Part and parcel of the gospel message is salvation by God’s grace. This much every believer can affirm. From the Song of Moses proclaiming God’s deliverance of Israel (Exod. 15:2) to the psalmist pronouncing his deep affection for the Lord and rejoicing at Yahweh’s might (Ps. 116:6), examples abound from the earliest times in the Old Testament up to and including the teachings of the apostles, all echoing the fundamental message: God saves his people, both from the physical dangers of this world and from the eternal consequences in the next. This reality is expressed in the Old Testament, which gave the idea that salvation was deliverance, not just from physical danger but also from moral distress. The New Testament writers used similar language that expressed salvation as an act of God on behalf of lost sinners.
Because of humanity’s separation from God—stemming from Adam’s rebellion in the Garden—salvation in the Bible refers to an act of God, which is given to unregenerate people by grace through faith. In this manner, all those who profess the name of Christ Jesus will be saved from the punishment, power, and (ultimately) presence of sin. This salvation is completely the Lord’s doing, just as Jonah declared (2:9) and is bestowed upon the undeserving so that no one maintains grounds for boasting. It is truly a heavenly gift.
What is Grace?
The topic of the grace of God is a subject that is contained or implied on nearly every page of Holy Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. From the first mention of grace in Genesis 6:8, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (KJV), until the final reference in the concluding words of Scripture in Revelation 22:21, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all,” this theme dominates the entirety of God’s Word. No other topic is so clearly and abundantly expressed as is grace. Grace, like no other topic, is the sum and substance of the gospel message. It is the heart of the gospel message, the essence of the Christian faith—and, primarily, is what distinguishes Christianity from every other religion and worldview. Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God to sinners, providing salvation to those who have no right to demand such divine goodness.
The clearest biblical definitions in Scripture are found in the teachings of Paul. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8–9). Elsewhere it reads: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy . . .” (Titus 3:4–5). In each instance, the apostle is adamant that salvation is the consequence of an undeserved action on account of God’s mercy and not the result of human works. Sinners are spared from being eternally separated from God because God saved them on the basis of his own character and nothing more.
Salvation is by God and for God
What makes the gift of salvation so extraordinary is that from which it delivers the sinner. Salvation rescues unbelievers from divine wrath, the bondage of sin, and the power of death—all of which are impossible to escape apart from God’s free grace. Without divine grace, sinners remain trapped in their own sins. Jesus described the gravity of the situation and the predicament of the plight of sinners when he taught “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). God’s grace, however, rescues people from this bondage, working to set them free.
We do not deserve grace but deserve everlasting punishment for our rebellion against our Maker, but in Christ we receive the grace of God and all the benefits that naturally flow from it. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone. Salvation never depends on human effort or merit, otherwise “grace would no longer be grace” (Rom. 11:6). The believer’s standing before God is rooted in the merit of Christ and the grace of God; therefore, it never fails or loses its power. God’s grace saves, preserves, and glorifies completely—salvation is all of God and the free, undeserved favor he awards to his people.
