SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE!

Ephesians 2:1-3 demonstrates that every person apart from Jesus Christ is dead in sins, in slavery to sin, under the wrath of God, and in a condition they have no ability or desire to escape unless they are born again by the Spirit of God. Yet, despite this clear teaching of Scripture, many insist that the natural man, through the exercise of his own will, can trust in Christ prior to being born of the Spirit of God. However, 1 Corinthians 2:14 teaches that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The natural man does not have the spiritual ability to believe the Gospel of Christ unless the Spirit of Christ first changes his heart and gives him spiritual ears to hear. That is why Paul emphasizes in Ephesians 2:8 that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. Salvation is not by God’s grace plus something we do. It is not grace plus works or works plus grace (Romans 11:6). And in case we missed it the first time, Paul says it again in Ephesians 2:9, “not of works.” “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:1-3).

Salvation must be all of God’s grace alone. Those who confuse this by saying that we must cooperate with God’s grace in order to be saved are adding something that is not found in the text. Scripture says that we are saved by God’s grace alone, and even the act of believing in Christ must be granted unto us. Paul emphasizes this truth in Ephesians 2:9 when he says the faith to trust in Christ is “not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Faith in Christ is not something we offer to God. Faith is something that God gives to enable sinners to believe in Christ, to be united to Christ, and thereby receive all His benefits. The Heidelberg Catechism teaches, “The Holy Ghost works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel” (Q&A 65). We simply do not have faith to believe in Christ unless it is given to us by the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:29, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

If you trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, it is merely the result of God granting it to you by His grace, and this truth is declared in many places in Scripture. Notice John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Those who are born of God believe in Christ. Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” And He said in John 6:65, “No one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.” No one has the spiritual ability or desire to come to Christ unless the Holy Spirit sovereignly gives them spiritual life from the dead. Therefore, salvation, along with the faith to trust in Christ, is a gift of God by His grace alone in Jesus Christ; not of works lest anyone should boast. And that is why the redeemed sing, “Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

Tuesday Encouragement: March 17, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry