SAVING FAITH

INTRO: SALVATION, GRACE, AND FAITH
We have learned from the basic course on Salvation that it cannot be earned because it is a free gift from God.

But there are a lot of people who are still thinking that they can be saved if they just pray, read the Bible, go to church, pay their tithes, help others – good works! They have basically fallen into the trap of performance-based salvation! Being saved is never based on how we perform before God! Salvation is only through Jesus! It is received by grace through faith!

Ephesians 2:8

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

And God makes salvation available to everyone, not just to a selected few individual.

Titus 2:11

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

God’s grace appeared to all. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2

2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Jesus did not just die for those he foreknew who would believe in Him and accept Him. He died for all. That’s why Titus 2:11 says His grace appeared to all.

GRACE means unmerited favor. It has nothing to do with our performance and good works before God. In fact, grace has nothing to do with us because grace is God’s part! It was by His grace that Jesus died for us even while we were still sinners. We didn’t deserve it, but He already started His good work in us by His grace! That’s God’s parts. And our part is FAITH! It is our response to what God has already made available by grace! Faith is reaching out to what God has already provided. Hence, there has to be a good balance between the two.

Now, there is no more problem with grace. God already did His part. Now the question is our part. Do we have that faith that allows us to receive the free gift of salvation that God offered to all mankind by grace?