Ephesians 2:8-9

The phrase “saved by grace through faith” is the very foundation of the Christian Gospel. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes this clear: salvation is completely the work of God. In evangelical life and in Baptist life specifically, we have missed this. We have come to a man-centered, works salvation, evangelical sacramentalism, if you will, in the way we’ve approached evangelism at times. We must cut off what is not biblical and leave what is biblical.

If we examine these verses and interpret Scripture in its context, we understand that salvation is not something we accomplish—it is a free gift, and the faith by which we receive this salvation is also a gift from God.

The Gift of Faith

In Ephesians 2:8, Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Now, what is the gift of God? Is it grace, or is it faith? The answer, as we see through the flow of Paul’s teaching, is both. Salvation itself is a gift from God, and faith is part of that gift. It’s not something we generate or bring to the table; it is the capacity that God gives us to believe in Christ for our salvation.

It’s critical that we grasp this point: faith is not an act of human willpower. Faith is a gift that God births in the heart of the believer when he/she are regenerated. Just like grace, faith is an aspect of God’s divine work. It’s not something we muster up from within ourselves. In Acts 3:16, we are told that “the faith which comes through Him [Christ]” was the source of the lame man’s healing. Philippians 1:29 shows that faith is “granted” by God for Christ’s sake. And in 1 Peter 1:1, we read that faith is something we “receive” which can mean obtaining by divine will. It’s clear: faith is not something we possess in and of ourselves; it is granted by God.

When we talk about salvation, we are talking about something that is not of ourselves. We cannot take credit for either the grace of God or the faith to receive that grace. Faith is a gift, and this capacity to believe comes to us when God makes us alive. We see in Ephesians 2:1 that “you were dead…” This literally translated means, “you were being dead.” And again, in Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ; for by grace you have been saved.” While we were dead, while we could not see God, crawl to God, reach for God, or desire God, in that state we were made alive. And when that new birth comes to a spiritually dead man, he has faith in God. As we are born again, we are granted the ability to believe, and we do so in the person of Jesus Christ.

I always scatter this throughout my messages when I’m teaching these truths. That is, we do not know who is appointed unto eternal life. You don’t know who God is going to give the gift of faith to. That’s not our call. Our call is to preach to everybody, urge everybody, pray for everybody, plead with everybody, pray with tears for them that they would believe on Christ. But THEN after they believe, let’s teach them the truth that God birthed that faith in their heart. We must have this balance.

Sacramentalism

Man, through the ages, has taken salvation by faith and redefined it, lowering it down to a man-centered flesh level and making saving faith into some sort of action, activity, or exercise that man can do in his own strength. Take our Roman Catholic friends or even our Episcopalian friends for example. They are sacramentalists.That means they teach that going through the actions or the ritual of the sacraments of the church is the exercise of faith that saves you. Our Church of Christ friends, though they would hate for me to say it, do the same thing. I’ve actually had a Church of Christ leader tell me, “Oh, you’re saved by faith, but it is when your faith leads you to baptism that you’re actually saved.”So, whether it’s baptism or Lord’s Supper in the Church of Christ denomination or whether it’s the sacraments of Roman Catholicism or the Episcopalian Church, all of that is simply works based salvation.

Now, Evangelicals, Baptists specifically, have been prone to fall into the grievous error of turning faith into a work as well. I am confident, it is with sincere motive and genuineness of heart, but nevertheless, I think we are prone to do that. And when we as Evangelicals or Baptists make faith into a work, we are nothing but sacramentalists. Some of our methods and some of our systems seem very prone to foster this error. We ask, “Did you pray that prayer?” Now don’t misunderstand me. Don’t stop encouraging people to pray and call on God, but do not tell them that “that prayer,” that work, saved them. You may have prayed a prayer at the time you came to faith in Christ, but it was not the work, the activity, the exercise of that prayer that saved you. We also encourage people to walk down the aisle. There are actual evangelical churches that have become so shallow, so careless, that they are allowing people to think that if they walk to the front of the church, God saves them. As if God is down at the front and not at the back. It is good if God is breaking your heart to come down to the front and pray. But it would be just as good for you to go to a Sunday School classroom and pray, or go to the parking lot and pray. If God is dealing with your heart and you feel like you are lost, do not take the time to walk anywhere. Call on Christ. Tell Him you’re a sinner. Say, “Save me, Lord Jesus.” And He will save you. Any and all activities we give to someone, telling them this is what saves you, is a form of sacramentalism! It is Jesus that saves, not Roman Catholic sacraments, not Episcopalian sacraments, not Church of Christ sacraments, and not Baptist sacraments. It is Christ that saves!

No Boasting, Only Grace

Paul continues in Ephesians 2:9, “not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation is not something that we can claim credit for. If we could do anything to earn it—whether through rituals, good works, or even a prayer—then we could boast. Paul is clear: salvation is of God alone, and it is by grace alone that we are saved. If we are saved, we cannot boast about it, because we did nothing to deserve it. It is not of ourselves. It is entirely the work of God.

Think about it: if you can point to any part of salvation that you contributed to, you are beginning to take away from the glory of God’s grace. Whether it’s a prayer you prayed, an aisle you walked, or a card you filled out, if there was some work you did or you must do to be saved, even the tiniest thing, then it’s not grace. That implies that God owes you a debt, and that is heresy. God is not in debt to any man. Salvation is a gift from God, and it is through faith that we receive that gift. Our works do not save us. They are simply a response to the grace we have already received.

Christ Alone Saves

As I have already said over and over, it is so crucial to understand that while faith is so essential for salvation, it is not our faith that saves us—it is Christ who saves. As the hymn says, “Jesus paid it all.” The object of our faith, Jesus Christ, is the one who accomplishes our redemption. Faith is the means by which we receive Christ’s finished work, but it is Christ alone who saves us. Salvation is not based on our faith; it is based on the object of our faith, who is Christ.

The Assurance of Salvation

Faith is not just the means by which we are saved; it is also the assurance of our salvation. Ephesians 2:8 makes it clear that we are “saved through faith,” and this faith assures us that we are in Christ. The faith we receive from God is the internal witness that confirms our salvation. It is the Holy Spirit’s testimony within us that we belong to God. As Paul writes in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

This is why faith is so important. It is not merely intellectual assent to facts; it is the confidence that we are secure in Christ. Faith brings the assurance that God has saved us, that Christ has accomplished the work of redemption, and that we are now His forever.

The Mystery of Salvation

There is a mystery in salvation that we cannot fully explain or comprehend. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being born again and compared it to the wind, which blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going (John 3:3-8). Salvation is, in fact, mysterious. We cannot understand exactly how it happens or why it happens, but we know it happens because God has said it does.

There are no neat formulas, no five-step plans. Salvation is a work of God, and that means there is a mystery to it. God forbid we would remove the mystery. Jesus didn’t remove the mystery when He spoke to Nicodemus. It is a divine mystery, and we must simply trust in it. We proclaim the gospel. We urge men to believe, but ultimately, it is God who gives the gift of faith.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we must understand Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly in it’s accurate context: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We must denounce any and all methods that promote or encourage sacramentalism, that some work or action is the exercise of faith that saves you. Faith instead is a full resting, in absolute, sinful bankruptcy, at the feet of Jesus, trusting that He and He alone can save a sinner such as us. We cannot boast about our salvation, for we did nothing to earn it. It is all of grace. As we contemplate the mystery of salvation, let us stand in awe of the grace that God has lavished on us, and let us boast in Christ and Christ alone. To God be the glory.