Saved by Grace through Faith

SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV)

These two little verses from the Holy Scriptures shine a bright spotlight on an essential, foundational, non-negotiable, and glorious truth of the Christian faith. That truth is simply this:

We have been saved.

And we have been saved by grace.

And we have been saved by grace through faith.

That is what these verses emphatically affirm: We have been saved by grace through faith. But what does that mean? It is a truth that provokes several questions: What does it mean to be saved? What does it mean to be saved by grace? What does it mean to be saved through faith?

We will not attempt here to address every single question sparked by these important verses. Instead, on this occasion I want us to consider two specific matters wrapped up in this glorious truth of salvation by grace through faith. First of all, I want to consider what kind of faith, in response to God’s amazing grace, is required of people in order for them to be saved. Will just any sort of faith do? Or does God’s grace demand a certain kind of faith on the part of a person in order for them to be saved?

Second, I want to consider what it is that people are actually saved from. In the Scriptural sense, what does it even mean for a person to be “saved”? Saved from who? Saved from what? What are Christians talking about when they talk about being “saved?”

THE KIND OF FAITH THROUGH WHICH A PERSON IS SAVED

“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith,” Ephesians 2:8–9 claims. But what kind of faith are people saved through?

Just about everyone on planet earth, whether they identify as a Christian or not, will confirm that they have some sort of faith in something. For some people, their faith is in the power of science. For others, their faith is in the good that comes from education. Still others place their faith in human potential, in the necessity of being “good people” who live by a certain, unspoken moral code.

Is faith in these kinds of things the kind of faith that saves a person?

Other people—even good church-going people—equate “faith” simply with believing in the existence of God. “If you believe God exists,” they would say, “then you are saved.”

Is belief in the mere existence of God the kind of faith that saves a person?

Scripturally speaking, saving faith cannot be boiled down to simply believing God is somewhere “out there.” The book of James confirms this when it indicates that even demons have faith in the existence of God. James writes: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19, NIV). Even demons believe God exists. Does that mean they will be saved? Probably not. Additionally, the kind of faith that saves a person, according to the Holy Scriptures, includes more than just having “faith” in anything, such as human potential or “the human spirit.”

No, Scripturally speaking, the kind of faith through which a person is saved—and the only kind of faith through which a person is saved—is faith in Jesus Christ! Even more specifically, saving faith is faith in the absolute necessity and merit of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. It is faith in the blood of Jesus as the only sufficient means of redeeming people from being hopelessly and eternally lost. It is faith in the resurrection of Christ as the only sufficient means of restoring a person to everlasting life.

To be crystal clear, this faith in Jesus Christ is not the same thing simply as faith in the existence of Jesus Christ, although that is obviously part of it. Whenever Scripture refers to our faith in Jesus, it is referring to a kind of faith that has not only made its way into our head, but it is also referring to a kind of faith that has made its way into our heart. Saving faith is heartfelt faith. It is a disposition of the heart. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:9–10, NIV).

Saving faith is a thing that happens in a person’s heart. It is authentic. It is genuine. The kind of faith that saves a person is sincere, true, real, heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ. If a person wishes to be saved, they must do as 1 Peter 3:15 teaches: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.” Not just in your head. In your heart.

WHAT WE ARE ACTUALLY SAVED FROM

Once more, the claim of Ephesians 2:8–9 is that we have been saved by grace through faith. The kind of faith we are saved through is heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ. But what exactly does this kind of faith save us from?

It has become common for Christians to believe that the benefits of salvation by grace through faith are limited to something that happens to people later, in the “afterlife.” In other words, many people have come to believe that when the Holy Scriptures talk about being “saved,” they must be referring only to being saved from the reality of being hopelessly and eternally lost.

While Christianity teaches that this is certainly a part of salvation—a very important part—it also teaches that Jesus died on the cross for so much more than to provide us with “fire insurance.” Jesus died to give us more than life after death. He also died to give us life before death. He died to give us abundant life in the present!

And that is why the Holy Scriptures so strongly emphasize that the thing we have been saved from, by grace and through faith, is sin. It is sin that wreaks havoc on our lives in this world. That is why God sent Jesus to save us from it.

Recall the story of the first Christmas. Do you remember the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Joseph about the baby that Mary would give birth to? “She will give birth to a son,” Gabriel said, “and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, NIV). And there are two major things about sin that Jesus came to save his people from.

THE GUILT OF PERSONAL SINS AND THE POWER OF ORIGINAL SIN

First of all, Jesus came to save his people from the guilt of their personal sins. The sins that we have actually and personally committed on this earth—the actions we voluntarily and deliberately engaged in as morally responsible people that violated a known law of God—have all been fully atoned for by the suffering, the shed blood, and the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Those who accept the cross as the divinely provided remedy for their sins no longer have to worry about condemnation when they appear before God at the future judgment. By the altogether undeserved favor of God they are no longer held guilty for their sins. A new verdict has been reached: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1–3, NIV). Jesus laid down his life so we could be set free, granting us a full pardon of all guilt and a complete release from the penalty of the actual sins we have committed.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is fantastically good news. But this is not where the good news of Jesus ends. Not only did Jesus come to save his people from the guilt of their personal sins (plural); he also came to save his people from the power of sin (singular)—the thing Christianity refers to as “original” sin. Christianity teaches that all of us were born into this world—we “originate” into this world—with a corrupted nature and an inclination toward sin. This is different than those specific acts of personal sin we have committed in our past. Original sin refers to a power inside of us that draws our hearts toward sin-fulness. It is a power that keeps us chained to the lie that we must keep on sinning in this life—that the only type of Christianity available to us is a “sinning Christianity.”

The body of Jesus Christ was not mutilated so that we would live out our existence as sinning Christians. By the grace of God, the cross is more powerful than that. There is enough power in the blood of Jesus not only to save us from our personal sins, but also to fully cleanse our hearts from original sin’s power over our lives. Jesus died to break the chains of our bondage to sin. He died to deliver us from sin’s dominance and control. He died to give us victory over sin so that we could truly walk in faithful obedience to God. This does not mean that we are no longer human—that we no longer have any shortcomings or make mistakes. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. It just means that we are no longer inclined to deliberately rebel against God. Our hearts are no longer tilted toward sinfulness. By the grace of God, through faith in the Son of God, we can be saved from both the guilt of our personal sins and the power of original sin’s corruption of our hearts. As the great holiness evangelist Bud Robinson puts it, "Thank the Lord, the Blood will not only pardon the guilt that is found in the heart of a lost sinner, but will also cleanse and purify the heart of a justified believer." [1]

OPENING YOUR HEART TO SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

We have been saved.

And we have been saved by grace.

And we have been saved by grace through faith.

Have you experienced this salvation by grace through faith? Have you placed your genuine, authentic, earnest, sincere, true, real, heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ? Have you accepted the full atonement he has made for your sins by his sufferings, by the shedding of his own blood, and by his death on the cross? Have you invited him to set you free from the power of original sin and to cleanse your heart from the inclination toward sinfulness?

My prayer for you is that God would bring you to a place of heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ. I pray that you would accept the full pardon for your personal sins that Jesus died to secure for you. I pray that you would open your heart to the full victory over the power of sin that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

May you allow your faith to move from your head to your heart.

May you find victory in Jesus.

May you know this essential, foundational, non-negotiable, and glorious truth of the Christian faith.

You have been saved by grace through faith.

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This sermon was preached at the church I serve, Village Community Church in Kansas City, Kansas, on April 11, 2021. It was also preached at Grace Point Church of the Nazarene in Pilot Point, Texas, on May 22, 2022. I thank Pastor Dwayne Edwards at Grace Point for the kind invitation to preach to his wonderful church. The sermon was inspired by John Wesley's sermon "Salvation by Faith." Wesley's sermon is available in many places, but the edition I consulted and recommend is in the Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley, Volume 1: Sermons I, 1-33, edited by Albert C. Outler (Nashville: Abingdon, 1984), 117-130.

[1] Bud Robinson, My Objections to a Sinning Religion (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1962), 31. In this same booklet, Robinson offers several objections to a sinning Christianity.