By Gary Ray Branscome
Because the Bible says, “You are saved by grace through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast,” we need to let the Bible tell us what grace is
and what faith is (Ephesians 2:8-9). And, the Bible tells us what grace is
through the words, “He saved us, not by works of righteousness that we have
done, but in keeping with His mercy” (Titus 3:5). Notice that in Ephesians
Paul says that we are saved by grace, in Titus he says that we are saved
by mercy. That tells us that even though the word “grace” is a little
broader in meaning than the word, ”mercy,” when it comes to salvation grace
and mercy can be viewed as synonyms. Notice also that both passages
emphasize the fact that grace or mercy is given without works. And,
saying that God’s grace is unmerited is another way of saying that grace
is given to us without works.
The words, “Whoever
finds me [wisdom] finds life, and will obtain favor from the LORD,” define
grace as “favor” unmerited favor (Proverbs 8:35). [Christ is the “the
wisdom of God.” 1Cor.
The words, “I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart
shall rejoice in thy salvation,” tell us that David was saved by trust
[faith] in God’s mercy [grace] (Psalm 13:5 KJV). And,
because the Bible uses mercy and grace as synonyms, that passage could
be translated, “I have placed my faith in your grace, my heart shall rejoice
in your salvation” (Ps. 13:5).
The words, “God so loved the world, that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life,” speak of us being saved through God’s
love, thus defining divine grace as love. (John 3:16).
The words, “The kindness and love of God
our Savior toward man appeared… according to His mercy He saved
us,” define God’s grace as kindness, love and mercy (Titus 3:4-5).
The words, “To give His people the knowledge of
salvation by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy
of our God;” define the grace that saves us as forgiveness of
sins (Luke 1:77-78). And, the words translated “tender mercy” could be
translated as “bowels of compassion;” thus further defining God’s grace as
compassion.
The words, “He [Jahweh] said, Surely they are my people, children who will not deal
falsely: so He was their Savior… in His love and in His pity He
redeemed them,” speak of God’s deliverance of
The words, “In whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace,”
again define God’s grace as the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7).
The words, “Scripture, having foreseen that God would
justify the heathen through faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham in advance,
saying, In you shall all nations be blessed,” tell us that Abraham knew and
believed the gospel (Galatians 3:8). And, what is the gospel? The Apostle Paul
answers that question by saying, “I declare unto you the gospel which I
preached unto you… that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures. And that He was buried, and that He rose again
the third day according to the scriptures” (1Corinthians 15:1-4).
Therefore, what Galatians 3:8 is telling us is that Abraham understood and
believed that his seed [descendant] would die for our sins, and rise again
(Heb.
The words, “We have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand,” tell us that faith in God’s promise of forgiveness in
Christ [the gospel] is the hand that receives God’s grace (Romans 5:2).
And, the words, “You are saved by grace through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works,” tell
us that even our faith is not something that we do, but is a gift of God
(Ephesians 2:8-9). As it is written, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God” (Romans
Those who oppose and compromise the gospel sometimes cite
the words, “Neither circumcision, or uncircumcision
counts for anything; but faith which produces works through love,” in a
vain attempt to make faith include works (Galatians 5:6). However, those words
are not saying that faith consists of works, but that faith produces works
through love — in contrast to the Law which produces works through fear.
Those who oppose the gospel also often cite the words, “By works a
man is justified and not by faith only,” and place those words in opposition to the words,
“A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (James
A careful examination
of what James is saying makes it clear that Paul and James were talking about
two different things. When Paul spoke of works he was referring to “works
of righteousness” (Titus 3:5). In contrast, James was talking about not
treating the wealthy that came to worship better than the poor (James 2:1-5).
Furthermore, when James said, “Was not Rahab the Harlot justified by works, when she had received
the messengers, and had sent them out another way,” he was not referring to works of righteousness that Rahab had
performed, for she was a pagan harlot. However, her words, “I know that the LORD has given you the
land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us,” reveal the faith she
acted on, and it was not faith in Christ (Joshua 2:9). Therefore, James was not
saying that faith in Christ is not enough, but that what we believe will affect
the decisions we make, and if we have faith in Christ it should make a
difference in the way we treat people.