<\/p>\n
\u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God\u201d (Ephesians 2:8).<\/p>\n
IN HIS MAGNIFICENT LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS, PAUL MAKES IT CLEAR THAT ALL THE SAVED HAVE BEEN SAVED BY GOD\u2019S GRACE. The church in Ephesus was made up primarily of Gentiles, and he wanted them to be encouraged by the fact that God\u2019s grace had saved them, just as much as it had saved their Jewish brethren.<\/p>\n
None of us who are in Christ deserved to be saved from our sins. It was an act of sheer grace. \u201cBut God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ \u2014 by grace you have been saved \u2014 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus\u201d (Ephesians 2:4-7).<\/p>\n
Then in v.8, we have our text: \u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.\u201d In Acts 15:11, the apostle Peter, as a Jew, courageously admitted this: \u201cWe believe that we [the Jews] will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they [the Gentiles] will.\u201d He was right. It took as much grace to save the Jews as it did to save the Gentiles. If any<\/em> of us are pardoned and given entrance into the kingdom, it will only be by the magnitude of the King\u2019s goodness.<\/p>\n As great as this truth is, many have misunderstood it. What had to happen for us to be included in God\u2019s kingdom was the forgiveness of our sins. The means whereby God was able to do that was the death of His Son \u2014 and His grace consisted in the giving of that gift, thereby making salvation possible.<\/em> That does not mean there are no conditions we must obey or that God\u2019s \u201cgift\u201d will fulfill the conditions for us. To the contrary, if we believe God has offered us \u2014 by His grace \u2014 the gift of salvation, our question will be, \u201cWhat must I do to be saved?\u201d (Acts 16:30). And humility will move us to accept God\u2019s answer, grateful that there is any answer at all.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to better understand that God applies His grace to mankind in giving Jesus Christ as our Savior, and that He calls upon us as free moral agents to commit ourselves in submissive obedience unto Him in order to receive the promises He has conditionally placed before us\u201d (Robert F. Turner).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n