Likely the most misused and under appreciated word in the Bible, grace is the foundation and bedrock of the Christian’s hope. Ultimately, when we are talking about salvation, grace is the answer. Anyone who claims that we are not saved by the grace of God is someone who simply has not read the Scriptures in an honest attempt to see what lies at the heart of Biblical teaching concerning salvation. While this does not mean that no effort is required from the human side of things, it certainly means that there is no human effort which can earn or deserve salvation. As pointed out in the last post, if salvation could be earned it would be a wage and not a gift (Romans 4.4).
Defining the Word Grace
If you open a dictionary, most of them are going to define the word grace, as regards our discussion, as “unmerited favor”. The unmerited nature of grace means that it is something which must be given to mankind. Indeed, we can see this when God says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Exodus 33.19).
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament states that one way to define grace is the “showing of oneself to be pleasant.” Rather than showing himself to be malicious or stentorian, God has shown himself to be pleasant to mankind through sending the rain and the sun, and through restraining his vengeance upon us and allowing for time to repent of sin. Another, more significant, way this was done is that God sent Christ to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2.2).
Ultimately, when all things are said and done, the reason why mankind may be saved is that God has chosen not to condemn us for the sins that we have committed. This is the part of grace that really concerns us – the being treated as though we have never sinned, the willingness of God to forgive rather than to punish. When consider the magnitude of God’s holiness, the severity of our transgressions, even a single transgression, is magnified to the point where no amount of work could recompense for the wrong already done. Thankfully, God so loved the world that he gave Jesus so that everyone who believes in him might not be condemned but have eternal life (John 3.16).
Who Will Be Saved?
Another way to ask this question is, “Who will receive grace and mercy from God?” The short answer is those whom God chooses. However, we must not make the mistake of assigning to God the choice of who will and who will not receive his mercy. That may be the case, but we cannot jump to that conclusion yet. First we must examine the Scriptures and see who God wants to receive salvation.
“[God our savior] desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2.4). There is not a single person on the face of the earth that God does not want to be in heaven with him on the last day. There has never been a single person that has caused God pleasure by refusing to come to him for salvation. The most quoted verse in the Bible says that Christ died for the world, that is for all mankind, not just a select group of people (John 3.16).
Why, then, is it that most people will not be saved? If God wishes that everyone would be saved, why will there be so many people who wind up in hell on the day of judgment? Again, God will have mercy on whom he has mercy and will be gracious to whom he will be gracious. Though God desires that all mankind would be saved, he is not going to make anyone do anything they will not choose to do.
No Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18.23) God’s desire is that everyone should turn from their wicked ways to the new and living way and serve him. He has desired since the first sin that mankind would “listen to his voice” and follow his commandments and statutes and ordinances. Those people who refuse to do so are not going to be forced to submit to God during their lifetime on earth.
This brings us to the fact that there is something required of mankind in order to be saved. Does this mean that salvation is earned? No, mankind is saved by the grace and mercy of God. How then do we balance the concept of grace with the need of man to respond? That is what’s coming as we get ready to talk about faith and works.
July 10, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I like the clear way that you write about His grace.
Don’t you think His grace will one day save everybody? That , eventually, everybody will turn to Him and ask Him to forgive them? (Universal Redemption).
July 11, 2008 at 9:27 am
Unfortunately, no, I don’t think that one day everyone will be saved. If this were the case, it would make certain places of the Scriptures void of meaning. For instance, when Christ talks about the parting of the sheep and the goats, one to salvation and the other to punishment (Matthew 25.31-46). If salvation is universal, then Christ wasn’t being honest when he said some people would go to eternal punishment. There are many other things Christ and his apostles have said that speak directly against the idea of universal salvation, and I will post them for you if you are interested.
One way to think about the picture is that salvation is universally offered to mankind, but it is not universally accepted. If there is any deficiency in the process, it is man’s failure to choose to obey Christ. God does not send people to hell; mankind’s refusal to accept God’s grace is the judgment that sends people to hell.