By Grace Alone

March 18th, 2025​​​​

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'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

 

Salvation is by grace alone! Perhaps you have heard or came across this phrase several times. Yes, it is a true statement and is essentially found in the book of Ephesians 2:8-9 as it is written above. But what does it means? This is a good question. The word grace according to Strong's comes from the Greek word Charis and means, "unmerited favor and kindness of God towards humanity." Thus, Salvation is by grace alone means that we are saved not by merits of our own as if we worked hard to deserve it, but because God decided to extend His favor and kindness toward us in Christ. It was when were yet sinners that Christ died for us. We didn't even know we needed a savior yet, God had already purposed to save us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and He did it because of His love, He sent Jesus.

 

It's written, "'But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.'" Romans 5:8. So, if it were for our actions we would not deserve it, since we were sinners when Christ died, we were at our worst, yet God did His best to save us. Therefore, salvation is by grace alone, or "by grace we have been saved..., not of ourselves, it is the gift of God,". Salvation is not of works, meaning, we are not saved for working hard to keep every commandments of God, not! Who can keep every commandment without breaking one?! So, if by works no one would be saved, and even if hypothetically was possible we would boast on our strength but God didn't want things to be this way! 

 

Salvation is a gift, and we receive this gift by trusting the giver and not by working hard to receive it. Therefore, the text says, "by grace you have been saved through faith"! The act of God giving is grace and of us receiving is faith, putting our trust in God as the giver, that He will give us what He had already said He would, just like we do when someone promises to give us something. By grace you have been saved through faith, or by grace you can be saved through faith, if you aren't yet. Trust the giver, confess it and be saved. God bless you 
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In Christ

Knowing-God Family