For by grace you have been 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

How many times have you heard these verses quoted or spoken them yourself? They are probably some of the most well-known verses in the Bible, but it is possible to be so familiar with them that their significance to us is lost. Let’s think for a moment about the saving grace of God in our lives. The Bible teaches us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and goes on to tell us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Wages are what we earn or deserve based on our efforts or performance, while a free gift is something that is given without cost to the recipient because the giver has paid the price for it.

Today’s verses tell us that God has saved us by grace when you and I put our faith in the finished work of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! Salvation is not a reward for doing good. Salvation is something that God had thought of and that the Lord Jesus made possible when He laid down His life on Calvary’s cross. Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It was God who took the initiative, and it was the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus that made our salvation possible. Paul, quoting Isaiah 65:1, makes this initiating nature of God’s grace very clear: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me” (Rom. 10:20). John would add, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10).

We clearly read in our verse that salvation is through faith and not of works. Paul made this clear in his teaching in Romans: “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:4-5). Salvation is the free gift of God, which cannot be worked for or earned in any way because we were dead in our trespasses and sins and could show no sign of life toward God at all! “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6).

Anchor For Today:
It was God who took the initiative to save us, and it was the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus that made our salvation possible.