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EPHESIANS 2:8-9 “FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH: AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS A GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.” (KJV, NKJV)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.” (NIV)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast (glory).” (NASB, ASV)
“Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it.” (TLB)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (ESV)
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see…” Saved is a uniquely Christian word used in this context. If you ask most unsaved people if they want to be saved, they might be confused because they don’t even know they are lost.
Many times, it takes a seemingly catastrophic event in a person’s life before they know they are “going down.” There a lots of shows now that feature the theme of being lost. Usually, some sort of catastrophe has occurred which has led them to see there is no hope, on their own, to be saved.
When I was in the Boy Scouts, one of the required merit badges to make Eagle was the Life Saving merit badge. The first lesson taught in lifesaving is to “reach, throw, row or go.” Notice that all of the action in saving a person comes from the person attempting the rescue…none from the drowning individual. As a matter of fact, “GO” was always the last resort, primarily because there was a huge risk that the drowning person might drag you down and drown you as well in their desperation. The goal was still to save the drowning/lost person at any cost.
That is a great picture of grace. Jesus saw us drowning in our sin from the beginning of time. Even before we cried out for help, Jesus did everything necessary to save us. Romans 5:8 tells us that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” It is like He is standing in just the right place, waiting for us to cry out for help, to throw us the life line and reach down and pull us to safety.
Notice that Paul emphasizes that our salvation comes by grace, “the free gift of God,” already paid for and given to save us. He has done it all. Our part—FAITH. Remember, Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Even though Jesus paid the ultimate price for us to be saved, He will never knock us down and force us to receive it. On the contrary, the picture we have of Him is One “standing at the door” of our heart, knocking, pleading us to receive His gift of Salvation. (Rev 3:20)
This grace is “the gift of God.” It is not of our own works…otherwise, we might think we have reason to boast. Hmph. Our works do nothing to save us. Honestly, in the sense of thinking we can work enough to earn what Jesus did is laughable. But it is amazing to see how many in our nation still believe that if they live a good enough life and do enough good works, that will earn them heaven.
Every person needs to recognize their own need for someone to save them, recognize that Jesus gave His life so that could happen and then receive that gift by faith to be saved. That’s why they define grace as “unmerited favor.” It is something given to us that we could never earn or deserve. That’s pretty amazing! Jesus paid for my sins. All I have to do is receive that gift of grace by faith in Him to be saved. It is that simple.
You either need to do that today if you have not or you need to tell someone about how Jesus did that for you. The next verse, verse 10, tells us that we are created to do good works…works that were already prepared for us in advance. But notice, the works comes after the grace. Oh, sinner, come to Jesus and be saved today! Oh Christian, don’t forget that wonderful fact that we were and are, saved by Grace.
Questions to Ponder: Within the church the term “saved by grace” is very well known. Are there groups or denominations in the Christian church that still emphasize salvation by works? Do we sometimes stress…whether in ourselves or others…the importance of measuring up to standards that we might impose that we actually are stressing a works salvation? We need to not diminish the importance of works. James tells us faith without works is dead. We were called to works “prepared for us in advance.” What are those works? Is memorizing 100 verses of the Bible a work?
Other Scriptures to Consider: Ephesians 2:10. We are created to do good works. Hebrews 11:1…the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:6. Romans 3:23-24, “…justified freely by his grace” Romans 11:5-6. 2 Corinthians 8:9 2 Corinthians 9:8.
 
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