Salvation by Grace

Salvation = healing or deliverance

Throughout the scriptures we read about the ways God has delivered people from situations of danger or suffering and delivered them into situations of prosperity. In the New Testament we read about Jesus healing people from disease or possession and offering them wholeness. In particular, we read in the Bible about how God, through the life and work of Jesus Christ, delivers us from sin. We often interpret this deliverance to mean that God offers us life and wholeness in the future kingdom of God. It is more than that, though. Salvation is not just about life after death. It is about being brought into greater communion with God here and now. Sin alienates us from God, not just as individuals, but as a whole creation. Salvation from sin is God’s way of destroying that which separates us from God.

Grace = a free and undeserved gift

God saves us because God loves us. We cannot earn or achieve salvation, no matter how perfect we try to be. It is a gift that God offers because we belong to God and God desires to be in relationship with us.

Salvation by grace happens on God’s initiative. God works in us, preparing us to come to faith, and transforming our lives. Our response to God’s work within us is gratitude. In gratitude to God we repent of our sins, seek and accept God’s forgiveness, and begin to change our behavior by seeking and following God’s will. It is important to recognize that this transformation is the result of God’s gift of grace and not the cause for it. Through God’s work, we are able to live in an attitude of trust and communion with God instead of alienation from God. This is the gift of Salvation by grace.