Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
1. It is God's grace that saves a man from hell.
2. It is not a man's faith that saves him from hell because a man's faith is a gift from God. A man's faith is not some personal attribute that a man makes for himself.
3. It is not a man's good works that saves him from hell because doing good and being a good person is not enough to save a man from hell.
4. Therefore, it is not a man's faith or goodness that saves him from hell. The only thing that saves a man from hell is God rescueing him. Man is naturally doomed to go to hell unless God resues him.
5. God rescues man from the inevidibility of hell by way of Jesus and what He did on the cross. Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of man so that God would not judge man and send him to hell.
2007-05-16 04:46:49 · 2 answers · asked by 12th 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I agree with you. We are saved by the grace of God. No one deserves to go to heaven because (apart from Christ) no one is sinless.
2007-05-17 03:25:48 · answer #1 · answered by gerafalop 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I do not agree with point 2 that you made. It IS the man's faith in God and the death and Resurrection of Jesus that will save him from hell. The text from the verse you quoted says that out front. Grace through Faith. God is graceful in that he forgives us from our repeated sin and when we believe that Jesus is his son and died for our sins and rose again, and ask him to be our personal Lord and Savior that we join the family of God and will be saved from hell. Faith is believing in what cannot be seen and loving and trusting God no matter what.
You have it right with point 3.
God does rescue us from sin but only if we CHOOSE to accept his grace.
2007-05-16 11:57:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋