Salvation by Grace
By Timothy Glover
Ephesians 2:8 teaches that salvation is of grace. For by grace are you saved through faith. It is equally important to see that faith is the condition. Many have accepted the idea that grace must be without conditions for it to still be grace. Faith is something that man does (Gal. 5:16, James 2). It is the response to the testimony of the things that others have seen. Gal. 3:26 explains that we are children by faith, "For as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ; (v. 27). Faith is expressed in baptism which in turn puts us "in Christ". At what point does faith save us? The answer: at the point where God says it comes.
The Walls of Jericho
Hebrews 11:30 says that by faith the walls fell, "after they were compassed about seven days". Did faith express itself or was the city of Jericho only something that God gave without conditions? In Joshua 6, God says, "I have given into thy hand Jericho". Still, at that point, the walls were still standing, the gates were still closed and Joshua was still on the outside. Still, God said, "I have given". What does that mean? We suggest that it means that God has made it available to them because he continues to tell them how they could take it (6:3-5). Now, marching around the walls, blowing on the trumpets and shouting are not in and of themselves a means of taking a city. God made the walls fall down. It was still a gift of God. Applying what we wrote earlier about baptism, I would disagree that baptism causes our sins to be forgiven. I do not believe it anymore than I believe marching around the walls, blowing on trumpets and shouting caused the walls to fall. The act in and of itself is not the means in either case. God made the walls fall and God is the one who forgives or washes away our sins. The question is when in the expression of our faith do we have forgiveness. When did the walls fall down? Verse 20 says that when the people heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted with a great shout the wall fell and "they took the city". Read that again! They took it. "But", you say, "I thought God gave it to them". He did! By his power the walls fell when the people did what God told them to do. Remember, the Hebrew letter says that the walls fell by faith (11:30).
Naaman the leper
2 Kings 5 illustrates this same principle. In this case, Elisha sent this leper with the following message: "Go and wash in Jordan seven times and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean". Naaman was angry because he had a preconceived idea of what to expect and prepared for his expectations. Finally, Naaman did what the prophet of God told him to do and he was clean (vs. 13-14). Again, there was no power in the water. The water was not the means of his healing. God healed this leper. Still, the healing was only available when he expressed his faith and dipped seven times in the river Jordan. Not just any river would do. Jordan was specified. Dipping 4 times would not suffice.
The Blind Man
Another example of salvation by grace through faith is found in John 9. Here the Lord spat on the ground, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the clay, and said, "Go wash in the pool of Siloam." At what point is his faith was he healed? Jesus first said, "Go". He was still blind when he left for the pool. How do I know? The following verse reads, "He went away therefore , and washed, and came seeing". He did not go seeing. He came seeing. When did he see? He saw when he went and washed in the pool of Siloam! What healed him? Did the pool heal him? Not any more that marching around the walls, blowing on trumpets and shouting caused the walls to fall. In every case, God called upon these to express their faith by meeting the conditions that he chose to set forth. This man’s sight was a gift of God. God gave him his sight. And doing something to express one’s faith does not change the fact that it is a gift. When he met the conditions of faith prescribed by Jesus, he received his sight.
Application
Salvation from sin is possible only through the grace of God expressed in Jesus Christ who died on our behalf. Still, faith must be expressed. Failing to do so demonstrates our unwillingness to trust his word about the conditions he has set. It may make little sense to me and I may think that some substitute will work. Of course, that would not be an expression of faith, would it? If Israel had stopped short of marching around the city the prescribed number of times or failed to shout, they would not have received the city. He wants us to believe in him so fully that we will completely submit to him even when it appears unreasonable. Baptism is one condition that many react to in anger as Naaman had done in the long ago. It’s not any more important than believing the claims of Jesus or repenting of sin but as was true of the Israelites’ shouting, Naaman’s seventh dip in Jordan, and the blind man’s washing, it was the final act of faith that completed the conditions set by God. God places baptism as the last act of faith (Mk 16:16, Acts 2:38). Will you express it?
