Amazing GraceSample

Saved by Grace

By grace you have been saved… by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not derived from yourself; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:5, 8, 9, ESV modified)

The problem with a passage like this one is that it is almost too well known. The result is that we stop thinking it through. So today, let’s look at it again. It is certainly important, given that the first part occurs twice. 

Imagine you have never seen it before. Which words jump out at you? My selection would be grace, saved, faith, gift, works and boast. Do you agree?

Let’s take the last one first. Whatever else we may think, one thing is clear. There’s nothing to boast about. We can claim no credit for our salvation. Pride is completely neutralised.

Now back to the first word. Grace means undeserved favour. If something stems from grace, it has nothing to do with merit or achievement. In fact, the very opposite may be true. Nor does it have anything to do with lack of merit. Nothing good we do can add to it; nothing bad we do can take away from it. It stems entirely from the giver, in this case, God. 

Is there nothing we can do to win God’s favour? Don’t our good deeds count for something? No, all we can do is receive God’s grace by faith. In fact, some expositors think that the phrase ‘the gift of God’ in our text actually refers to faith and that even our faith is a gift. It was while we were utterly weak and helpless that Christ died for us (Rom 5:6). Either way, salvation comes to us as a free gift. Faith is simply a tool, like a hammer or a smartphone. It earns no merit in itself. 

Grace saves us. ‘Save’ means to rescue or deliver. It includes the idea of wholeness or health. But it is meaningless if we are not in trouble. Someone standing on a riverbank does not need to be rescued from drowning. This is why at the beginning of this chapter, Paul goes to some length to stress how desperately needy we are if left to ourselves. We are drowning in sin. We are living in darkness. We are children of wrath. Without God’s saving grace, we are forever doomed. But through it all, God’s grace reaches out to us. This is amazing grace!

What next?

1. Search out the story of John Newton and the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’.

2. Read the lyrics of the hymn carefully and note how they reflect the nature of grace.