Saved by Grace

How are we saved? What is God’s part in our salvation and what is our part? Are we saved through faith because we respond to God’s grace, or are we saved through faith as a result of God’s grace? Scripture is clear that we must exercise faith, but it is equally clear that God provides everything in our salvation, including the faith to believe. God initiated the work of our salvation while we were yet sinners, made us alive through the new birth, and enabled us to do what we could and would never do ourselves. In this, God receives all of the glory because all of our Christian life, from our first act of faith to our final breath, is His workmanship. What then are we to say to those who ask, “How can I be saved?” Should we discourage them from doing anything because salvation is the result of God’s grace and not our response to it? No! We simply encourage them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that their ability to persevere in faith is evidence of God’s saving grace.