Are We Saved By Grace?

Imagine a courtroom scene. A young defendant stands beside his lawyer waiting for the final verdict from the jury. The representative of the jury stands and at the request of the judge reads the verdict. Guilty on all charges. Upon hearing this, the defendant is distraught, he didn’t mean to be here in the first place but due to the circumstances, here he stands. The judge pauses a moment, and after watching the young man for a few moments, states son, how do you feel about this verdict? The boy responds, judge, it’s fair but I wish I had a chance to go back and change it. The judge ponders a moment, and after seeing the boy’s penitent heart, offers a lighter sentence. As the boy breathes a sigh of relief, the judge says, “Remember, you deserved the full extent of the law, but because of your desire to change I gave you a chance. Don’t waste it. 

That judge offered the boy grace. Favor that he did not earn. There is a common misconception of the church of Christ. The idea is that we do not believe that God saves by grace. This idea often comes from our standing on the commands of scripture, but let me be clear at the outset of this article, we cannot earn our salvation! It is physically impossible that those of us who have sinned (cf. Romans 3:23) and have a sentence of death (cf. Romans 6:23) could commute our own sentence. So what does the Bible say regarding God’s grace? What gives us confidence in this grace? 

Defining Grace

How would one define this idea of grace? Grace is often defined as unmerited favor. This is the idea that someone expresses charity or compassion and gives us something that we did not earn. There is our word again. In order for us to receive grace by definition it must be something that was unearned. So one might suggest that this proves that we are not saved by baptism or by works. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s attitude toward our works. As far as baptism is concerned, it is not some ritual that because we summon some spirit or use some coded phrase that we can be saved. Baptism does not earn anything. It is the method of communicating to God that we are obedient to Him. There is nothing special about the water or the words of the man doing the baptizing, by the answer of a good conscience (cf.1 Peter 3:21). If there is nothing special about the water, then there has to be some element to this that makes the act of baptism effective. This would be the grace of God (cf. Romans 6:1-4). Paul wrote that it was by the grace of God that he was what he was (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:10). Did Paul just have God save him with no baptism? Of course not, we know that Paul was baptized as recorded in Acts 9. So baptism is not a contradiction or a hindrance to the grace of God but rather the instrument by which we access that grace. If it was not enough, to access the grace of God through baptism; what happens if we fall back into sin? We know that Jesus said no man having put his hand to plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven (Luke 9:62). So if it is the case that we would not be worthy of heaven, how can one be faithful? The answer is simple. John writes that if we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Is there anything magical about the confession? Is the confession some sort of spell or incantation that wipes away our sins? We know that’s absurd. The confession is an appeal again to the grace of God! So of course we are saved by grace, not just because He likes someone’s personality, but rather a conditional expression of the grace of God similar to the judge at the beginning of this article. If the defendant was not penitent, the judge would have shown no grace. If we are not penitent, the grace of God does not apply to us (1 John 1:6). Grace is a gift from God and one that is available. 

How is One Saved with Grace?

The way that one is saved by grace is the simple method that has been stated throughout scripture. In order to be saved by grace, we must first hear the word of God (cf.Romans 10:14, 17). The source of our faith is the word of God. If we do not have the word of God in our hearts, we do not have the knowledge of the grace of God in the first place. Hearing alone is not sufficient; hearing must mature into belief (cf. John 8:24). This is not simply just an acknowledgement of a fact, but rather a conviction. The belief in the facts of the gospel lead to the actions that will bring us to the Lord. Building upon that belief one is willing to repent of their past sins (cf.Acts 17:30). The idea behind repentance is often misunderstood. This is not simply a statement of I’m sorry. Repentance is a change of mind (change of perspective) which brings a change of action. Oftentimes our apologies in our culture can simply be an attempt at disarmament rather than true penitence. God of course knows our hearts and therefore knows when we express true repentance rather than performative apologies (cf. Luke 16:15). Once one has changed their perspective they are willing to confess that Jesus is the Christ and to commit to the Lord (cf. Romans 10:10; 32-33). This confession is the verbal confirmation of the change that we have made internally. This is not however the time at which someone is saved because the change of heart is not the same thing as complete obedience to Christ. Noah had to build the ark but he had to build the ark the way God intended in order to be saved (cf. Genesis 6-7). Noah obviously trusted in the Lord when he began to build the ark, but if he did not build it by God’s specifications, the boat would not have saved them from the flood. In the same fashion, if we want to please God and be saved, we must obey His plan. Finally, we must be baptized for the remission of our sins (cf. 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 2:38; 8:36). This baptism as mentioned before is the point at which we access the grace of God. This is not a payment for the forgiveness of God but rather the conditional element by which we contact that grace. So are we saved by grace? Absolutely! None of these practices that we mentioned would save us if not for the grace of God.  We do not deserve salvation, but rather we are offered the gift of salvation if we are willing to offer ourselves to the Lord.