The Grace of God – Part One

Note: The purpose of this article is to elaborate on the thought that to say that we are saved by faith is to say something that not only doesn’t follow reason, but also doesn’t agree with what the Bible actually says.

To get the full context of why I’ve written this it would be best to read: Salvation by What? That is, if you haven’t done so already.

Now then, when you say you are saved by faith you are inadvertently identifying your faith as the source of salvation when it should only be regarded as a means to the Source Who does the saving, as it were. Indeed, there is a difference!

But before I expound more on that thought, let’s look at it from another angle. Let’s look at it from the perspective of being saved by Love and by faith.

Saved by Love and by Faith

You can’t be both saved by love and by faith at the same time and in the same sense as this violates the law of non-contradiction. You see, there can only be one Source of salvation. Therefore, it must be one or the other—either faith or Love. For if you are saved by Love and by faith then that suggests that it is both your faith and God who saves you. After all, the Bible says, “God is love.” (1Jn. 4:8)

But it doesn’t follow to say that you can be saved by both Love and faith for the simple fact that if it weren’t for Love having faith wouldn’t even be an option for any of us. Please keep in mind here that the Bible says,

faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (Rom. 10:17)

So in essence, faith comes from God; and since God is Love, it is safe to say that faith comes from Love. Hence, Love is greater than faith and can not therefore be equal to it because faith owes its existence to Love as God is Love.

Therefore, what all of this comes down to is that if you believe you are saved by faith and by Love, then you are inadvertently placing your faith on a level of equality with Love as the source of salvation. But again, this isn’t possible as faith wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for Love. So faith and Love are not equal and can not therefore save you equally. Only one can save you; and that is obviously Love as God is Love and only He has the power and authority to give Eternal Life!

So it makes perfect sense then to use ‘through’ rather than ‘by’ when referring to faith within the context of salvation. And I am quite sure that that is why Paul was careful to word it thusly in Ephesians 2:8, which says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith

Saved by Faith

Now let’s go back to the original thought of being ‘saved by faith’, which I said I would expound more on. When you say you are saved by faith you are allowing faith to become the source of salvation rather than simply seeing it as a means to the Source which saves you: that is, God.

And if you really want to get technical about it, since James said, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20), to say that you are saved by faith is to essentially suggest that you are saved by works!

So it must be just as Paul stated it:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)

Indeed, to state it thusly is to give God all the glory!

But when you say you are saved by faith you give yourself the glory for believing in God when in fact you wouldn’t know that God existed if it weren’t for Him telling you so! So the only correct option that you have is to say that you are saved by grace through faith as that gives God the glory that He deserves; and it also compliments what the Bible actually says according to the words of Paul in Ephesians 2:8.

Turning Ideas Inside Out

Please understand that I am not saying that those who are inculcating the idea that we are saved by faith are intentionally substituting God’s grace as the source of salvation with faith, as in suggesting that they are knowingly allowing their faith to take precedence over God’s grace in this way.

I am just simply saying that when you take the idea that you are saved by faith to its logical conclusion that is what happens: that is, it then becomes the source of salvation. But that can not be true because only God can save you! Hence, He is the Source of salvation! Not faith!

So I am not judging people here; rather, I am examining ideas by turning them inside out, so to speak.

Conclusion: the idea of being saved by faith is not consistent with reason; nor is it consistent with what the Bible actually says, as it suggests that faith is the source of salvation. And that just can’t be correct, because if it weren’t for God’s grace we wouldn’t even have faith to believe that salvation is an option. For that matter, if it weren’t for God’s grace salvation wouldn’t even be an option!

There may be a tendency for some to look at all of this as an attempt to trivialize the subject of salvation or to do semantic gymnastics, as it were. But please understand that it is neither of these. Whole movements have risen up as a result of people having the wrong understanding on this subject matter; and many people are being led down a path that leads to a destructive end because of this. Therefore, we need to look at ideas more closely if we want to see them as they really are.

After all, if we want the Truth, we will do what is necessary to find it. Let’s not be anti-intellectual, but open to self-examination and the investigating of ideas, as this is the attitude of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

To read the second part of this article go here:  The Preeminence of Grace – Part Two