This is a quite sensitive topic I must admit. I have had discussions with fellow Christians regarding this topic of “saved by grace only” and “always saved” on several occasions. All of those discussions often ended with us agreeing to disagree. On some occasions however, I have been told that I appear to be encouraging “works” as it was the case under the old covenant rather than simply relying on the salvation we were given through Christ.
Among the 12 apostles, many may agree that Paul was the apostle who expanded the most on the concept of “grace”. When you read his letter to the Romans, he extensively covered the concept of “grace” and the fact that we were all saved not by our works but by grace through . This is not to imply that Peter, John, and the other apostles did not touch on the notion of grace under this new covenant as they did, however to a significantly lesser extent than Paul.
A good example of the relevancy of the grace we have been saved by through our faith in Jesus Christ can be traced back to the conclusion that the apostles consensually reached when instructing some of the newly converted gentiles back in the book of Acts. When the gospel was then being preached to the gentiles by Paul and Barnabas and many came to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, some Jews (a group or sect of the Pharisees) took issue with the fact that the newly converted gentiles were not being mandated to adopt and adhere to the law of Moses including being circumcised. The matter was discussed between the elders and the apostles:
And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written… (Acts 15:7-15, ESV)
And the final decision they reached regarding the request to have the gentiles adhere to the law of Moses was that they needed not to. But rather to let them simply be saved by grace through faith in Christ. James continued and said:
Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. (Acts 15:19-20, ESV)
As Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Judas delivered the message to the newly converted gentiles in the region of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, they then confirmed that their decision was in alignment with the Holy Spirit:
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 15:28 – 29, ESV)
That is how beautiful the grace we now have in Christ is. For our righteous is no longer by works, but through the righteousness of Jesus Christ who Himself is the personified righteousness of God:
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (Romans 3:21, KJV)
As a result, those who believe in and put on Christ automatically inherit the fullness of the righteous of God that He requires and that no man can achieve on their own. That is why we are now the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). And the proof that no man can ever attain to that righteousness is found in the following verse:
no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:11 – 12, ESV).
When God referred to the body of laws that were given to the Jews summarized in the first 5 books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) namely the Torah, he used some words than I found quite interesting:
Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them. (Deuteronomy 7:11, NKJV)
It is then safe to conclude that the full law that was given to the Jews had different parts to it. Now when we examine the petition of the elders and Jews to require the newly converted gentiles to Christ to follow the law, it all related to the statutes such as the male being circumcised and I am sure others in the likeness of not eating unclean animals such as pigs, or being purified in the temple after defilement etc. However, Peter reminded them of the main issue with law: namely, no one could ever keep all of them. And the law was meant to be kept in its entirety without one being violated. Then he proceeded to explain that they should not then put such a huge burden on the newly converted gentiles when even the Jews themselves were unable to keep the law.
The only 4 statues they recommended that they still keep were:
- that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols
- that you abstain from blood
- that you abstain from what has been strangled
- that you abstain from sexual immorality.
And they added that:
If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
(Acts 15:28 – 29, ESV)
Again this is the power of the grace we have under the new testament in the precious blood of Jesus .This is definitely a great example to see how great the grace we are now under is. And the greatest grace of all is the gift of salvation which Paul extensively elaborated on in the book of Romans. This is quite simple: because you or I were not the sacrificial lambs who were crucified more than 2,000 years ago on the cross at Calvary, our very salvation is a gift. Hence, we were saved by grace and not by works. Even if we wanted to be crucified instead of Jesus Christ, we would be disqualified. Because God needed a perfect lamb without blemish. We were then indeed saved by grace and none of us outside of Christ can take credit for it:
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. (Romans 27: 24 – 27 , KJV)
Going back to the earlier example of the ruling of the apostles regarding the matter of the newly convert gentiles adhering to the fullness of the Torah, we notice that the apostles were not referring to the 10 commandments in this case for example. The 10 commandments being the only part of the whole law that were kept in the tabernacle in the Hollies of Hollies. And this area is one area I believe the proponents of the “saved and always saved by grace” doctrine significantly overlook.
Keeping God’s Commandments is “Love”
We know that all the laws of God are valid, but Jesus got an interesting question which He answered:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22: 36 – 40, NKJV)
These 2 main commandments of the law refer to the 10 commandments found in the Ark of the covenant: the first 5 pertaining to us loving God, and the second half to us loving our neighbors like ourselves. Keeping those in the new covenant by grace through faith in Christ is the fulfillment of the law. However, notice that it was never mentioned that because we were saved by grace everything goes and we get to live like we please without regards to what God wants. I am sometimes concerned that this is what is emphasized in the “saved by grace and always saved” movement. There is this perfect mixture of truth and lie I believe in the movement or doctrine, and this is why: we were indeed saved by grace through the perfection and righteousness of Christ which, we, his believers have now inherited from him by faith. Then the “always saved” portion of the movement implies that is nothing more we need to do now that we are under grace, but something can kill that faith and James did warn us that:
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:14-26, NKJV)
Paul echoed this same instruction of James when he wrote in the same book of Romans in which he originally explained the extend of the grace we have by faith in Christ by saying the following:
What shall we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in sin in order that God’s grace (favor and mercy) may multiply and overflow? Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1 – 2, AMPC)
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Romans 2:13, ESV)
Jesus himself also echoed what both Paul and James said on several occasions including when he summed up the greatest commandments:
“If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15, NIV)
But he said, “Instead, how blessed are those who hear God’s word and obey it!” (Luke 11:28, ISV)
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3, NAS)
See, keeping God’s commandment simply fulfills the law of love. I believe this yet another area the hyper grace /doctrine of saved by grace only and always saved overlooks. Keeping God’s commandment fulfills all things and the main thing that God himself is: Love. Keeping the commandments translates to love God and love men.
However the beautiful thing is that it is no longer us who are keeping the commandments, but it is the spirit of God in us that is now bearing the fruits of obedience to God in us under the new covenant. In the old covenant, the flesh was the #1 enemy of obedience. Under the new covenant, our spirit man is being empowered by the Holy Spirit himself to overrule the flesh allowing the Holy Ghost to bear good fruits in our lives. Obeying God in this instance is merely a result of the new spirit at work in us, the Holy Ghost of the Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
The other statues of the law are fulfilled in Christ as the law itself is fulfilled in Christ. For example, when we sin by accident, we plead the blood of Jesus Christ to cover our sins Even when we happen to sin intentional, we repent by turning away from our sins, but still use the blood to cover the sin which would have corresponded to the sacrifice of an animal in the New Testament. In many of the gentiles believing nations, eating unclean animals as identified in the Torah is commonplace. Paul instructed us to simply bless the food in Jesus’ name and eat it for it is not what goes that defiles, but it is what comes out. One may ask why is it what comes out? Because what comes out is what it is in our hearts. As an engine is to a car, the heart is the engine of a human being. It dictates everything in our thoughts and drives our actions. As a result, if what is in your heart is not in alignment with God, you will be out of alignment with God which will lead to you bearing the wrong fruits.
What is in our hearts is what comes out of our mouth and in what we do. As a result if we love God in our heart, obeying him in our actions is simply the substantiation of the love we have for him in our hearts. This is why Jesus said that if we truly love him in our heart, it will show in the way we live our lives daily which will focused on doing the things that please him
See the statues of the laws fulfilled in Christ, all of the law in fact including love. The law of love heavily relies on the state or conditions of our hearts which will bear a great deal on the day of judgment. The heart is so important that we were instructed to guard our hearts with all diligence for (Proverbs 4:23, KJV). As a result, yes, we all agree that we were all in fact and indeed saved by grace and surely not by works but there must be a transformation in us by the Holy Ghost who fills our hearts with love. Once our hearts are filled with all the right stuff, they lead us to loving God and our neighbors by keeping Jesus’s commandments. This transformation of the heart is one of the main reasons why the Holy Spirit is given to us! And that is why one of the fruit or demonstration of the Holy Spirit in our lives through our action is love:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)
The saved by grace only(true) and always saved (questionable) completely denies the need to die to self that we were required to do in order to overrule our carnality by living in the flesh instead of the spirit. In other words by saying that we are saved by grace only implies that nothing else is required of me, and that Jesus did it and he expects no transformation from me. This also implies that I get to stay the exact liar, fornicator, cheater, gossiper, thief etc. that I used to be before I gave my life to Christ. Does this even seriously sound logical? And this is the lie the pit of hell to encourage Christians to live a carnal life instead of a spiritually filled one through the power of the Holy Spirit:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2, KJV)
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3 – 7, KJV)
We were Saved by Grace Through Faith in Christ, but We still need to serve Christ!
Closely related to the need of us to obey God’s commandment, is the notion of serving Jesus.
After we get saved by grace by confessing Jesus Christ, now we need to bring our actions in alignment with our words by serving him. This is actually the proof that our confession of receiving Christ as the Lord of our lives was real and came from our heart when we originally confess it when we get saved. Outside of that, our words are just empty words that just about anyone can issue. Pay attention to how many times Jesus used the word “servant” in New Testament. We must become servant as Jesus instructed us. Not only servant of Jesus Christ but of others. This is where it gets tough and where we get to understand the true meaning again of “denying to self”.
I think Jesus knew that this “saved by grace and always saved” will be an issue so he reminded us of our “duty” to serve him as “Lord” of our lives when he said:
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? (Luke 6:46, ESV)
See we don’t get to simply say: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died on the cross for me. Come and be the Lord of my life” then that is it. He actual needs to become our Lord and we his servant in how we live. This is the hardest part. We do not get to tell Jesus Christ that we receive you but the way we live, serve satan. Actions have always spoken louder than words:
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:14-26, NKJV)
The grace we have helps us product new and good fruits through the power of the Holy Spirit:
If “saved by grace through faith in Christ” did not have a corresponding action, a satanist can come and merely say that he/she now believes in Christ and received Christ and go right back to doing his/her seances of casting spells, talking to the dead, doing witchcraft, partaking in divination, etc. pretty much everything God “hates” but still claim that he/she was saved by grace while still serving satan and not Christ. If we are claiming that a change in action should not result in the so-called salvation we have obtained by grace through Christ, then anyone can actually make it to Heaven! The path would no longer be narrow as Jesus warned us. Everyone can simply “say” that they believe in Christ and that would be a wrap!
See the Bible (the New Testament, yes) never told us that this is how it works. After we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, again, we must serve him!!!!! How do we serve him? By doing us what he asked us to do which has two main components: do his will and keep his commandments:
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:11-16, KJV)
See, Jesus pays close attention to all his “servants” or those who are saved by grace through faith in him and not all of them are going to make the cut on judgment day:
His lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25, 23 – 30, KJV)
All Christians are saved by grace, but there are different types of servants and that is if one is a servant at all! Like in the example above, some servants of Jesus might still end up being thrown into outer darkness, in hell.
To wrap this up
See it is easy to be a carnal Christian who wants to live anyhow it pleases them to hide under the “save by grace only & always saved” movement. The perfect mixture of the truth that we were in fact and indeed saved by grace through faith in Christ, and the lie that after being saved we still get to do whatever we please. Although Jesus Christ himself warned us to be transformed in order for us to bear the fruits of the spirit. A carnal Christian cannot bear none or all the fruits of the spirit until the Holy Ghost does his perfect work in their hearts. This process requires a transformation and can be painful:
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:1 – 7, KJV)
Notice that it wasn’t written that because we were saved by grace Jesus no longer cares how we get to live our lives.
As you can see, I am 100% in agreement that we were indeed saved ONLY by grace through faith in Christ. Now let us to the warning we were given for the rest of our journey whilst on earth. If following Christ was a walk in a park, then saved by grace only should be all Jesus and the Apostles would have instructed us to do. However, Jesus himself warned us:
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:14, KSV)
Guys, very few “Christians” not “non-believers” but Christians are going to make the cut on the day of judgment through we were all saved by grace.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12, ESV)
Again, do these warmings really sound to you like a walk in a park though we have been saved by grace through Christ?
