disciples, Jesus cautioned them on this matter: “And whoever will not receive you [freely] or hear your words [freely], when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet” (Mt 10:14). In fact, for those who do not join in the fellowship of thanksgiving in freely receiving and freely giving, Jesus pronounced, “It will be more tolerable for that land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Mt 10:15). These are indeed frightful words.

[To be continued in the next issue of Inscriptions.]

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http://www.africainternational.org/files/Book%2052.pdf

If one would seek a brief New Testament explanation of salvation by grace through faith, then the context of Ephesians 2 would be one of the most definitive commentaries on the subject. In this context, Paul truly gave the road map into the grace of God, and once there, what is required of the obedient to remain there. For a moment, therefore, we need to journey with the Ephesians from their “nature” in sin before their obedience to the gospel, into the revealed saving grace of God in which they stood at the time Paul wrote.

A. Dead in trespasses and sins:

Paul began his definition of grace by reviewing the state of the Ephesians before they were baptized into Christ. As sinners outside Christ, he reminded them, “You were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ep 2:1). They were in a state of condemnation wherein they lived because they, as religious people, were outside the realm of God’s grace. Therefore, he reminded them that in such a state “you walked according to the ways of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Ep 2:2).

In the preceding text, notice the pronoun “you.” They were personally responsible for their sinful walk. Their sin had nothing to do with the sin of Adam that some say was supposedly handed down to them as “original sin” from Adam. Neither were they born with a “sinful nature” wherein they were inclined to sin against their own will. Paul clearly wrote that they were individually responsible for their sinful walk of life before they obeyed the gospel.

The Ephesians could not blame Adam. They could not blame God for giving them some “sinful nature.” They could not even blame the devil for supposedly making them sin. They could only blame themselves. They were personally and individually dead in sin because they chose to behave sinfully. Unless one takes ownership of his own sinful behavior, he will not repent. He will not be moved to respond to the grace of God.

We cannot escape our personal responsibility for sin by blaming Adam for some “original sin” that was supposedly passed down to us through birth as a “sinful nature” by which God supposedly cursed our souls. We must stop blaming God for this supposed “sinful nature,” and the Devil for supposedly making us sin. Some theologians have given sinners almost every excuse for not taking ownership of their own sins. Even society does the same by calling some sins—alcoholism—a disease, and thus assuming that the individual does not need, or cannot, take ownership for his or her own “sinful” disease. But Paul never let the Ephesians off the hook in reference to their past life in sin. They were personally responsible for their own culture of sinful behavior. And because they willingly created their own culture of sin, they had to take ownership for their sin before they would willingly respond to the grace of God .

B. Life according to the world:

In their former behavior as sinners, the Ephesians individually chose to walk according to the desires of their father, the devil. Jesus explained the state of some in His Jewish audience when He said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (Jn 8:44). When Jesus made this statement, He was speaking to very religious Jews. In the context of Ephesians 2, Paul was likewise speaking to formerly religious Gentiles. Nevertheless, they too were of their father the devil because they “behaved in times past in the lusts of your flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ep 2:3). The Ephesians lived according to the sensual sins of gratifying the desires of the flesh, filling their minds with all wicked thoughts. They followed after a life-style of pride, envy, covetousness and lusts of the mind as idolaters.

They were “by nature” in the habit of behaving after a lustful life-style. It was not that they were born with a sinful nature. The context of what Paul said in Ephesians 2 is entirely against this conclusion. The Ephesians had made a free-moral decision to live according to the lusts of the eyes, flesh and pride of life.

The Greek word that is used here for “nature” refers to a life-style that has been formed after the habit of doing something over a long period of time. The Ephesians, therefore, were “dead in trespasses and sins” because they had adopted a life-style of living according to that which was contrary to the will of God. Their conscience was seared because they had no feelings of guilt that their sinful living was wrong. They were thus judged to be dead in trespasses and sins because there was no hope of eternal life in their state of behavior in their past idolatry. They were separated from God because of their state of condemnation, and thus they could have no hope of eternal life.

The lost state of the Ephesians before their obedience to the gospel confirms the fact that the atoning sacrifice of Jesus was not universally appropriated to all people without obedience. They were good religious idolaters, but they were dead in the sin of their own religiosity. We do not assume that the Ephesians were previously atheists, and thus a nonreligious people. Too often Bible interpreters make this mistake concerning their understanding of the religious world into which the gospel was revealed. On the contrary, the Romans and Greeks were religious. However, the religion was idolatry. They possessed a faith in Zeus and the other Roman and Greek gods that were created after the imagination of very religious people. In fact, when Paul walked into Athens, he complemented the people on their religiosity: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious” (At 17:22).

But religion can save no one. The Ephesians were very religious people, but by nature they were dead in their trespasses and sins (Ep 2:3). They were by nature dead in their relationship with God. We must not be fooled, therefore, with the belief that if one is simply religious and good, he is saved. Without being born again through baptism into the grace of God, one is dead in trespasses and sins.

By the time Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians in A.D. 61,62, the Ephesians had been delivered from their life of sin in their religious idolatry. But before the gospel came to them through the preaching of Paul, they were without hope. If Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross were unconditional, and thus universal, then they would not have been dead in their trespasses and sins before the coming of Paul and the preaching of the gospel. The biblical interpreter must therefore be careful about assuming that the redemption of the cross applies to all people regardless of their knowledge of God’s grace and conditions that He requires for one to make in order to step into His realm of grace.

C. The announcement and response to grace:

And now the glorious news. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ep 2:4,5). Paul’s continued commentary of this outpouring of grace was stated in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It could be nothing else with grace. The outpouring of grace must be nothing short of an outpouring because of mercy, regardless of the state of those to whom it is offered.

Grace was unconditionally offered to humanity, but it is not unconditionally appropriated, or applied to the saving of individual sinners. We must keep in mind that the Ephesians became Christians long after the initial outpouring of grace on the cross in A.D. 30. They were still in a state of condemnation at the time Paul, Aquila and Priscilla came to Ephesus in Acts 18. It was through the ministry of these and others who “came and preached peace to you [Ephesians] who were far off and to those who were near” (Ep 2:17). The offer of grace was preached to the Ephesians while they were dead in trespasses and sins. They responded. And subsequently, Paul could make the statement, “By grace you have been saved” (Ep 2:5). They could be saved by grace only when they heard about the grace of God that was revealed on the cross (Ti 2:11). Grace was appropriated in their lives only when they heard and obeyed the gospel (See At 19). Grace is neither universally appropriated, nor unconditionally received.

We must keep in mind that those to whom Paul was writing the letter of Ephesians were dead in sin after the cross and before they heard the gospel. They did not become alive until they heard and obeyed the gospel. Therefore, they had not been individually elected and predestined to heaven before the creation of the world. If they had been so elected and predestined, then why did Paul say that they were all dead in sin before they obeyed the gospel?

D. Salvation by grace through faith:

“So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rm 10:17). When the Ephesians heard the word of Christ (Ep 2:17), their faith in Him was brought to life. The words of Jesus would be appropriate here. “He who believes and is baptized, will be saved” (Mk 16:16). The Ephesians were not unconditionally dead in their trespasses and sins. They voluntarily chose a sinful way of life. They adopted such as their culture. Therefore, they could not blame Adam for their sinful behavior as some have supposed. As they were voluntarily and personally accountable for their previous sinful nature, grace came to them voluntarily and personally. Each one who heard the preached gospel, voluntarily and individually responded to the conditions God required to receive the offered gift of His grace. As they voluntarily sinned after their own lusts, they had to respond voluntarily to the preached grace of God. As they individually chose to lead a sinful life, they had to choose individually to respond to the grace of God. Their response to grace, therefore, had to be an obedience of their faith (See Rm 1:5; 16:26).

We must not misunderstand Paul’s statement in Ephesians 2:8,9. “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast.” The grace of God was offered years before while the Ephesians were in a state of condemnation in their trespasses and sins. It was God’s free gift to offer to all men a way of escape from a sinful predicament from which one could not deliver himself. The gift, therefore, had to be free.

However, the reception of the gift came with conditions. Simply because the gift is free does not mean there are no conditions for receiving the gift. Titus 2:11 states, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” The free gift appeared and was announced to the world through preaching. But its application came with conditions on the part of those who heard the message of the gospel. If there were no conditions, then salvation would be universal. If the Ephesians were still dead in their trespasses and sins after the grace of God was revealed through Jesus on the cross, then grace was not universal. Reception and application of the effect of grace is based on the condition of our faith. Since our faith is in the gospel, salvation is by grace through our faith in the gospel.

Salvation by grace through faith is not of ourselves. In other words, no salvational schemes of men will work. If we could be saved through our own systems of salvation, then our salvation would be meritorious. And since religion is always the meritorious performance of rites, rituals and ceremonies, salvation can never come as a result of one being very religious. This is true because by works of law or religious traditions no one can be saved (See Rm 3:20; Gl 2:16). Salvation is by our faith in the Christ of the gospel, not in the performance of our own religiosity.

When Peter said to the thousands on the day of Pentecost to “save yourselves from this perverse generation” (At 2:40), he did not mean that everyone should construct for himself some system of religion by which one could save himself. What he meant was that the people must take the initiative to do what God commanded in order to access His grace in order to save themselves from their own religiosity. And in order to do this, one must “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (At 2:38). It was through this obedience that the Ephesians responded to the gospel (See At 19:1-18).

E. Faithfulness through works of thanksgiving:

Paul wanted the Ephesians to know that their initial coming to Christ was not the result of any meritorious efforts on their part, lest they boast to one another concerning their obedience. Their salvation was not by meritorious works, but through an obedient faith in response to the grace of God. Nevertheless, as Christians, their faith had to be perfected through a work of love in response to the grace by which they were saved. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we should walk in them” (Ep 2:10). If one would want a commentary on this statement, then Paul gives such in 2 Corinthians 4:15: “For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace that is reaching many people may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.” It was this grace that reached the people of Ephesus, and thus, it was this grace that moved them to respond to the love of God through Jesus. It was this love that compelled them to obey the gospel (2 Co 5:14).

Paul had told the Philippians, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Ph 2:12). The Ephesians had been baptized into Christ (Gl 3:26,27). Now it was time that they perfect their faith through their works of faith. “You see that faith was working with his [Abraham] works, and by works was faith made perfect” (Js 2:22). We are God’s “workmanship” when our faith is made perfect through obedience. When our faith works in response to the salvation that we have in Christ, then it is perfected. His grace causes works of thanksgiving. All that God did through the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of His Son was for our sakes, “so that the grace that is reaching many people may cause thanksgiving to the glory of God” (2 Co 4:15). It is an obedient faith in response to the revealed grace of God that brings one into Christ. This faith is perfected when the obedient continue to work out their salvation in thanksgiving for the grace by which they are saved.

[End of the blog series. The remainder of the lectures will be in a forthcoming book. Be sure and download and distribute the book if you have appreciated this very important subject that defines the core of our Christian beliefs.]

The fact that we are saved by grace through faith is not the question. This is a fact. However, the question is how are we saved by grace is what must be determined. Grace through faith means there is a Divine side (grace) and a human side (faith) of God’s plan to deliver us into His eternal arms. What was required on the Divine side (the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and kingdom reign) was revealed to man without any obligation on the part of man. This was the gospel work of God. It was all an action of grace on the part of God.

While mankind was in the curse of sin, God demonstrated His love for mankind through the revelation of the gospel (Rm 5:8; Ph 2:5-11; Ti 2:11). The revelation of God’s grace was not based on the meritorious righteousness of man that put God in debt. The gospel was not God’s effort to settle a debt with humanity (See Rm 4:4). Grace was a free gift. Nevertheless, it was a free gift that demanded requirements on the part of those who desired the benefits of grace (our salvation). The free gift was given on the condition that the recipients comply with the conditions that were necessary in order to benefit from the blessing of the gift.

The case of the cleansing (healing) of Naaman of his leprosy in 2 Kings 5 is a good commentary on how God works through His grace that is offered to the world. Naaman’s case illustrates the offer of the gift, but also the conditions that are placed on those who would enjoy the rewards of the offered gift.

A. By grace God offered Naaman healing.

Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman to tell him, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh will come again to you and you will be clean” (2 Kg 5:10). Naaman’s initial reaction to the instructions for his healing was fury (2 Kg 5:11). He was furious because he did not agree with, or initially understand, God’s condition for his healing. He possibly thought that there should be no conditions to receive the blessing. He possibly thought that if he could be healed, then surely God could simply pronounce him healed. So he complained, “Behold, I thought he [Elisha] will surely come out to me and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God and strike his hand over the place and cure the leprosy” (2 Kg 5:11).

Thousands of people around the world today believe that they can either self-proclaim their own salvation, or have someone pronounce it for them. But this is not what God requires in order to be blessed with His grace. Both systems of proclamation are deceptive. We cannot self-proclaim our own salvation because such is a subjective pronouncement. If we would make such an arrogant self-proclamation, then it is subject to how we feel at the time we claim ourselves to be saved. Likewise, others cannot proclaim our salvation for us because we would be depending on the pronouncement of another person in order to have confidence in our salvation. Our salvation must be objectively proclaimed, that is, the pronouncement of our salvation must come directly from an objective reading of such in God’s word. Only God can proclaim our salvation. And this can be done only when we obey what He requires of us in order to be saved.

Naaman’s pride moved him to reason that there should be no conditions for the free gift of healing. Elijah could supposedly just proclaim himself to be healed. From what he said, Naaman wanted to establish his own conditions, which is the mistake many make in reference to God’s offer of grace today. They want the blessing of the grace without following the conditions for the reception of the gift. Some even think they can call on the preacher to call on God for their spiritual healing. But God’s grace is not appropriated in this manner.

In his fury, Naaman then offered an alternative to dipping in the muddy Jordan River. He complained to Elisha, “Are not Abanah and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?” (2 Kg 5:12). Naaman’s mistake was to think that his cleansing was in the power of the water. He thus tried to change the water and still receive the blessing. But his healing would be given by the grace of God when he obeyed all the conditions for his healing, and not by any supposed power in the water of a convenient river. And if his healing were to be received, then he had to follow the required instructions to use the right water. The water was necessary, but the instructions concerning what water had to be followed.

When God gives the instructions concerning the reception of His blessing, then we do not have the right to change any of the conditions. God will allow no substitutions. If Naaman had been cleansed by dipping in the “better” waters of the Abanah and Pharpar, then we would assume that we too have the right to substitute the conditions upon which we can receive God’s blessing of grace.

We would also assume that there is some power in the water, as long as it is water. But when Naaman finally dipped in the right water in the right way, according to the instructions of God, it was then that he knew that God means what He says and says what He means in reference to receiving His blessings.

B. Naaman was cleansed by grace through faith.

The cleansing of Naaman was strictly by the grace of God. There was no possible way for Naaman to cleanse himself from leprosy. It was not within his power to bless himself with his own healing. The actual cleansing, therefore, was only by God’s grace. It was a free offer from God. However, Naaman’s faith had to move him to do that which God required of him to receive the free gift of cleansing. His healing only came by the power of God, who only can heal. His healing did not annul the necessity that he had to follow all of God’s instructions to access the gift. We must not forget this point.

No one would conclude that Naaman was healed by meritorious works when God told him to go dip seven times in the Jordan River. Neither would we say that he was healed by “faith and works.” Rather, he was healed by faith that worked to fulfill the instructions of God that were necessary in order for him to receive the blessing (See Gl 5:6). He did not receive the blessing of cleansing until he followed all the instructions (2 Kg 5:14). So until he followed all the instructions, he did not receive the blessing of God’s grace.

When Naaman’s faith eventually moved him to follow the instructions of God, then the free gift of cleansing was realized. He was thus healed “by grace through faith.” His dipping seven times in the Jordan was the expression of his obedient faith in order that he be blessed with the grace of being healed. This is exactly what James meant in James 2:22: “You see that [Naaman’s] faith was working with his works, and by works [to dip in the Jordan River] was faith made perfect.” In this way “a man is justified by works and not by faith only” (Js 2:24).

C. Naaman’s faith went to work.

Salvation is by grace through faith once faith goes to work in obedience to God’s instructions. The free gift of our cleansing of sin by God’s grace is not appropriated to our benefit until there is an expression of faith on our part. God’s cleansing through grace is His work on our behalf for our salvation. However, in order for His work through grace to have effect in reference to our salvation, it must be brought into effect in our lives through an expression of faith by following God’s conditions. Whatever condition God would give for the appropriation of grace to the salvation of the soul of the sinner must be followed in order for the work of God through grace to be applied. Following God-required conditions is not meritorious obedience. It is an expression of faith.

Now we must consider when Naaman’s faith brought the healing of his leprosy. Naaman’s faith in receiving the healing that would come from the grace of God first manifested itself when he heard that there was someone in Samaria who could possibly heal him (2 Kg 5:3). When he heard of the possibility of healing, he took ten talents of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing, and headed for Samaria. He wrongly assumed that he could purchase a free gift.

Naaman had faith that there was healing in Samaria, but his faith alone did not heal him. His faith did not “save” him from his leprosy until it was connected with what God required of him in obedience. His faith brought him to a knowledge of what would be required of him to receive the grace of healing. The power of the healing was not in his faith, but in the grace of God to heal. Therefore, his faith would have accomplished nothing toward his healing if he had not obeyed all the instructions that were necessary for his healing. Until there was an “obedience of faith” (Rm 1:5; 16:26), there could be no grace appropriated to the healing of his leprosy.

Since our salvation is by grace through faith, then our faith is of no consequence until it moves us to do all that God requires of us to receive the blessing of His grace. We cannot add to the conditions that God requires, neither can we subtract from them. Our faith must be expressed, demonstrated and manifested through our obedience to the conditions that God requires.

As previously stated, the above is the conclusion that we would derive from the context of James 2:14-26. James’ argument is not in reference to salvation by meritorious works. No one can meritoriously work in order to be saved, for no amount of good works can atone for a single sin. And for sure, no one can obey law perfectly in order to save himself. What James is discussing is that we cannot be saved by a faith that does not work. No unexpressed faith is acceptable to God. It is not acceptable because unexpressed faith repudiates the instructions of God concerning what one must do in order to be saved. Any conclusion in reference to our salvation by grace through faith that does not honor the will of God, will not move one to obey the instructions of God as to how one must access His grace.

James said, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and by works was faith made perfect” (Js 2:21,22). Paul added, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something about which to boast, but not before God” (Rm 4:2). Did James and Paul contradict one another? Certainly not! The proposition of Paul was that he was arguing against meritorious works of law, whereas James was arguing for obedient works that are an expression of faith. Paul’s argument against the Jews who sought to work meritoriously to save themselves would put God in debt to save. James’ works of faith express our thanksgiving for our salvation (See 2 Co 4:15). There is a difference between works that express faith and works that seek to merit salvation. Because many have not recognized this difference, they have had great difficultly in understanding Paul’s letter to the Romans and what James revealed in James 2.

In the context of Naaman’s healing, when Naaman’s faith moved him to do exactly what God told him to do, without any additions, substitutions or subtractions, then his healing by the grace of God was realized. The same principle applies to us today. God offers His grace, but until we comply with all instructions that He requires, we cannot access His saving grace. If He instructs us to “dip” in the waters of baptism, then that is exactly what we must do in order to be cleansed of our sin (See At 22:16). We must be dipped in the water, the water cannot be dipped over us.

[Next in series: Oct. 28]

In Numbers 21:4-9 there is a case in the history of Israel that illustrates God’s healing grace. However, the healing of Israel at the time was based on the conditions that God prescribed.

At the time, the Israelites were in a state of rebellion against the authority and leadership of Moses. The people complained, “Why have you [Moses] brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water; and our soul loathes this miserable bread” (Nm 21:5). As punishment of the people for their rebellion against God’s sanctioned authority, Moses, “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people” (Nm 21:6). The biting serpents subsequently brought the desired result. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned” (Nm 21:7).

The Lord heard the mournful pleas of the people. He then commanded Moses to “make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole” where it could be seen by all the people (Nm 21:8). However, in order for the people to procure healing (grace) from God’s offer, there was a condition: “And it will come to pass that everyone who is bitten, when he looks on it, he will live” (Nm 21:8). It was grace that provided the opportunity for healing. However, the condition was that the faith of the people had to move them to look upon the brass serpent for healing. Their faith had to move them to respond to the instructions for healing. If there were no movement, there would have been no healing.

God’s grace provides the opportunity for forgiveness. His opportunity for healing was communicated to the people. The people must have faith that what is provided by God will accomplish the desired forgiveness. And then, the people must act on their faith to receive the blessing of the opportunity that has been provided by grace. As there was no such thing as “faith only” healing of those who were bitten by the serpents in Israel, so there is no “faith only” healing from sin by those today who recognize that they are sinners. One must following the instructions of God in order to access the grace of God that is offered by the One who was lifted up on the cross two thousand years ago.

Through faith we have access to the atonement for our sins. The offer of atonement comes as a result of grace. But there must be a responsive faith on our part that moves us to “look upon” what God offers through grace in order that we access the blessing that comes through grace. It is for this reason that the Hebrew writer stated, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hb 11:6). If the believer makes no effort to come to the source of healing, then there is no reward.

The grace that provided salvation from the flood of Noah’s day was offered to Noah. The offer and acceptance is not unlike the grace that is offered by God today that we be delivered from the coming destruction of all humanity by fire. Those of Noah’s generation “were disobedient when the longsuffering of God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared” (1 Pt 3:20). As God offered a way of escape to those of faith when the ark was being prepared, He does the same today. Through His grace He offers a way of escape from the coming destruction (See 2 Th 1:7-9).

Notice what Peter said in applying the situation of Noah’s day to our’s today: “The like figure whereunto even baptism does also now save us” (1 Pt 3:21). As the waters of the flood washed away a sinful generation of Noah’s day, so the waters of baptism bring one into a realm of safety from the impending destruction that is coming (See 2 Th 1:7-9; 1 Pt 4:17). The comparison between the two cases is that Noah was saved by grace because of his obedient faith in response to God’s instructions concerning the building of the ark. The rebellious Israelites who were bitten by snakes that brought death were healed when they, by faith, were moved to look upon the serpent of brass that was made by Moses. Sinners today are saved through obedient faith when they obediently look to Jesus and respond to God’s instructions to be baptized for the remission of sins (At 2:38).

Noah and the Israelites were saved by an obedient faith, just as sinners today can be saved by obedient faith. But because Noah was saved through an obedient faith that moved him to follow the instructions of God to build the ark does not mean that he was meritoriously saved through works. Likewise, sinners today are not saved by meritorious obedience in following the instructions of God as to how one must access the grace of God. Obediently doing what God tells us to do is not meritorious obedience. It is an obedient response to the will of God. If such obedience were meritorious, then we could do nothing in following the Bible without it being meritorious obedience. Obeying God’s commands is a manifestation of our faith.

In the cases of Noah and Moses, faith and grace were consistently carried out in five simple steps in order to bring the condemned into a reconciled relationship with God. In the same manner, God brings all those who walk by faith into a saved relationship with Himself.

1. God makes an offer to bless. Through grace, God offers reconciliation and life. God does not bless or condemn without first revealing how one is either blessed or condemned.
2. The offer is communicated to those whom God seeks to bless. God communicates His offer to man through words of revelation. We cannot invent our own means by which we would accept God’s offer. With the offer also comes the consequential condemnation if one does not acept the offer.
3. There must be faith in what one will realize as a result of obedience to the offer. We must have faith in what God has freely offered, for without faith in what God offers through grace, we will not respond to God’s offer of deliverance.
4. One must respond with obedience. Through obedience that originates from faith one must comply with all that God would require of us to receive the free gift that comes through a grace offer.
5. Obedience leads to reaping the benefits of the offered blessing. Upon obedience to the conditions to receive the free gift of grace, we reap the blessings of grace.

In reference to accepting the grace of God, this is the way it has always been since the beginning of time. This is the way it will always be until Jesus comes again. Any theology, therefore, that changes this simple plan as to how God works with man in reference to salvation, distorts the purpose of the cross and brings into question the sufficiency of the grace of God.

[Next in series: Oct. 26]

Grace is always accessed by faith because God accepts no meritorious works on our part for the atonement of our sins. And since no one can keep law perfectly in order to demand salvation, salvation must always be based on grace. However, when we say that we access grace through faith we are referring to an obedience of faith whereby we respond to that which God offers through His grace. We would say that obedient faith is the means by which people have always come into the “graces” of God. When the faith of the faithful is mentioned throughout the entire Bible, we must always understand that reference is made to an obedient faith. Simply believing that God exists has never brought anyone into the favor of God. Only when one acts on his or her faith in obedient response to God, do they receive the blessings and promises of God that are offered by grace.

In our efforts to define the nature of obedient faith by which we access God’s grace, the text of Genesis 6:5-8 is a good commentary of a time when the grace of God needed to be offered. We are reminded in the New Testament that Noah acted on his faith. “By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house” (Hb 11:7). His faith moved him to prepare for an impending judgment that God would bring upon the earth.

In the historical context of Noah’s day, God “saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth” (Gn 6:5). Because the population of the whole world was given over to sin, God said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth” (Gn 6:7). But of all humanity, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Gn 6:8). “Noah was a just man and blameless in his time. And Noah walked with God” (Gn 6:9). Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord because he obediently walked in the will of the Lord. God’s favor was based on his obedience.

Noah and his family were blessed in that they did not have to suffer the impending destruction that God would bring upon the earth and all humanity. The promise of Noah’s deliverance from the imminent destruction was an offer of grace. The destruction was coming, but Noah could not have delivered himself without walking in the instructions of God. Because he feared God, through his obedience of faith he prepared the ark. He accessed grace through an obedient walk.

The historical event of the flood of Noah’s day is the first commentary in the Bible that explains how God works through grace and faith. We can apply this example of Noah and the flood with the situation of all those who are in sin. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rm 3:23). Sin separates everyone from God (Is 59:2). Therefore, in order for God to remain just (righteous) in view of the fact that all have sinned, and are in danger of being eternally separated from Him, there must be a promise of escape from destruction that is based on the grace of God.

Because all people exist in a state of condemnation because of sin, there must be an escape from sin through pardon. Sin demands justice and judgment. In order for God to remain just (righteous) in view of the fact that all sin, He offers mercy and grace. However, the condition for accepting God’s pardon through grace is contingent on the fact that one believes in God to the point of responding to the offer of grace. In this way, Noah responded by building an ark. This is what Paul meant in Romans 3:25,26. God set forth Christ . . .

“. . . to be an atoning sacrifice by His blood through faith in order to declare His righteousness [justice] for the remission of sins in the past because of the forbearance of God, to declare at this time, I say, His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesul”.

God is declared just (righteous) because through His mercy He offers by grace the opportunity for deliverance from sin to those who are willing “to build an ark” for their salvation. He created us with the ability to make choices, and thus, in order for God to be declared righteous in view of the fact that we all sin, grace had to be offered.

God remained just in destroying the world of sinful humanity in the flood because He offered Noah a way of escape through the command to build an ark. On the other hand, the wicked world persisted in sin, though Noah continued to preach repentance throughout the time he was preparing the ark (1 Pt 3:20; 2 Pt 2:5). Noah’s generation that was destroyed in the flood, therefore, had no excuse for their lack of repentance (See Rm 1:18-23). In contrast to such a disobedient generation, by faith Noah responded to God’s warning by building the ark (Hb 11:7). God’s offer was salvation through the ark that was built as a result of Noah’s faith.

Grace made the means of salvation from the flood possible for Noah and his family. Faith moved him to build. In order for Noah to believe and build, there first had to be the revelation of how Noah could be delivered. The means of how he could be delivered from destruction came through grace. In order for God to remain just, Noah had to be told how he and his family could access the grace (salvation) of God. Saving grace, therefore, must be based on the following conditions:

1. An announcement must be made. The impending action on the part of God must be announced to those to whom it will affect. In the case of Noah, God announced, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Gn 6:13).
2. Instructions for deliverance must be given. Instructions must be given as to how one can access the grace of God. God said to Noah, “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood” (Gn 6:14).
3. Obedient faith must move the faithful to accept the offer of God’s deliverance. Obedient faith moved Noah to access God’s offer. “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Gn 6:8). However, Noah had to respond with faith to God’s graceful offer in order to be delivered from the flood. “By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is according to faith” (Hb 11:7).

Noah’s family would never have been saved from the flood if Noah had never acted on his faith. Faith alone would have left him without a prepared ark for the salvation of his family. The offer of salvation from the flood was through grace, but the acceptance of the offer demanded that Noah obediently prepare the ark.

4. Action must be taken on the part of the faithful. In order to access the grace of God, our faith must respond as Noah’s faith responded to the warning of God that destruction was coming upon the wicked. “Thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him” (Gn 6:22). This was Paul’s “obedience of faith” of which he reminded the Roman Christians (Rm 1:5; 16:26). It is a faith that follows the instructions of God as to how one can access God’s grace.

Acceptable faith is not meritorious. That is, faith must be in God, not in our ability to meritoriously perform in reference to law and works to earn God’s grace. If Noah were working meritoriously in order to save his family, then he would have had to know that there was a flood coming. He would have had to scheme his own method of deliverance, and thus, build the ark according to his own knowledge and skills in order to deliver himself from the flood waters.

God told Noah how He would bring destruction upon the wicked because of their rejection of His will (Gn 6:17). In God’s instructions, all the information Noah needed to know concerning the building of an ark was given in order that he deliver his family from the coming judgment. This was knowledge that could come only through revelation. And with the revelation of the coming flood about which Noah knew nothing in reference to its magnitude, Noah was also given knowledge as to how the ark was to be built. Through grace God not only reveals judgment that is coming, He also reveals how we can escape the judgment.

If Noah had not obeyed through faith the instructions given by God concerning the construction of the ark, then he could never have saved himself and his family. When God gives instructions concerning how one must access His grace, then we have no choice concerning the instructions that we must follow. We cannot subtract, substitute or ignore God’s instructions as to how we can access God’s grace.

Religion results from the desire of religiously oriented people to construction their own means by which they will access the grace of God. Through the meritorious performance of religious rites, rituals and ceremonies it is assume that the adherents of a particular religious group can earn the grace of God. The faith of the people, therefore, is in their legal performance of their religion rites, rituals and ceremonies, not in the grace of God who has explained how we are to respond to Him. For example, Jesus explained, “But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him” (Jn 4:23). The Father seeks “true worshipers” who worship Him according to how He seeks to be worshiped. In other words, we cannot “build a religion” by which we can assume our religion will save us. Our faith must be in God, not in our religion. Our worship must be according to what God seeks.

[Next in series: Oct. 24]