The last time we considered that man is dead in sin and cannot save himself. Rightly so that a dead man cannot bring anything to the table except stinch. What then can a dead sinner do to be saved? What did true believers do to be saved from darkness to light?
Just the other day, I boarded a bolt and went into my favourite conversation with the driver.
Me: Are you a Christian?
Him: No!
Me: Will you go to heaven when you die?
Him: Yes!
Me: Why will you end up in heaven?
Him: Because I do good deeds. I don’t sin.
Our brother here means to say that his good deeds will help him enter heaven. But this is contrary to biblical truth. Salvation is not by works but by grace alone. Our brother is lost!
What does the Bible say we need to do to be saved? Nothing!
In Ephesians 2, Paul shares the why and the how of salvation by God. He makes it emphatic that God is the saviour. And He did it by making us alive together with Christ. If we died with Christ, we also resurrected with Him. We were dead in Adam but now alive in Christ.
Why Did God Make Us Alive?
Paul points out that there are two main reasons for this:
- To demonstrate God’s great love for us. John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 tell us that God saved us for His own love sake.
- To display God’s exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. His grace and compassion made us who we are and not our own works.
Note that none of the reasons above are ascribed to us. We never conceived salvation but God did and gave us the keys to its mysteries. (Galatians 1)
How Did God Make Us Alive?
Paul answered this in Ephesians 2:5-6 when he said, “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
The simple way to illustrate this is to use the story of dead Elisha. After the prophet was buried years on, there was someone else going to be buried and the dead body touched the bone of Elisha and he came alive. This was purely the power of God at work. Romans says that the same Spirit that raised Christ from death will quicken our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11). We died with Him and resurrected with Him (Romans 6:8). We are made alive by the Spirit of Christ.
How Must We Respond?
Based on the why and the how of salvation by God alone, the saved man or woman cannot boast in himself but to boast in God. Because he or she is saved by grace alone and not by his or her works.
We don’t have any grounds to boast about what has happened in our lives. We don’t have grounds to say we accomplished anything for our union with Christ. Noah, Abraham and all other saints were saved by grace and not works.
Isaiah 45:22-25 says,
“Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel Shall be justified, and shall glory.’ ”
What then must a saved person do in Christ? What have we been saved unto? We shall consider that in our next post.
Grace and peace to you.
What have you learnt from this write-up? Share with us.
Discover more from Living Our Bible
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Leave a comment