Commentary By: Gordon King
Saved by the grace of God! We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, nothing more nothing less. But what is grace exactly, what does it really mean? If you are a Christian who is not sure of their eternal salvation then please read on, scripture is very clear on this matter.
Ephesians 2:1-7
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
These verses in the book of Ephesians say it all in a nut shell, we were all by nature children of wrath, dead in our trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, Satan. We all were born with this sin nature ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, all have inherited this sin nature. As a result of this sin nature we were all separated from God at birth, we all at one time followed the ways of the world, we all followed Satan and his ways.
And even though this is all true, God made it possible for us to be redeemed from all unrighteousness, by His grace. This means that although we don’t deserve it, He is offering us eternal life, life together with Jesus Christ in heaven. He is giving us eternal life with Him, not because we deserve it because none of us do, but so that in ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus! And because of His great mercy upon us, because of His great love for us, He is giving us not what we deserve, but what we do not! This is the grace of God!
Now that we know just what the grace of God is, how is it that we are saved and given eternal life?
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
We have been saved through our faith, faith that Jesus Christ is who He says that He is, faith that what He tells us is the truth, faith that if we have a change of heart and believe in Him as our Lord and Savior that we will be saved! If we believe in our heart that Jesus Christ is God, that if we turn from our wicked ways and accept Him as our Lord and Savior then we shall inherit eternal life. It doesn’t mean that we must change our lives, but that we must have a change of heart towards our sin, that we must acknowledge our sin, profess it and ask for forgiveness.
2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.“
It isn’t by anything that we have done, not by any of our works that we are saved, only by the grace of God, only by the saving grace of Jesus Christ upon the cross, nothing more, nothing less! If we say that we have to do something else in order to be saved, such as being baptized in water, then we are saying that we must be saved on the basis of our works.
Romans 11:6
“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”
Once again I must reiterate, we are “only” saved by the grace of God, by the blood of Jesus Christ, “nothing” more!
Now that we know what the grace of God is and just how we are saved, there are many believers who think that they can lose their salvation by their works, is this true?!
I know of not one scripture which tells me that a person who has been saved can lose his or her salvation, yet I hear many arguments from Christians telling me that we most certainly can. They quote scriptures saying that certain types of people will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, stating that this means we can lose our salvation. Yet, the bible does not say this, it is merely an inference, a person taking scripture to mean something that it does not say, giving them meanings which are not there.
I also hear some Christians tell me that God can prune us out of our salvation, quoting John 15.
John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
I surely do not see anything here that says believers will lose their salvation, it is merely inferred by some. I on the other hand see just the opposite!
Jesus tells us that we are already clean if we are saved, and that we can only bear fruit if we are saved. He also says that every branch that bears fruit He prunes so that it may bear more fruit. He molds us and chisels us into being more like Him, bearing more fruit, He cuts away the sin in our lives and makes us more righteous and holy. He only casts us out if we are not in Him, if we are not saved. I really don’t see it any other way!
Let us consider just a few scripture verses (there are many more) which do tell us that we have “eternal life” and that our salvation is “forever”.
John 10:28-30
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
1 John 2:17
“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:17
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 3:36
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
John 4:14
“But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
1 Timothy 6:12
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
1 Timothy 1:16
“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”
John 6:27
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Hebrews 7:25
“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
Romans 5:21
“So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Ephesians 1:13
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,”
2 Corinthians 1:22
“and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
2 Corinthians 5:5
“Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.“
Ephesians 1:13-14
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.“
I do not find one verse of scripture which says that a saved, born-again believer in Jesus Christ can lose his or her salvation, on the other hand there are numerous scriptures which tell us that our salvation is eternal and that we have been sealed until the day of our redemption!
Let us consider the following verses:
Ephesians 1:3-12
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.“
We as believers in Jesus Christ have been predestined by God to be His holy children! Adopted as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to His good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted. If we were predestined to be saved, then why would God in all of His wisdom and knowledge of all things save us in the first place if we could lose our salvation?! If we are saved to the praise of the glory of His grace, just how would losing our salvation bring any praise to God. Scripture tells us that He made us accepted, and if He makes us accepted then what can make us unaccepted?
We are predestined to be saved, to the glory of His grace, according to His good will, found blameless by the blood of the Lamb, to the praise of His glory! Anything else would not, could not be to the glory of His good will or to His glory! God knows everything, past, present, and future, He knows what we have done and will do, yet He still saved us. Our eternal salvation is without a doubt in my mind-set in stone!
If our salvation could be lost, then it is not eternal nor is it something that we could place any faith in. If our salvation could be lost then the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross was not enough to save us from our sins. And if we truly believe that we could lose our salvation then what good is it for us to be saved in the first place?! We would always be wondering if we are saved or not saved, if we have committed a sin which has separated from God.
Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If we as believers in Jesus Christ cannot rest assured of our salvation, then we are no earthly good to God! On the other hand, if we can rest assured of our eternal salvation then we can perform God’s will on earth, we can be of use and benefit to God, performing His will with the faith and assurance that He is always with us and will never forsake us!
The grace of God is just that, His grace upon us! Even though we sin, even though we do not measure up, and even though we deserve just the opposite, He has given to us His mercy and His grace!
The old testament was a period of being under the law, but we are no longer under the law, we are not condemned by the law, we are now under a period of grace, the grace of God Almighty! We have been set free of the law, given God’s mercy and grace through His Son Jesus Christ!
You can believe what you want, but until you realize and believe that eternal life means just that, eternal, you will always be wondering, always be guessing, and never really knowing what God has given to you. Just what sin is it that would separate us from God? Just what must we do to lose our salvation? And if we can lose our salvation by our works, then isn’t that the same as being saved by our works? We could just as easily boast that we maintained our salvation by our works, not by the saving grace of Jesus Christ on the cross!
God wants us to know that when we are saved we are always saved! That His love for us is immeasurable, that His mercy and grace upon us is just that, bringing to Him glory and honor, praise and worship. No one will ever convince me otherwise! I rest assured of my salvation, of the fact that I have been sealed forever by the Spirit of Promise, the One who resides within me, who is the guarantee of my inheritance!
It takes faith to believe, and it takes faith to believe in the promises of God!
God bless my friends! Maranatha!
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