Grace Without Faith

The first four articles in Trying to Walk are what I call Creation Apologetics. Their purpose is to defend and support the idea that this universe was created by a supreme being, the God of the Bible. The seventh article, “Which god is God?,” is more aptly classified as Christian Apologetics since it defends Christianity as being from that God, and the Bible as being the book that comes from that God.

The Bible maintains that logical thought processes can lead anyone to belief in God, Psalm 19:1-3, and Romans 1:19-20. This preliminary information is presented to help us understand that while a person can come to believe that there is a God without the Bible, there is no way to learn the specifics of that God outside of the Bible.

So we turn to the Bible, the word of God, to learn God’s will for us. It is unique and exceptional in its claims. It is not sensible to believe in God as the creator of the universe, Lord of creation, and then not believe that He has the ability to deliver His word to us in the form He wishes it to be. This is why I have the utmost confidence in the Bible being God’s word exactly as He intended me to have it.

The Bible reveals that God created humankind in purity and placed him in the Garden of Eden. But man (to include woman) yielded to temptation and sinned. God is 100% pure to the extent that He cannot abide with sin (Isaiah 6:5-6, and 59:1-2, and 1 Cor. 6:9-11, Gal. 5:19-21) and man was cast out of the Garden of Eden. God knew this would be the result of man’s free moral agency and had a plan in place to redeem him from his sinful state. This plan ultimately required the death of God’s pure, sinless son, Jesus, on the cross in the place of guilty, sinful man. God’s willingness to make this sacrifice, and Jesus’ willingness to be this sacrifice are both acts of grace and mercy that are really impossible to fully comprehend.

Grace and mercy are very closely related. Both concepts involve compassion and kindness going above and beyond what might be expected. Both are used in the Bible to explain God’s attitude toward man. Grace is often defined as unmerited favor, a blessing bestowed that is completely undeserved. The Greek word ‘charis’ indicates an “inclination toward” in the sense that God is always “leaning toward” man, wanting to favor man.

Are we saved by grace? Does grace save us? These questions are not the same. As explained above there is no place to get an answer to these questions outside of the Bible.

The first question is really not a challenge. The BIble specifically answers this question in the affirmative. Paul in Ephesians 2:8 writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” It is worth noting that man, guilty of his sins, was destined to endure eternity separated from God in a place we know as hell, but that through God’s desire to show favor to man, He extended an unmerited reprieve from this awful sentence and thus saved man from it. He didn’t have to do it, but He wanted to do it. That is grace.

But does grace save us? The second question is a little more tricky. It would seem that if we are saved by grace, then grace saves us. But there is more to it than that. God’s grace is what makes our salvation possible, but it doesn’t make our salvation a fait acompli. Let me say that in a different way. We were without hope until God because of His grace opened a door into Heaven for us. But God’s grace did not, will not, push us through that door.

Think of someone having a gift offered to them, maybe money, and responding by saying, “Oh no, no. I won’t take that” Many people respond to God in a similar fashion. Some don’t even believe in God. Some people’s behavior consists of 1 Cor. 6:9-11 and Gal. 5:19-21 activities. None of these groups of people will experience eternity in Heaven with God. But God has extended His grace. If grace saves us, then all of these people, along with every person who has ever or will ever live will be saved, because that grace has been given. Corinthians and Galatians would beg to differ, as would many other scriptures including Jesus, himself, in Matthew 7:21-23.

Without grace there is no salvation. Those who are saved, are indeed, saved by grace. But many don’t have the level of faith that is necessary to accept that grace. They will not be saved simply because they exist. They will be lost. Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Grace is God’s part but it won’t force salvation on anyone. Man, through faith, must do his part to have a completed puzzle. Even in the presence of God’s incomprehensible grace, life without faith is a barren wasteland. Grace without faith won’t get anyone to Heaven.