UNMERITED FAVOR

 

 

 

Yogi Berra once said, “If you live long enough you’re going to die.”  Each of us faces that certainty, but the Bible divides death into two categories: temporary and permanent. God says there is a way to escape the permanent death even if we must experience the temporary. He has a plan called Salvation, and it’s available to us all.  Let’s look at how it works.

 

Salvation is ours through only one avenue.

 

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

 

In His Word God tells us the secret to obtaining salvation. We can only get it through grace which is defined as unmerited favor. It’s something we don’t deserve and haven’t earned.  In fact the Bible says we’ve earned just the opposite.

 

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

 

Paul says here that we have earned death because of our sins. You may say, “I haven’t sinned or I quit sinning a long time ago,” but the Bible says,

 

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

 

We have come short just as an archer shooting at a target who not only misses the bull’s eye but whose arrows land in the dirt. This is not meant to be a condemnation but just a statement of our natural condition. We have all sinned, so we are all sinners and in need of the same remedy. That remedy is free to us and is in fact a gift that God wants us to have. We can refuse the gift but that’s like turning down a billion dollars. This gift of grace that God is handing us is not something we can feel or see right now. We can’t unwrap it like a Christmas present. We can only trust that it’s ours. We do that by having faith in the One who bought the gift for us and is offering it to us.

 

 Ephesians 2:8

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Grace is ours when we believe it’s ours. This faith we need is a gift.  God provides it all.  So, where do we pick up these gifts?

 

Romans 10:17

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 

We find the gift of faith in the pages of the Bible.  Through its words, God shows us who He is and convinces us of His trustworthiness.  The more we know Him, the more we will trust Him. 

 

Now let’s look at the greatest faith-boosting truth in the entire Bible. Start by looking again at

 

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

This gift we call salvation is ours through Jesus. So, what does that mean?

 

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

God gave His Son, Jesus, because He loves us. Remember God is Love (1 John 4:8). He proved that love in a way that is undeniable. He let His Son die for us. In fact He sent Him here to die for all of us. By accepting Jesus and believing in Him and the sacrifice He made for us on the Cross we have “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”.

 

Jesus gave up Heaven and became one of us and lived on this earth for 33 years and then suffered a terrible death on our behalf. We can read this in the following verses.

 

Philippians 2:5-7  

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.

 

This death on a cross was the style of execution reserved for the lowest criminals of the day.  It was excruciatingly painful, very slow and totally humiliating. He suffered willingly for you and me. I can’t understand that kind of love, but I’m thankful for it.

 

We just read in John 3:16 that those who believe will not perish but instead will have eternal life.  It’s as simple as that. This is not possible though, until we admit we are sinners and are in need of Jesus’ sacrifice. See what John says,

 

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

 

When we own our condition and acknowledge it to God, then we are forgiven. In the Bible this is called justification. Right then and there your salvation is sure. Notice though, that something else goes on after being forgiven. He purifies us from all unrighteousness. God cleans up our lives. We don’t clean up our lives to get salvation. That would be earning our gift and if you have to work for a gift it is no longer a gift but just wages. The Bible says that faith without works is no faith at all.  We will discuss this subject in more detail in another study. For now just be happy in the grace God has given you.

 

God could have made us in such a way that we would not be able to sin. Out of love though, he gave us the power of choice. This was a huge risk on God’s part, but He is Love and without the power of choice we could not love Him back. Knowing the risk, He went ahead but He had a plan in place to take care of the problem of sin before it arose. We see this in the following verse.

 

2 Timothy 1:9

Who has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

 

God could have played it safe and created mankind to be like robots that obey without question, but He never even considered the possibility of such a thing. We would then be just like toys, unable to think for ourselves or to have any emotions, including love and happiness. I thank God for taking the chance and for loving us so much that He was willing to let His Son die in order to remedy the condition we find ourselves in.

 

Some questions naturally follow from this study:

 

1. Where will we live for this eternity?
2. What will we do for all that time?
3. What will happen to those who don’t accept God’s gift?
4. When will this all happen?

 

We will address these questions and more in the next study: Special Gift.