Amazing Grace!

"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.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Grace—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. I’d like to break this verse down so that we can study it a little closer.

For by grace you have been saved:

What is grace? It’s getting something that we don’t deserve. It’s undeserved, unmerited favor. Think of water (grace) flowing through a hose (faith). Water is the most essential element for a person dying of thirst, and it flows through the hose to get to that person who is dying of thirst.  We have been saved by God’s grace, not by going to church or becoming a church member; not by keeping the Law; not by keeping the Sabbath; not by speaking in tongues; not by tithing and giving a certain amount of money to the church every Sunday; not by getting baptized; not by saying a prayer for “fire insurance”; not because our Mom and Dad are Christians; not because Billy Graham is our uncle; and not by any works. So again, grace is undeserved, unmerited favor. Don’t ever pray that you get what you deserve. That would be a huge mistake because we all deserve hell!

through faith:

Faith is trusting in something or someone. Faith is simply belief acted on. Saving faith is the channel through which salvation comes. It’s trusting and believing in Jesus Christ for our salvation because of what He did on that cross at Calvary. We live by simple faith each and every day of our lives. By faith we sit in a chair believing that it will support our weight and not collapse! By faith we drive our car to work believing it’s going to get us there safely. By faith we board aircraft, eat food in restaurants, turn on our lights at home, drink bottled water, take pills that our pharmacist gives us, and let brain surgeons cut into our head! But the most important faith is saving faith in Jesus Christ—the faith that will get us home to Heaven. Faith is the hypodermic needle that injects the medicine of grace into our sick soul.

and that not of yourselves:

We don’t manufacture our faith—Our faith doesn’t come from us. Our faith comes through Jesus Christ and from Jesus Christ. In Acts Chapter 3, when Peter healed the lame man, Peter said that the lame man’s faith in Jesus came through Jesus (Acts 3:16 ). The faith it took for us to be saved was not from ourselves because spiritually “dead” people don’t have faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:11 says, “there is none that seeks after God, no not one.” The faith that we finally exercised to receive Jesus Christ was faith that God Himself put in our hearts. That’s why Jesus declared, “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him.” I can’t even come up with the faith to believe that His grace can save me. I have to depend on Him even for that. In John 15:5 Jesus says, “Without Me you can do nothing” which includes having the faith to believe. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus is the “author and finisher of our faith.”  We don’t conjure up our faith. That’s the fallacy of some churches that try to work up or generate faith. Their church services turn into free for alls where anything goes! Watch Christian television sometime—Better yet, don’t! Jesus has to give us the faith to believe so that we can be saved from hell and eternal separation from Him.

it is the gift of God:

This gift refers to the whole experience of salvation including faith. That’s right, faith is also a gift of God. When our faith is combined with God’s grace then we are saved. A gift by definition cannot be earned, otherwise it is not a gift. A gift can be received or rejected by someone. You can receive the free gift of salvation that God offers through His Son Jesus Christ, or you can reject it. Choose wisely. Eternity is a long time!

not of works lest anyone should boast:

God knows that if I could do something to earn my salvation I’d boast about it. Newsflash: You’d boast as well because you’re a human being just like I am. I’d let you all know that “I” did it because I’d want you to know that I’m saved and I’d want you to know what I did to save myself. You would have to agree that Heaven would be a bummer if we had to listen to people throughout eternity brag about how they got there! Even today, people still boast in their self-righteousness and super spirituality, and God’s not impressed!

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!”