Amazing Grace

Grace… faith… works… such common words, but what do they mean? What is grace, and how does it work? What is faith, and where does it come from? Where does it lead? What are the works that cannot save us, and the works we are saved to do? And for that matter, what is salvation, anyway? In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul was not preaching the gospel, but rather giving the disciples understanding about what had happened to them and what lay ahead of them — the process and the purpose of salvation. The gospel is found in the Gospels. The letters of Paul and the other apostles consist of instruction and correction for those who are already in salvation.1 That is why we must look to the Gospels to find the foundation of these familiar terms Paul uses in his letters.

There is a process or a progression involved in salvation, and in the Gospels and the book of Acts there are many examples of people going through that process, or in some cases stopping short of salvation.

Grace

First comes grace, the unmerited favor of God. As it relates to salvation, grace is the working of God in a person’s life to protect him, prepare him, and bring him to the time and place where he can hear the gospel from someone who has been sent with the authority to proclaim it.2

It was grace to Peter that he had fished all night without catching anything, and that he happened to be cleaning his nets in that particular place where the Master wanted to teach that day, and that the Master chose his boat to speak from.3 It was grace that caused the Master to pass by the sycamore tree where Zacchaeus was waiting, and to notice and call to him.4 It was grace that caused the Ethiopian eunuch to happen to be passing near Philip and to be reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and it was grace that caused Philip to hear from the Spirit the urging to approach the chariot and ask the eunuch whether he understood what he was reading.5 And it was even grace to the “rich young ruler” that the Master came to teach in his town.6

So grace brings a person near in order to hear the good news. But what happens next depends on the one who speaks and the one who hears.

Faith

Faith is persuasion. That is true both in the natural and the spiritual realm. A natural man can be persuaded in his mind to do many things, and it is a sort of faith, but the faith that saves is the persuasion of the Holy Spirit which comes to a person as he hears the gospel. As Paul said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”7 But as Paul also labored to explain, the word of God must be spoken by a flesh-and-blood person who is “sent” 8 — that is, someone who has the spiritual authority to proclaim the gospel. The only thing that gives a person that spiritual authority is that he has obeyed the gospel himself and is living the life that it demands.9

So grace draws a person near to hear, and then through hearing the gospel from a true disciple, faith comes — but not automatically. It requires something very important, and very rare, on the part of the hearer: he must be willing to do the Father’s will.10 He must have ears to hear, which means a heart to obey.11 Otherwise he will not submit to the spiritual authority of the one speaking; he will not receive him as coming from God.12 He will not be persuaded, for he is in the grip of a stronger persuasion — the fear of losing his own life.13

That is what happened in the case of the “rich young ruler” who came asking what he must do to inherit eternal life:

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21-22)

Although there was abundant grace at work, bringing him into the very presence of the Master, he did not receive faith from hearing the gospel, but rather dread and gloom, for he was not willing to give up his own life, in order to receive the eternal life that Yahshua offered him. He loved his life in this world.

But in the case of the 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, we see a very different story. The many other words14 they heard that day from Peter evidently imparted faith to them, for it says they “gladly received his word15.” Gloom did not descend on them at the thought of giving up their lives, for they were fully persuaded that this Messiah was worth dying for. Thus they were baptized into His death and received the same Spirit that had filled the ones who spoke the good news to them.16