“For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
There are many types of faith. It is clear from the Bible that not all types of “faith” save. James states this plainly: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (2:14). A few verses later, he makes it clear that the demons believe—and tremble! Their “belief” does not save them.
Many people today are similarly fooled into thinking that “believing” makes them saved. Others think that doing certain things grant them entrance into heaven. Both will be greatly surprised to discover that their faith was not a “saving faith.” This is clear from what Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 7. There He makes it clear that “making a profession” (vs. 21) or doing even miraculous deeds (vv. 22-23) are not saving faith. On the last day, Jesus says that “many” will think they are going to heaven when, in fact, they are going to hell. Why? Simply because they did not have “saving faith.”
What is “saving faith?” Or what kind of faith saves? In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul provides insight for us into the nature of saving faith. He gives us three “identifiers:” by grace, through faith, not of works.
Not of Works
In many of his letters, Paul makes it clear that “saving faith” never depends on the works of man. It is always dependent solely on the work of Jesus on the cross. There are a number of reasons why this must be so.
First, salvation cannot be of works because the works of man have always failed. God’s requirement for entering heaven is perfect obedience. It is a standard that every human being has failed—not once, not twice, but repeatedly. Most assume that God will judge them on a “balance scale” system. If the good outweighs the bad, He will let them go to heaven. The problem is, the good never outweighs the bad in anyone’s life. But God does not judge using a balance scale. He says “the soul that sins, it shall die.” He says that if we keep the whole law and fail it at one point, we are still guilty as lawbreakers (James 2:10). We don’t even come that close!
Some will argue that their sinfulness is not their fault. After all, didn’t they inherit a sin nature from Adam? Yes, that’s true, but it is still a poor excuse. The implication is that they would have done better than Adam had they been in they same position. Before you accept this line of thinking, consider this: God chose Adam as a perfect man, placed him in a perfect environment, gave him everything that he could ever want, and only required one thing—don’t eat of one tree. Consider—that perfect man in a perfect environment with all his needs met, still sinned. What makes you think that you with your weaknesses, in your environment surrounded by sin, thinking that you lack many things, could resist temptation where Adam failed? Adam’s failure shows us that works will never save a man because no man, in any situation, can perfectly fulfill the law that meets God’s holy standard.
Second, salvation by works negates the cross. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul makes this abundantly clear: “For if righteousness could be achieved by keeping the law, Christ died needlessly” (Gal. 2:21). If your works are good enough, then you can tell Jesus that you don’t need Him! But the reality is that we do need Him. Apart from His death on the cross, we have no payment for our sins. Even if we could “clean up our act” and live righteous from here on out (which is really impossible), our past sins would still have to be paid for. Jesus alone provides a sacrifice sufficient to cover all your sins—past, present, and future.
Many feel they cannot come to Jesus until they “straighten out” their lives. Such an idea is foolish. Imagine opening a new hospital that promised to heal every disease. However, they had one requirement for admission—before their doctors will see you, you have to heal yourself. A person who could do that would have no need of such a hospital. Yet many people look at salvation through Jesus in the same way—they will come to Jesus, but only after they have straightened out their own life. But if you can make it through your works, Jesus did not need to die.
Third, salvation by works lowers God’s standard. As we said earlier, God’s standard is perfect holiness. Nothing less is acceptable. Being totally just, He cannot change those standards and remain just. Being totally holy (so holy, the scriptures say, that He cannot even look upon sin), He cannot admit into heaven anyone with sin still laid to his account. Only those whose sins have been completely paid for can enter in.
Some will complain—”I do my best; doesn’t that mean something?” Others say they believe that God will judge them based on the “Golden Rule.” When people say that, I often ask if they know the “Golden Rule.” They respond by quoting it to me: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” When I ask if they do that, they usually respond, “Of course—I don’t hurt anybody that doesn’t hurt me.” Then I point out that what they are keeping is not the “Golden Rule” but the negative of it. To keep the “Golden Rule,” a person would need to always do for others what they would want done to themselves. Do you do that? Not a single one of us keeps the “Golden Rule” by always doing for others what we want done to us. Whenever we try to be justified by works, we have to lower God’s standards.
Finally, salvation by works allows for boasting. The Bible tells us that no man can boast before the Lord. Yet, if a person can get to heaven through his own good works, that person would be able to boast about what he did to get there. That’s why Paul tells us that saving faith is “not of works lest any man should boast.” In the Book of Revelation, we are told that the saints there will be talking about the fact that they have washed their robes in the blood to the Lamb. But if even one person could gain heaven through his works, he could boast, “I kept my robes clean while I lived on earth.” If you claim any credit for your salvation, then you have reason to boast, “but not before God” (Romans 4:2), Paul reminds us.
Through Faith
Saving faith is a trusting faith. It is not merely a belief nor is it a feeling. It is not a “blind faith,” but a faith based upon knowledge. No one can be saved unless he hears the truth about his sin and about Jesus’ payment on the cross.
The Reformers taught that saving faith involved three elements: notitia, assensus, and fiducia. Notitia refers to knowledge—a person cannot believe in something they have not heard about. But notitia is not saving faith. A second element is assensus or agreeing with the truth of a matter. A person can hear Jesus died for sins (notitia) and even agree that it is true (assensus) and still not be saved. The final element in saving faith is fiducia or trusting or clinging to. All three elements are essential for saving faith. One must hear the truth, agree that it is true, and put their trust in that truth.
This helps us arrive at a working definition for faith: faith is a trust in the work of someone or something else that results in a corresponding action. If my doctor tells me that a certain medicine he prescribes for me will cure me, I can know about the medicine, believe that it is true, but if I really trust him (or the medicine) to do what he says, I will take the medicine. If I have faith that a bridge will hold me, I will walk over it. If God tells Noah about the coming flood, he now has knowledge. He may even agree with God that it will indeed happen. But until he really believes, he will not start to build the ark. The evidence of true faith is found in its actions. Saving faith stops trusting self and begins to Christ alone for salvation.
One last thing about true faith—such faith is the exact opposite of trusting ourselves. If you can cure yourself, you don’t need to trust the doctor and his medicine. If you can cross the ravine without the bridge, you don’t need to trust the bridge. If Noah can endure the flood on his own, he doesn’t need an ark. Faith involves giving up trust in self and transferring that trust to another. The same is true in saving faith. It means that we do not trust our efforts or our works, but trust the efforts of another, Christ. True saving faith takes no credit for itself. All the praise goes to the medicine for the cure, to the bridge for the safe transportation, to the ark for safe passage. No one saved by God’s grace, relying on the work of Christ, can take credit even for his faith. Faith implies giving up trusting one’s own work and trusting the work of another.
By Grace
Finally, saving faith is by God’s grace. Grace teaches us a number of truths about salvation.
First, “by grace” means that salvation is God’s gift. In Romans 4, Paul distinguishes between a gift and a wage. A person works for a wage. At the end of a specified job or time frame, the employer owes the worker his wages. But a gift is entirely different. Gifts are not owed—they are given. Gifts are not earned—they are freely bestowed. Gifts do not require our efforts—they come to us solely through the efforts of others. God, “who is rich in mercy, because of His great love wherein He loved us,” gave us the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. He paid the price—we receive the gift.
Second, “by grace” indicates that it can be obtained immediately. It is not something you “grow into;” it is given to us immediately. A wage is something we wait for. It only comes to us at the end of our work period. But salvation by grace is a gift—it is available now. No one need wait until they die to see if they have earned it. That’s why eternal life is spoken of as a present reality for believers: “He that believeth on me has eternal life” (John 5:24; 6:47; etc).
Finally, because it is “by grace,” this salvation alone can provide assurance. If salvation depends on you—what you did or what you hope to do—how do you know when you have done enough? How do you know you won’t lose it all one day? But if it depends on what Jesus has done—He never changes and we can have assurance because what He has done is sure. Do you have this type of faith?
Copyright Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International
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