Was Noah saved by his righteous actions or saved by God's electing grace?

Question

I firmly believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. However, one thing that is odd is that in Genesis 6:8-9, it appears that God chose Noah because he was practically righteous (not legally righteous) before God. Now, doesn't that throw a wrench into the whole idea of God saving sinners out of pure grace and mercy?

Answer 1

Your question is valid. If someone is righteous and gets Gods grace, it is not grace but more like something that is merited. No one is pure or righteous, unless they are bestowed by Gods grace. So, in Noahs case, he was righteous in the sense,that he had complete faith in God, was willing to surrdender completely to the will of God without question. When he had visions of God, he did not question his sanity or consider it a hallucination etc but followed it. (Remember the story of Abraham, who was told to sacrifice his son?. It is rare to find a soul with that degree of trust and faith and question their own sanity! This is why God chose Noah!

Answer 2

Ones righteous actions are a path to gaining God's graces, so Noah was righteous as mentioned in the story of the flood, but God picked him because God wanted to. Grace comes from God alone.
So that does not throw a wrench into anything but your own theory since God's grace is there for the person who shows God that he/she is deserving.
By the way, according to the story there is no difference between legally and practically righteous, for you to be righteous you had to the follow the law of God, and same with today and being Christian. You follow the law of the New Covenant and you shall receive grace unbound and limitless.
God bless and have a great day.

Answer 3

God gives his grace to those with faith. True faith is backed by actions, or deeds of godly devotion. Hebrews 11 speaks much about faith. It also gives several sterling examples of ones who by faith acted in a righteous way. Like Hebrews 11:7 which speaks of Noah who by faith constructed an ark.

True, Ephesians 2:8, 9 says that we are saved by faith and not by works. However, that's not to say that works are not necessary. "Faith apart from works is inactive", says James 2:20, 26

The majority of "Christian" churches teach that merely believing is all you need. However, the Bible plainly shows that a true Christian is an active slave for God, always searching to do His will. -Ecclesiastes 12:13; 2 Peter 3:11

Answer 4

The saving of sinners did not come along until Christ. Back then sacrifices had to be made at an altar for atonement of sin. God chose the most righteous person on earth to so this task for him. In this case it was Noah. And because of his Grace and mercy, he allowed Noah and his family to build this ark.

Answer 5

Noah was saved by righteous actions dictated by the Spirit of God, for the dispensation of grace didn't begin until Christ died and ushered in the Church age. The Church age that we live in today is where God saves us by grace and mercy through OBEDIENCE to the salvation plan outlined in Acts 2:38 and other places, for "Faith WITHOUT WORKS (physical manifestation of sacrifice unto God through obedience) is dead."

Answer 6

You're right. It takes faith AND action. Noah had to DO what God commanded him. Same thing today.
God extendes His grace to mankind, offering all salvation. Man can choose to have faith in His Son FOR their salvation, but that person must obey God by responding in the proper way.
Believe
Repent
Confess
Be baptized
Live faithfully

Answer 7

Good point. It seems that the Bible strongly implies that Noah was chosen for his righteousness. He was so righteous that he was called perfect in his generation.

I do think that actions are important. Jesus taught good actions himself. It is more Paul that stresses grace and faith. I think the key is that when you really love God, and put your faith in him, your actions end up being good. Noah must have had strong faith in God to be able to maintain his righteousness in such an evil age. And for that, God had mercy on him, and wanted his progeny to be the ones to repopulate the earth.

Answer 8

Nope.

But your question is way too complex to be answered in this small space.

But your quesion brings up one of the many falicies of Calvinism and Calvin's doctrine of Unconditional Election.

Noah, thru his own free will, served God and obeyed God.

God asked Noah to build that ark, since God could see that Noah was the only good man left on the planet.

In other words Noah's belief in God came first, God's choosing him came later.

The same is true actually of Abraham many years later.

Pastor Art

Answer 9

Noah was saved by faith that what God said would happen and in fear moved to obey.

The answer is He was saved by many things.

By his faith

By fear

By obediance

By not deviating from the plan God told him to build the ark.

By getting in the ark when the rains came.

It takes more to being saved than saying "I believe". James 2:14 teaches that faith alone can not save. "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can Faith Save Him?. James 2:20 declares, "Faith without works is dead". You do not have faith if you do not have works. Faith without works is dead. It can not save you if it is alone. Works are proof of faith. If works prove faith, then the absence of works prove unbelief. Yes, faith is necessary to be saved, but it takes more than just faith.

Answer 10

by grace are ye saved. faith without works is dead. Noah was a true and faithful servant of god. did he make mistakes, you bet. did god forgive him, yes he did. you have to remember that god is a loving father, who wants to see his children do well. remember also that we are all children of god. recognize that we will make mistakes and fall short of the glory of god. god also knows this, and has given us ways to make amends for those mistakes. before Jesus, we had to follow the ten commandments that god set forth. god also knew that we, being imperfect because of the original sin, wont be able to live up to those commandments, and thus allowed us humans to make sacrifices to god. he even laid out what was required. we no longer have to make sacrifices to god(and thus feed the priests), since the Crucifixion of Christ, however we do need to accept Christ as our savior(i am the way the truth and the light, no man cometh unto the father but by me). we also need to profess or beliefs.