Ephesians 2:8 “by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,”
Sodium is a chemical that, all by itself, will kill you if ingested. Similarly, chloride is another chemical, which consumed all by itself would kill an average human being. But when you mix sodium and chloride together, you get something that no human can live without…salt! Imagine that, alone, each element can kill you, but together they are a preservative, adds flavor to our food, and has many other attributes. God is amazing!
In Ephesians 2:8, the Apostle Paul states that “by grace are you saved”. It’s grace that brings us salvation. In salvation is everything we need in this life. Therefore, grace has brought us everything we need in this life. The moment we were saved, everything we need in this life became ours, instantly, unmerited, undeserved, unearned. Titus 2:11 says “For the grace of God that brings salvation has [past tense] appeared to all men”.
But you know what? We know that everyone is not saved. I mean, it’s available to everyone, but just like salt, there needs to be another element added for it to be effective. That element is faith. A definition of faith that I believe is the most accurate and easy to understand is: a positive response to what grace, unmerited favor, has already provided. To be saved and to lead a successful Christian life (successful and Christian should be the same), we need both grace and faith.
Faith without grace is a legalistic approach that says that my prayers, works, and efforts are the “this” that is going to move God to do “that”. You can try that, but without appropriating what God has already done through Christ, nothing happens. On the other hand, grace alone doesn’t heal anyone, or else everyone would be healed. Like Titus 2:11 says, grace has already brought healing, but I need the other part, I need to believe that healing is mine according to the Word of God. I need to have corresponding action, words and thoughts to what I believe.
Grace and faith are like sodium and chloride, together they bring something good, useful, enjoyable, and flavorful to my life. It’s by grace, through faith that I’ve been…saved, healed, prosperous, delivered, redeemed, made righteous…
Let’s live a life of salt!