INMERSO

By Grace Through Faith

You might have heard that phrase many times, expressed in sermons, conversations, bible studies and deep in your heart the question still lingers, What is saving grace?

Saving Grace is no other than this:

An undeserved gift of God to anyone who receive, accept and trust in the person and work of Christ alone for salvation, which is demonstrated through a growing Spirit-empowered obedience.

Lets take a look at one important passage in the book of Ephesians where the Apostle Paul explains this principle. Ephesians 2:1-10

"1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

If we look closely the to verses 1-3; the apostle Paul started by explaining that because of sin and disobedience we were spiritually dead, following the natural course of this world like is still happening around us today. We can see how the world is living in darkness and without thinking about their eternal future. We were part of that world, it might not feel like it now but, we were pulled out of it by Gods grace.

1- We needed resurrection (vv 4-8). Just imagine this picture: While we lived without Christ, our spirit was in the grave. Because we sinned the spirit was disconnected from the source of its life, God.

2- We needed life. Jesus brought that life to us again. His sacrifice and resurrection was accepted by God and as a result, God forgave all of our sins and through Jesus, He gave us spiritual life again. We were resurrected from our spiritual grave.

We must always remember that this is an undeserved gift. We did or could do anything to earn it. We weren't thinking about God when He decided to rescue us. He was the one that moved and loved us first.

Now what is the object of that grace?

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,"

Ephesians 3:17

a red flower hanging from a branch in the jungle

Christ is the object of our faith, he dwells in us through His spirit and mediates for us to the Father and desires that we trust Him unconditionally, because He loves us. Due to that undeserved love we must show no pride or boastfulness (v-9). We did nothing to deserve it and without Jesus we could not live it. All the glory is to Him.

We could see the evidence of Jesus (v-10) in us when our deeds and actions change to good. It is not us doing them, they are the fruit of Jesus living through us. Our hearts are changed and the signs of salvation are seen in our work which is His work. Only the work of Jesus can save us, only He knows how to guide us.

How do we cultivate that love?

We must never forget that Jesus promised that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He will always be in us. He will never change in ways or attitudes, but it is our responsibility to get to know Him, to know his love, his commandments, and the way to do it is by what the apostle Paul expresses in Romans 10:17;

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

We must study the Bible daily, we must stay connected to Him in prayer. We must develop a personal relationship with Him because the end of this grace, the end of this faith is our salvation, is our eternal future with Him. We will receive a new understanding and in time God will reveal himself to us in all His glory and for all eternity.

Lets commit our hearts to Him and let Him live His life through us in faith.