Saving Grace

(further preposition)

In my last post I stated that my complete salvation has been, is being and will be accomplished by the grace of God through my faith in Jesus. I have already offered of my understanding faith as it pertains to the believer. I will now try to offer my very limited understanding of God’s grace with respect to salvation. While our faith and our testimony are our own, the Grace of God is toward all men. For that reason with this post I will depart from my intended personal perspective.

While many may wish to narrowly define what I consider “saving grace” I do not find the scripture to do so. I see in the scripture many examples of soul salvation and the particular circumstance of each vary greatly. One man was on the cross and near death. Another was reading scripture. Multitudes were told openly and witnessed miracles while some were spoken with privately. One man was in fear of his life while another was honestly seeking. One man was blinded and another given sight. The specific means God used to bring each of these to their point of deliverance was as unique as the individual themselves. The one thing all had in common was that each individual was converted from a non-believer to a believer in the Word of God. (That is why I use the term “converted” to describe soul salvation and why I prefer the term “believer” to describe those who are converted.) I find the scripture to state that God gives the grace, by which a soul is saved, freely without any qualification. God is no respecter of persons. It was not given because of who we are or what we do, but in spite of that. That marvelous grace is given only because He chooses to. When I look at the examples in scripture I see it is the same. This leads me to then define saving grace as the undeserved extraordinary means that God uses to reveal Jesus as the Christ to the person of His choosing. I understand the scripture to state that at the moment that person accepts, what God by His grace has revealed in their heart, that their soul, by His Spirit, is given life and is born into the family of God. The very righteousness of Jesus Himself is credited to that person and God declares that they are just, with respect to the law, and without transgression before Him. So then by means of saving grace we receive the gift, which is the Word of God, through our faith.

I have purposely withheld specific scriptural references in this post in order to clearly state my understanding. I fully expect to offer those scripture in the comments here as well as in future offerings.