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Ephesians 2:4-9 reveals some extremely important truths.

1. The REASON God made us alive (saved us) was "Because of" His great love. God's motivation is LOVE.

2. We are saved "BY GRACE." The INSTRUMENT of salvation is the unmerited favour.

Thus, 2 questions are answered:1. Why did God save me?- He loves me and 2. How did God save me? By grace.

Faith is only the "channel," "conduit," or "agency" that God used to apply His grace. It has no merit and His gift as well.

aw

(Ephesians 2:8-9) - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

 ;D

Does that mean you agree with Saved by GRACE, NOT Faith?

Grace is the gift of the giver God and through faith, upon hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, it is accepted and received.

Perhaps an analogy: thus guy is on the 10th story of a building that is on fire with no escape except some firemen holding a net down on the ground.

He finally decides to "LEAP" and winds up safely in the net. How was he saved from death? By the firemen holding the net. The net and the firemen holding it were the only means of saving him and all he did was DECIDE to leap.

There is no merit in his decision, but it was the correct one. There is no MERIT in faith and once one makes the decision to trust in Christ, God ,because of His love, saves us BY grace.

aw

 ;D

Grace is a life boat that saves a drowning man.
By faith the man gets in the boat and lives.
The man will say the boat saved my life. :)

AW--very well said. It was according to God's eternal purpose
to be merciful and gracious that all else followed as a consequence. With that eternally in place it could not fail; without it, it could not be.

Ephesians 2:8-10. 'For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works least anyone should boast'.

Romans.5:8. 'God demonstrated His own love to us in this way, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Romans.10:9. That if you will confess with your mouth Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. Salvation is accepting by faith that Jesus Christ died for you-your sin-and took the full penalty and judgement for it, so that through His sacrifice, God can declare you righteous, and make you a child of God and a member of the Body of Christ. This is only the beginning of Gods work.

Romans 8:31&32. 'If God be for us who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things.'

Philippians.2:13. 'For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.' What a lot of Christians forget is that it is God who saved us. It is God who keeps us and it is God who is working in us to make us more like Christ. We must also distinguish between how God sees us IN CHRIST, perfect and righteous [our standing before God] and our daily walk in all it's failings and shortcomings. [our state before God ] The first is perfect and never fails for it is based on God and His promises. The last rises and falls according to our obedience to His Word and whether we live for Christ and walk in the Spirit.

Salvation from the penalty of sin and life in Christ is a present possession secured for eternity.

Salvation is accepted through Faith

That's a succinct and accurate way to state it.

Thanks,

aw

aw

This is a good, example..but..

While the motivation to jump when no other options exist, one can confuse, the need to escape the fire by jumping as an act of faith.

In the Christains conversion this very similar, in that the Christian must jump today (preferably) to avoid the fire tomorrow.  

However it must be pointed out, that while it is possible this man, produced the faith himself, (to jump), since one can assume from the story, that he only jumped after he saw the firemen and the net in place, which is really a faith produced by sight, he nevertheless jumped.

In comparing this to the Christian experience of conversion; Placing faith in Jesus the object all Christians faith, is made because one is given eyes to see, the object, and ears to hear the words (gospel) of faith calling all who hear it, to save yourself from the coming judgment, and according to the  Word of God, FAITH is the gift given that is placed on the object of the finished works of Christ at the cross.  The Grace of God produces FAITH, in tghe person that believes His Word spoken by Jesus.

This is why men, are able to believe in what he could never have otherwise believed in.

Blerssings,

Petro

And the  

Nice points; aptly stated.
We could say also that the people holding the net were there because they wanted him saved.

Faith bridges the gap between our need and God's provision.

Thanks for the input,

aw

I would state that its the word of God that gives any man sight or warning to the inpending danger, therefore the man realizes that there is nothing He can do, He can try to ignore the danger , or procastenate, or deal with it in his own way, but if He understands the word correctly then he realizes that he is at God's mercy.Further study of the Gospel will set anyone free,if we understand it and if we receive it through faith.it's all the work of God, through the word and the spirit gives us the understanding of it. :)

The enterence of God's word gives light.And converts the soul.

Im sure that alot more could be said,on this Great subject. :)

Saved by grace through faith.

Ephesians 2:8.  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Dear All

The faith part, I'm in agreement with Ollie.

       I believe we recieved Salvation when we say yes to Jesus.  After all, didnt Jesus say all the time, He who believeth?
       Now I have a friend who is Calvinist, and he believes Faith is a work because it is we who says yes.  A Work?  Now I do understand that yes, it is we that save ourselves but it really a work when a person simply Repent - to change ones mind or purpose (Not an about face nor continual abstanence) and believe (Trust) Jesus for our Salvation and that we have eternal security?  Faith happens in the Heart and Mind (Once).  The definitrion of Faith can be found in Hebrews 11:

1   Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

       What makes Faith a work however, is when you have to have Faith every time - now that is work contrary to Ephesians which clearlty distinguishes Faith and Works.

Ps.  I can't bare to read long pieces, please make your answer short and verses - one by one

agur