What does it mean to be saved? To be saved means to be “delivered”. What do we need to be delivered from? Sin! The Bible says in Matthew 1:21: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Notice that the scripture didn’t say Jesus came to save His people from the penalty of sin. That is because the penalty of sin is eliminated when the sin is eliminated, then we are forgiven, and God gives His Spirit to live in us. And now we have a relationship with God in the Spirit through the blood of the new covenant. At the time we receive the Spirit, we are saved (Romans 8:9). Furthermore, if a criminal is acquitted (forgiven of debt) and released from prison don't you think that stopping the crimes that put him there would be a requirement and an expectation of the criminal that was released? In the same way we are expected to stop the spiritual crimes (sin) that put us in the spiritual prison once we are released. This doesn’t mean we earned our pardon. It was simply a condition of the pardon.
If we are saved by grace what does that mean? To be given grace by God for salvation is not God giving you a pass for sinning (Romans 6:1-2). Grace is an unmerited gift from God that enables us to live in such a way that is impossible without Him (Titus 2:11-12). For example, Romans 6:14 says: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” So by this verse we see if you are “under law” sin has dominion over you, but if you are “under grace” sin shall not have dominion over you. So if God gives you grace to be saved He is stepping in and giving you power to make a choice not to sin. However, before you were slaves to sin and obeyed and served sin rather than God. But now, God has given power to be sons of God (John 1:12).
Lastly faith is the vehicle in which all of this takes place. Without exercising faith it is impossible to please God in any kind of way (Hebrews 11:4). So now that we have the proper biblical definitions of these words we can understand this verse properly: Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” You see this grace is a gift of God and it enables you to be saved from sin, not just from hell. Remember, hell is the result of sin. Furthermore, sin is the problem but hell is the result or wages of sin. But you can’t just stop the sin. You must be changed from the inside by God giving you a new heart and Spirit (Ezekiel 26:36). To further this point of grace let us look at Titus 3:5. It says: “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” You see, this was not because we earned it but out of His mercy He saved (delivered) us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. The grace is the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 1:7 says: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from ALL sin.”
Again, all this is possible through faith by being born again of the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1:22-23 says: “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” Furthermore, 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says: “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”
In closing, most people do not believe you must obey God’s commandments in order to stay saved. But in Hebrews 10:26 it says “if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” And if you have no sacrifice for past sins you are not saved! So true saving faith is a faith that fears God and keeps His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man (Ecc 12:13). This is the faith of Abraham spoken of in Hebrews 11 “By faith Abraham obeyed God.” And Romans 1:5 says, “we have been given grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith.” Because “the destruction of sinners and transgressors shall be together, and all those that forsake God shall be consumed” (Isaiah 1:28). So even though we are justified by grace through faith we can fall from grace and be disqualified by going back to willful sin (breaking God’s moral law). The Bible calls this forsaking the covenant (Jer. 22:9, Deut. 29:25), your faith being shipwrecked (1 Tim 1:19), and falling from grace (Gal 5:4).
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