Salvation by Grace
BUTTING THE GRACE
Most all religious denominations claim to believe in “salvation by grace.” And I believe most of them really think they do. But, evidently, they do not understand the meaning of the term. For instance, they will say, “I believe in salvation by grace, but…” and then follow with some conditional proposition to be met or done by man in order for the grace to save him such as, “you must believe,” or, “you must accept,” or, “you must repent and be baptized.” They do not seem to realize that when you “but” the grace of God with anything whatsoever that man must do, you have “butted” all the grace out of it.
IN CONTRAST
In contrast to their “butting,” notice the “but” in one of the most ancient confessions of faith and is to be found in the Word of God. “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” (Acts 15:11) (The last clause in this text is not speaking of these people’s belief, but the way they will be saved.( For the apostle was “butting” the proposal made by them, “…except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” Notice the contrast; they (The Judeaising teachers) are saying, “Except you do so and so, ye cannot be saved.” The apostles are saying, “But we believer,” etc. Even so, today all who truly believe in “salvation by grace” will “but” any proposition that men make that requires any conditions whatsoever to be met by men in order to have eternal salvation. And our “butting” the conditions is just as strong as their “butting” the grace of God. It “buts” all their conditions out of it and leaves it by grace alone. THe apostle Paul reasons the same way saying, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” (Romans 11:6)
SAVED BY GRACE
Although Ephesians 2:8-10 is a very familiar test to most of those who will be reading this. I what to give the full quotation here so you will have it before you as I comment on just two aspects of it. “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hast before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) It seems to me to be foolish to argue about what the clause, "…and that not of yourselves…” is referring to. It goes without saying that the grace is not of ourselves. For, if it were not so, then God would be left completely out of the picture. Faith, then, is that which needs to be emphasized is “not of yourselves.” For if faith is an act of the creature in order to make the saving grace of God effectual, the it IS a righteous work which WE DO. Also, it is grounds for boasting and ruledout by the 9th verse. I know, the proponents of the “faith in order to have salvation” theory deny it, but the action of one’s mind, if it be his own action, is no less a work of his own than that which he does with his hands and/or feet. And this is grounds for BOASTING.
NO GROUNDS FOR BOASTING
The clause, “…lest any man should boast,” does not necessarily mean that all who make any claims along this line actually boast about it. In fact, I have never seen anyone, regardless of the amount of works he insisted that you must do, that would admit that he was boasting. Beh the text says, “…LEST any man SHOULD boast.” I insist that this cuts out ALL GROUND for BOASTING. And whether they actually do boast or not is another matter.
Let me show you that any conditions whatsoever, no matter how little or great the amount, that is contended that man must do in order for grace to save him is “grounds for boasting.” Look at the picture of the final separation of the righteous from the wicked where it is said to the one, “Come ye blessed of my Father,” and, “Depart from me,” to the other. The man that thinks that his faith, or anything else that he may have done, made the difference between him and the man that is lost could boast, “I had faith, and you did not, therefore, I am saved and you are not.” “I believed and repented and was baptized, and you did not; therefore, I am saved and you are not.” What is the difference in the two except the difference in the amount required? Furthermore, such a provision makes the deciding factor in any man’s salvation depend on what the man himself does and not on what God does. “Where is boasting then? It is excluded.” (Romans 3:27) Despite this fact, some will continue to boast anyway.
- Elder Virgil Lowrance (August 1976)