SAVED BY GRACE

"For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving ], but it is the gift of God; not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.] Ephesians 2:8,9.

I have heard a story about a man's dream. He dreamed that he was standing before God outside heaven. God said, "It takes hundred points to enter heaven. What have you done that totals hundred points? "I taught Sunday School," the man said proudly. "But you always complained about getting up so early to do it," God reminded him. "No points". I remember having the pastor over for dinner once." God replied, "But you fed him soup instead of sharing the steak you had hidden in your refrigerator. "No points.""Hmmm, let me see. I loved all my friends," he said. "But you rarely liked anybody else," God said. "No points." "At this rate," the man said,"I will enter heaven only by the grace of God!". "That is hundred points," God declared. "Come on in".

Needless to say, it does not take points to get in to heaven, but it does take the grace of God. Salvation is not something we earn. God gives it to us. That is what grace is all about-God's riches at Christ's expense. He died on the cross for us so that we could have eternal life by merely believing in Him. Now, we are to be good and do good in life-but in response to God's acceptance of us, not to gain His acceptance.

"But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace ( the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10.

In this passage Apostle Paul rightfully ascribes praise to God for his present state of grace and then states that the grace of God was not bestowed upon him in vain. His reasons for saying this are interesting. "I worked harder than all of them, he says. It appears that good works are the language of grace, and that evidence that the grace of God is not bestowed in vain may be seen in the obedient attitude of the Christian, and yet Paul says that his obedience is but the outworking of the grace of God within him. This great summary of the gospel should put at rest the theory of some that works are somehow a betrayal of faith and that the two contradicts each other. Works are the outgrowth of faith and God's grace bestowed.


The story of the tightrope walker Blondin, crossing Niagara Falls is well known in the world. Sometimes in one of the Blondin's public performances, a poor Italian man would allow himself to be carried on his back across the falls, to the great terror of the spectators. Few years later, while visiting this Italian man on his death bed, and was much concerned about the salvation of his soul, a local pastor asked him whether he ever had any fear that Blondin might fail. "No", the man said, "he was a very able man". "Then you trusted him with your life because you believed he would not fall". "Oh, yes. He would not let me fall", the answer came. Then the pastor tried to show the dying man that he must trust Jesus for salvation with the same confidence.

Works are an out growth of faith. Confidence in Blondin moved this man to trust him with his life. Confidence in a Pilot makes us to board a plane and fly. Confidence and faith in five inches wide, 4 tires of our car, filled with air, make us to drive thousands of miles with our precious family. Confidence, and faith in Christ should move us to trust Him with our salvation, eternal life, for JESUS NEVER FAILS.