Alive by Grace: What is Grace Through Faith?

 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

 Grace is undeserved favor. You don’t deserve it. You can’t deserve it. That’s grace. By faith in God we can accept this grace gift extended to us. So how do we get that faith? Boy, it turns out there’s a lot written on that subject! I learned new words today as I read about it like monergism and synergism. My own understanding of this subject has shifted over the last year or so as I learn more, and here’s where I’ve landed – though I do not claim any particular divine revelation and I’m totally open to other opinions.

 We are saved by faith, and that faith itself comes from God. In Hebrews 12:2 the NKJV reads, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus authored our faith. He created it, designed it, and gifted it to us as a part of His grace. My attention was drawn to an aspect of today’s verse I hadn’t really paid attention to before. I mentioned in a previous post that we see what we expect to see, and I think this is what my issue was in previous readings of this verse, but my exploring today on it drew my attention to the fact that the verse itself says that the faith through which we believed was itself a gift from God. Again, God gave me a song today right as I was writing out this post that spoke specifically to what I was learning. As the chorus in this song goes, “Ain’t nobody but God did it!”

 I get the desire one might have to at least claim to have had the faith to believe, like it was some special thing about them they could claim earned or deserved God’s favor. But that’s not how grace works. You can’t even “earn” it by faith. Today’s verse and the next one that finishes the sentence tell us that even the faith we had to accept Jesus was a gift of God, and He designed it this way so that no one could boast. No one can say they are saved because of something in themselves, it is all because of God and His grace.

 If, like me, that starts to lead your mind to the opposite, you might be wondering about the people who aren’t saved. This book of the Bible, Ephesians, is a minefield of these deep, confusing questions. If God chose me, does that equally mean He didn’t choose someone else who doesn’t accept Jesus? We read in 2 Peter 3:9 that, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Now, I don’t have any clear verses or teaching on what I’m about to say, so it’s definitely not doctrine, but this is how I understand this. God loves us all. He doesn’t want any one of us to reject Him, but He realizes that some will. When He looked through time and space before the foundation of the world and chose those He would be making a part of His kingdom, He didn’t do it based on any merit any of us had – that is clear in the Bible. Our salvation is a gift of God and not of works so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). But, He did know our hearts. He knew our thoughts, our minds, our wills, and who would be open to Him and who wouldn’t. My not-doctrine understanding is that God chose those who would be willing to choose Him. The flaw in this thinking is that, again, this gives credit to the people who come to faith because they are the ones who would choose God. I guess in my feeble, human mind I am limited in my understanding!

Here's the Thing: I obviously don’t have all the answers, but if you’ve got some understanding that would help enlighten my confusion I’d love to hear it!