What is Salvation by Grace?
Salvation being a product of grace, is the assertion that God is ultimately the arbiter of our salvation. This does not mean that good works are fruitless, but rather that the totality of our good works (no matter how numerous) are insufficient for our sanctification. Therefore, it’s God who forgives our shortcomings and leads us in our process of sanctification. In that regard, there is no “points” system that requires continuous rites and sacrifices for sanctification; a Christian simply needs to submit to Jesus and do their best to repent from their sinful nature.
Is it Congruent with the Old Testament?
Salvation being given by grace is not an alien concept. As we’ve covered in the prior chapter, God was already known for granting grace and mercy to sinners outside the Law long before the New Covenant. The Psalmist was forgiven not because of a sacrifice or a sacrament, but because he had asked for forgiveness. God kept His covenants with the Israelites, even though they had repeatedly rejected Him, because he had compassion on His people. Receiving salvation through mercy and grace is congruent with both God’s actions and His nature:
Deuteronomy 4:37: For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
Exodus 34:7: who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Isaiah 55:7: Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Hosea 6:6: For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Why is this important? Because understanding that salvation is given as grace exalts God not only as being merciful, but as having absolute moral and spiritual power over the world He created. Men have failed God consistently, it is why Jesus states there is no one good but God and why Paul asserts that there are none truly righteous. Therefore, God gave a salvation that is foremost a merit of His mercy, not the merit of man’s righteousness. How does this appear in the New Testament? First, let’s listen to Jesus testify to the scribes:
Mark 12:28: Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”29 Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”
32“Right, Teacher,” the scribe replied. “You have stated correctly that God is One and there is no other but Him, 33and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”34 When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
There were no apostles then, no established Christian church. Jesus had not yet fully revealed himself as the Messiah. These scribes deduced the will and love of God through those Old Testament scriptures alone. God truly operates in mercy, and He desires mercy from His creation. He desires it so much that He elevated it over the very sacrificial system instated in Leviticus to pay for men’s sins.
Salvation by Grace as Foretold in the Old Testament
The blueprint for the New Covenant and it’s tenets of Salvation by Grace are actually very specifically laid out in the latter half of the Old Testament. While not it’s first mention, Ezekiel provides some excellent background on why God provided this system. I am including the entirety of the passage so that its purpose cannot be mistaken or twisted by ignorance or preexisting bias born of tradition:
Ezekiel 36:16 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity. 18 So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.
God opens His statement through Ezekiel by recounting the complete insufficiency and impurity of the Israelites. Even as His chosen people they failed both themselves and God repeatedly, and they justly suffered God’s wrath because of it.
20 And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.
Once again, the Israelites were God’s chosen people. They had a relationship with God no other nation had at the time. Not only that, but God directly manifested Himself plainly through His words, miracles, and judgements to them in a way that He had never done with any group before, and by the time Christ’s ascension, never again. He revealed Himself to few, and spoke through Jesus or angels, but only the OT Israelites had this level of guidance and exposure to God the Father. Somehow, they were still completely hopeless. So hopeless, that God was actively ashamed of them.
22 Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. 23I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.
Don’t forget, the Israelites where still defined by their religion. They still followed Mosaic Law, Hebrew Traditions, and the Sacrificial System, just only to the ends of attaining righteousness for themselves to cancel out their sins. God was not impressed; without a good heart, their traditions, sacrifices, feasts, ceremonies, even the Sabbath, was tainted for Him by the Israelites sin:
Isaiah 1:11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
So, for the sake of His honor and glory, God stated that He will sanctify the Israelites so that other nations would see God’s holiness manifest in them (thus, the Israelites righteousness is not their own). Notice how the Israelites didn’t get a choice in the matter, not even an ultimatum. God is strong arming them in sanctification in spite of their wickedness.
24 For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
Notice how God first says that He will cleanse the Israelites of all impurities. He then goes on to state that He will give them a new heart and put His spirit in them. Thus, it is not the Israelites heart or spirit that have become righteous by their own means, God put righteousness in them. This Spirit will cause His people to walk in His statues and observe His commandments. None of this ascribes any merit to the Israelites themselves, it is all God’s work, the people are just fortunate enough to vessels of a righteousness they never deserved and never earned.
28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine.
Then God makes the powerful claim that would become part of the foundation of the scriptural tenet of salvation by grace through faith: He states that He will save them from all uncleanliness. God’s chosen will no longer be separated from Him by their sin, they will be His people, who He won’t be ashamed of, and thus He proclaims that He will be their God.
31Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!
Just to make clear that no one is logically or ethically capable of claiming that people could merit His grace or increase their own righteousness, God emphasizes the new duality between the still impure man and the cleanliness of His Spirit. The goodness God has placed in man will make them ashamed of their own sinful actions, so they will repent. God is already known for judging men by their heart beyond just their deeds (Prov 16:2; Jer 17:10), so God cut to the root of the problem by giving men righteousness from the heart instead of righteousness by works.
Once again, the Israelites did nothing to deserve this, this was to the end of God’s glory. Not only that, but also to the end that God will get His sanctified people, who He can take pleasure in.
Where else in the Old Testament can we see this? If you did not immediately defer to Isaiah or Jeremiah, raise your hand. If you raised your hand, smack yourself in the face with it, for both of our sakes. If you did not raise your hand, thank you for paying attention and forgive me for repeating myself for the benefit of the sore-faced ones.
Jeremiah 31: 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
God will write the law on the hearts of His chosen people so they will be intrinsically (even though by exogenous means) driven to follow God, so that they can be God’s people and God will not be ashamed to be their God. Because God put His righteousness in them, because He chose remember their sins no more and forgive their inequities, He has justified them Himself. Soli Deo Gloria. How will God do this? Well process of elimination leaves us Isaiah; so you can keep your hands where they are.
Isaiah 53:4: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
So, Jesus died to pay the price for all of men’s sins. Now there is no need for sacrifice to remain forgiven, and thus justified. Coupled with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the Spirit God placed in His Elect will drive them to good works, making them pleasurable in His eyes.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Salvation by Grace as Overseen by Jesus and Guided by the Holy Spirit
Let’s affix to something important here: God specifies that beyond Jesus’ sacrifice, it is by His knowledge that many people are to be accounted as righteousness. Jesus’ sacrifice paid for men’s iniquities, but His knowledge made them righteous. Note, not a ritual, not a sacrament, not submission to any other entity, just the knowledge Jesus specifically imparted. What knowledge did Jesus specifically bring? The Gospel.
This is why when Jesus explained His sacrifice on the cross and belief in Him as savior were the prerequisites to being saved using the analogy of flesh and blood in Capernaum, He explained to the disciples that it was only the words of Trust and the Spirit that brought salvation. As many of Jesus’ followers left, Peter explained why he remained by stating:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69).
For those who are still concerned about the meaning and implementation of those “words of eternal life”, Jesus announces the coming of the Holy Spirit. He specifically describes the Holy Spirit as the Helper, or Advocate, who He will personally send after He ascends in John 16:7:
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
He affirms the Spirit’s role in verse 26:
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
The Holy Spirit will guide those who God has saved as an act of grace through their path toward righteousness. In this way, the yoke on the growing Christian is still predominantly carried by God. John the Baptist prophesizes this in Judea, saying:
Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The Apostles are the first to receive the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. The Spirit is now granted to Elect who truly believe in Jesus to be the Messiah and the Son of God. This is seen in action in Acts 10, where Cornelius receives the Holy Spirit as Peter preaches the Gospel, but before being baptized.
Note how this is also consistent with Jesus saving the thief crucified next to Him. The thief believed Him to be the Messiah, in spite of trinitarian baptisms not yet being revealed. Through his belief, the thief was saved. Peter later recounts his own experience with Cornelius to the more traditionalist Christians (whom Luke and Paul amusingly refer to as the Circumcision Party) up in Jerusalem:
Acts 11; ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Paul reaffirms the reception of the Holy Spirit by hearing the Gospel in Galatians 3:5:
So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
So does John the Baptist:
John 3:31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
To wrap this long topic up:
- Jesus died to pay the debt of the sins for God’s people.
- Salvation is imparted by submission to Jesus and the Gospel, whom God determines who is or is not susceptible to it.
- The Holy Spirit, given by Jesus, teaches Christians to live by Christian principals and helps them understand the Gospel.
In that regard, God has still done absolutely everything, just as He stated He would in the Old Testament prophesies.
Salvation by Grace Further Elaborated on in the Pauline Epistles
Keeping the prior mentioned scriptures in mind, listen to Paul:
Ephesians 2:2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Jesus died for us to redeem us while we were still sinners. God loved us even though we were considered “dead in our transgressions.” We were made alive in Christ by grace and we receive that blessing of salvation through faith, not through our own righteousness. Now, we perform good works not to merit us some personal grace or righteousness, but because we have been transformed by the overwhelming grace and mercy of God. All boasting, all righteousness, and all veneration is credited to the triune God alone.
Titus 3:4-7: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Now, salvation by grace is not wholly complete without justification by faith, which will be addressed in the chapter, Sola Fide. Together, Sola Fide and Sola Gratia are integral to the fulfillment of God’s New Covenant to the Israelites. In this covenant, mentioned prior in our excerpt from Jeremiah, God told Israelites that He would make them His people, put His law on their hearts, and remember their sins no more. As man clearly did not evolve in the couple of centuries following His prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah (see Malachi for a gut check), the gap between men’s righteousness and salvation could then only be filled by God’s grace.