Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

This verse is often misread and misused by some who have used the “grace” of God as a license to justify sin…

Jude 4 NIV: “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

Grace and faith are both gifts from God, and all men have received a “measure” of both. Yet the Bible says that, “not all men have faith.” Why? Because the faith that God did give to them has not been “activated” by the Word of God. In other words, they have refused to “act” upon their faith by seeking God, and that faith is either dead or is in danger of dying. James wrote, “Faith without works,” or more accurately, “without [action]…is dead.” There is a window of opportunity for all men to respond to God’s loving offer of salvation. It is our choice, but only while that window remains open!

A better reading of Ephesians 2:8 would be, “Because God’s grace has been made available to you, you are saved by the power of faith.” Faith is the active word here!

So, it is faith, not grace, that is actually doing the saving.

How do we know this for certain?

Jesus did not say, “My grace has saved you.” But rather, “Your faith has saved you…go in peace.”

Titus 2:11 NIV “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” Are all people saved then? Sadly, no…

But ALL are partakers of grace, as long as their heart is still beating!

Grace, as distinguished from faith, is as universally present as the mysterious and posited physics phenomena known as “dark matter” and “dark energy”; infiltrating, like the Spirit of God Himself, every conceivable corner of the cosmos, unhindered by time and space! The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God and His Christ – is the omnipresent “Quantum Mechanic,” maintaining and upholding all things “by the Word of His power”!

Thank God for love, faith, grace, love, hope…ALL His amazing gifts!

Bryan

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Salvation and sexual reproduction? The new, revised 2019 paperback edition of my (co-written) book, Born of the Water Born of the Spirit, can be found at the following link. It is also available as a Kindle ebook download: