Salvation by Grace Through Faith

What Scripture says

All quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).

1. Ephesians 2:8-9

   for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.

   The cornerstone verse. Three negatives — not of yourselves, not of works, no boasting. Two positives — grace and faith.

2. Romans 3:23-24

   for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;

   The bad news first ("all have sinned") then the good news. The order matters.

3. Romans 6:23

   For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   Wages versus gift. Death is what we earned. Life is what He gave.

4. Romans 10:9-10

   that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

   How a person is saved — heart belief and verbal confession. Both, together.

5. John 3:16

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

   Whoever. The word is wide open. No restrictions.

6. Acts 4:12

   There is salvation in no one else, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!"

   Exclusive truth. Jesus is not "a way" — He is the way.

7. John 14:6

   Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me."

   Jesus' own claim. Exclusive, but not Christian-exclusive — He is the way for everyone.

8. Titus 3:5-7

   not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

   Saved THROUGH the regeneration of the Spirit, BECAUSE OF mercy, BY GRACE. Every preposition matters.

9. 2 Corinthians 5:21

   For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

   The great exchange: our sin to Him, His righteousness to us.

10. Galatians 2:16

    yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.

    Paul says it three times in one verse: not by works of the law. Some things bear repeating.

11. 1 John 5:11-12

    The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn't have God's Son doesn't have the life.

    Assurance: not "I hope I have it" but "He who has the Son has the life."

12. Romans 8:38-39

    For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    The list is exhaustive. Nothing. No one. Ever.

Further reading

• NAE — Salvation →

Related distinctives