[Ephesians 2:8-9] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
This is by far the most misunderstood and abused verse in the entire New Testament. Countless multitudes use it to justify their sinfulness and worldliness, deceiving themselves that God offers salvation by “faith alone,” without requiring anything else.
But that’s simply not true. God gave a lot, even His own Son, and He requires a lot. Besides faith, God requires repentance, which means turning from sin and self to Him and surrendering our life and will to Him. Not only that, but He requires these as permanent lifestyle changes, not as superficial one-time events.
In this short article I don’t want to emphasized repentance, but rather the reason why Paul emphasized grace and faith.
In the early days of Christianity there was an intense debate as to whether or not the non-Jews who believed in Jesus had to be circumcised and keep the whole Law of Moses. As an apostle to the non-Jews, Paul was very adamant that circumcision and keeping the Law were not required for salvation, and he fiercely opposed those who claimed otherwise. This was a huge issue at that time, and Paul went to great lengths in his epistles to make sure his readers understood this.
Please understand that it’s against this legalism that Paul emphasized grace and faith. Paul never claimed that holiness and righteousness are optional and not required for salvation! His whole argument was against keeping the Mosaic Law as a means to becoming acceptable to God.
[Romans 3:20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight.
Paul never said that sin no longer matters because “it was dealt with on the cross,” as so many modern-day teachers claim. The wages of sin were, are, and will always be death, and those who keep on sinning willfully remain under God’s wrath. Paul himself said that true Christians no longer live in sin. Please read Romans 6 several times until you understand this.
[Romans 6:1-2] What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
[Romans 6:15] What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Much like in our day and age, even in those early days many were twisting Paul’s words to say something he never meant, prompting Peter to warn:
[2 Peter 3:16] There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction.
Before closing this article, I will quote the verse immediately following the “grace and faith” verses:
[Ephesians 2:10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
You say that you are saved “by grace through faith,” but are you doing the good works that God has prepared for you? Or are you using God’s grace as an excuse for staying worldly, carnal and lukewarm?
If that’s you, stop hiding behind man-made doctrines and come to your senses. God cannot be fooled, my friend. You can fool yourself and others, but you can’t fool God. He sees through your cheap excuses for disobedience.
[Revelation 3:15] I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
If you are lukewarm, you must repent and start serving the Lord as He requires, or else you’ll hear these words on that day:
[Matthew 25:26-30] You wicked and slothful servant! … Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.