FAITH does not save you.

FAITH is the means by which you receive GRACE!

Grace is when God treats us in a favorable way when we deserve unfavorable.  It's when God treats us in a kind way when we deserve wrath. It's when God says, "You deserve hell, but I'm offering you heaven." 

Ephesians 2:8

"For you are saved by grace, through faith and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift."

     "By grace." This, this kindness, this mercy, this love of God that He is reaching out to us and providing salvation for us through His grace. You have been saved "through faith." Don't forget that word. "Through faith." Faith does not save you. Faith is the means by which you receive grace. 

     So one scholar put it this way: If you need to water the backyard, you turn on the faucet. The only problem is now the faucet is providing water. If you're thirsty, the water's coming out of the faucet. But how do you get it from the faucet, the source, to the flowers or the garden? You have to have a hose, right? So you hook up the hose. 

     Now, I don't know about you, if I took a beautiful hose and I laid it in my flower bed, would the flowers live? No. The hose is simply the means by which the water flows to the flower so it can have life. So grace is coming from God; His kindness, His power, His presence, His love, His mercy, so that I can be saved because of the cross. I can be seated with Him in spiritual places in Christ Jesus, but in order for it to get from the source to my life, there must be a hose. 

THAT'S FAITH

That's when I'm willing to say, "God, I believe You are the source. I believe You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. You are the gracious and loving God. You sent Jesus to die on the cross and I open my life through faith, through faith, so that the grace can flow and Jesus can come into my life." 

     So I'm not saved by faith, I'm saved by the grace that brings Jesus into my life through faith. But I have to believe. It will not reach anyone who does not believe. Because God is not going to force Himself. He's not going to drown you or flood you. He is going to offer that through faith. He will give you that incredible gift. That not of yourself, it is a gift of God. 

     So how are we saved? We're saved by a gift. We're not saved by coming forward and signing a card, we're not saved by taking sacraments, we're not saved by joining the church, we're not saved by being baptized.

We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone!