Understanding the Gift of Salvation

If a Christian loses his faith to the point they do not recognize Christ’s death on the cross as the payment for sin, doesn’t that mean that they lost their salvation as well?

John 6:47 KJV

47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

If you don’t believe on Jesus doesn’t that mean you do not have eternal life?

Many have even argued that the term believe, when referring to salvation at least, is always in the present tense, as it is here.

So by logic we must need to continue believing.

As convincing as these arguments may be they have many problems!

The Bible very clearly teaches us that once someone has trusted in Christ, God’s love for his children is so great that even those who walk away cannot slip from His hand.

Let’s look closely at our text verses in Ephesians 2.

And let’s look at Five R’s for Understanding the Gift of Salvation

Let’s look first at:

I. The Reason

Let’s ask ourselves, What does the Bible say about the relationship between believing and Salvation?

We know that faith is a key ingredient in gaining salvation.

But I want to see the connection between faith and salvation.

Let’s look at our text verses Eph 2.4-9

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

What, according to these verses, is the Reason that he saved us?

Look again at verse 4 - But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us…hath quickened us.

It wasn’t because of his mercy, although He is rich in mercy…the word for - translated 52 times as Because in the King James Version…This tells us the Reason.

The reason Jesus saved us was because of his great love wherewith he loved us.

This the reason!

Paul doesn’t say “because of our great abiding faith with which we trusted him...”

Faith is not the reason God saves us - the reason He saves us is because He loves us!

OK - we see the Reason for our Salvation, let’s look at...

II. The Root

On God’s Side what does it all boil down to?

What is the driving force, the motivation, the motive power?

We did nothing to motivate God to save us...

Romans 5:8 KJV

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We were sinners - but what was the power used putting the love into action?

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ...

We were dead in our sins, yet he quickened us…he made us alive again…together with Christ...

and then here in verse 5 we see a parenthetical statement that is meant to encapsulate the “How”…the motivation…the Root of our salvation...

“(by grace ye are saved)”

If someone were to ask God, “God, how did You save me?”

His answer would be “Grace.”

Grace encapsulates the entire salvation process…the sending of Christ, the offer of forgiveness, His crucifixion, His resurrection…It is all by Grace.

why Grace?

Because it is unmerited favor

from start to finish the root of our salvation is grace.

We have now answered two basic questions:

1. For what Reason did God save us? He loved us

2. What is at the Root of this salvation, How did God save us? Grace

So now Let’s look at

III. The Result

In verse 7 Paul reveals the Result of our Salvation.

We are given yet another reason, or Result or purpose of our salvation.

So that we might be the recipients of His exceeding riches of grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

This moves beyond the Root of our Salvation — Saving Grace

to the Results of our Salvation — Living Grace, or Abiding Grace.

God did not just save us from hell, he saved us to guarantee an eternal relationship with us!

A relationship that guarantees the reception of his kindness in the ages to come.

His grace will continue to be poured out on you forever!

Do we deserve that?

Of course not — we are sinners!

OK, before we go any further let’s apply this to Eternal Security.

Ask yourself, Do I believe that I have the power to thwart the purposes of God?

Once God, from eternity past, has foreseen, and chosen, and forgiven us…do i have the ability to throw a wrench in to the works and mess it all up?

If you believe that a man or a woman can lose their salvation, then you believe that a human being can frustrate the eternal purpose of God!

God has a plan for all those who are dead in their trespasses and sins and have been made alive again with Christ.

If we believe that we have the power to put ourselves back into a state of spiritual deadness is to believe that we can deny God His own predetermined purpose.

It puts us in the driver’s seat and God is just a passenger!

1. For what Reason did God save us? He loved us

2. What is at the Root of this salvation, How did God save us? Grace

3. Why did God Save us What is the Result of our Salvation? That he would continue in ages to come to shew the exeeding riches of His grace to us.

What is the connection point between God’s Grace and our Dead Sinner Heart?

How do we get apply God’s Grace, so that we may be quickened.

Let’s look at ...

IV. The Road

We have eliminated a couple of commonly accepted views about faith and salvation already.

First, faith is not the reason God saves us - His love is.

Second, We are not saved by our faith - we are saved by grace.

The instrument of salvation is grace.

God came up with a plan and carried it out through Jesus Christ.

So how does faith fit into all of this?

Faith, if you will, is the Road connecting God’s Grace to our Sinful need.

Paul clarifies this in verse 8

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:

Once again, we see the role of grace.

By grace we are saved.

But then he adds a very important - and yet often misunderstood phrase — “Through faith”.

The word “Through” is very important to understanding how significant faith is in our Salvation.

“Through” is translated from the Greek word dia, which carries the idea of the “means” or “agency” by which something is done, or as I have labeled it “the road”.

Faith was the means whereby God was able to apply His grace to the life of a sinner.

a similar term is used in 1 Corinthians 1:21

1 Corinthians 1:21 KJV

21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

here dia is translated as by …by the foolishness of preaching…what was the agent used to get them to believe Preaching

The message itself did not save them…the message was simply a means by which the saving grace of God was explained.

Charles Stanley uses a great illustration for this:

Imagine for a moment that you are at the scene of a burning building. You notice a crowd of people shouting and pointing up at one end of the building, so you run to see what all the commotion is about. When you arrive, you are told by firemen that a woman is trapped on a ledge three floors up. Her only hope is to jump into the net that has been set up right below her. As you peer through the smoke, you finally catch a glimpse of the woman. She is obviously scared and confused. You see the net not too far from where you are standing. It certainly looks strong enough to hold the woman, and apparently, the firemen are confident that if she will simply jump, her life will be spared. Suddenly, without warning the woman screams and leaps from the building. The firemen brace themselves to help absorb the impact of the woman’s body as she hit’s the safety net. As the sides of the net are lowered, you see that the woman escaped with only minor injuries. The crowd cheers, and you go on your merry way.

Now let’s think for a moment, What saved the woman’s life?

The net, of course.

If we say who saved her, it was the firemen, but what saved her…the net.

No one would have credit the woman with saving her own life.

Fortunately for her, trained firemen were on the spot who knew how to handle emergency situations.

They formulated a plan, went to work on it and carried it out.

But what bridged the gap between her need and the provision waiting below?

One desperate leap! (faith)

However leaping (faith) did not save her!

Many people have jumped from burring buildings only to end up dead on the pavement below.

The net and the firemen saved her.

So it is with faith.

Faith does not save a person.

God’s grace is what saves me.

Our faith, however, is the thing that bridges the gap between our need and God’s provision.

Specifically, it is a point in time at which the expression of faith in Christ brings God’s provision together with our need.

Once the woman jumped, she was safe.

Once we believe, we are saved.

I imagine a woman who went through an experience such as the one described would always have faith in firemen and their nets.

But even if she did not, the fact remains that she was saved from the fire.

In the same way, in all probability, a Christian who has expressed faith in Christ and experienced forgiveness of sin will always believe that forgiveness is found through Christ.

But even if he does not, the fact remains that he is forgiven!

It is true that the same woman could find herself caught in a different fire.

And it is equally true that the degeneration of her faith in firemen and their nets could be deadly.

But a man or woman who has been rescued once from a state of unforgiveness does not need to worry.

For once 100 percent of a man’s sins have been forgiven, the potential for being unforgiven has been done away with.

here are no more fires from which the believer needs to be saved.

Faith is simply the way we say yes to God’s free gift of eternal life.

God does not require a constant attitude of faith in order to be saved—only an act of faith.

One more imperfect illustration may be helpful.

If I chose to have a tattoo put on my arm, that would involve a onetime act on my part.

Yet the tattoo would remain with me indefinitely.

I don’t have to maintain an attitude of fondness for tattoos to ensure that the tattoo remains on my arm.

In fact I may change my mind the minute I receive it.

But that does not change the fact that I have a tattoo on my arm.

My request for the tattoo and the tattoo itself are two entirely different things.

I received it by asking and paying for it.

But asking for my money back and changing my attitude will not undo what is done.

Forgiveness or salvation is applied at the moment of faith.

It is not the same thing as faith.

And its permanence is not contingent upon the permanence of my faith.

1. For what Reason did God save us? He loved us

2. What is at the Root of this salvation, How did God save us? Grace

3. Why did God Save us What is the Result of our Salvation? That he would continue in ages to come to shew the exeeding riches of His grace to us.

4. What is the connection point, the Road, between God’s Grace and our Dead Sinner Heart? Faith

the next important thing to look at here is the gifting of this salvation, or...

V. The Remitting

Paul tells us in verse 8

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

It is important to understand the process by which we receive salvation.

It was a gift.

The moment we express our faith in Jesus, we are gifted salvation.

There is some disagreement over what “it” is, but I believe the it is talking about the entire process of salvation.

Salvation — is a gift.

There are no strings attached, just needs to be received.

If you place a condition on a gift it is not a gift, it is a trade…or a transaction.

If you say that this gift can be removed or taken away based on some condition is to say that it wasn’t a gift in the first place.

Once a gift is given it is ours…what we do with the gift after is another matter entirely.

I can take a gift and bury it in the backyard, but it is still mine.

What if I give it back?

Well that would depend upon the giver accepting the return.

In the case of salvation, God has a strict no return policy!

John 6:35–37 KJV

35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Romans 11:29 KJV

29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

There is no verse, or statement, or biblical illustration that shows that God has ever taken back from a believer the gift of salvations once it has been given.

Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Why would he take back what he came to give?

Faith is the spiritual hands by which we accept the gift at the moment of salvation.

Have you accepted the gift of salvation?

Don’t wait any longer - you are not guaranteed tomorrow!

1. For what Reason did God save us? Because He loved us

2. What is at the Root of this salvation, How did God save us? Grace

3. Why did God Save us What is the Result of our Salvation? That he would continue in ages to come to shew the exceeding riches of His grace to us.

4. What is the connection point, the Road, between God’s Grace and our Dead Sinner Heart? Faith

5. What does the Remitting of this gift show us? That it is a gift, and cannot have strings attached…and cannot be returned.

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