Articles
The Grace of God And Obedience
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The grace of God is received through obedience to the conditions in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that we are saved by the grace of God only when we have faith in God and that faith is obedient to God's commands.
An example of this point is, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:11-14).
Will the grace of God save those that refuse to obey God's commands of salvation? NO! "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
The Ephesians were saved by the grace of God through faith (please read Ephesians 2:8-10 again). Were the Ephesians required to be baptized for the remission of their sins? Yes! "How do you know that preacher?" Let's look at the biblical record.
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13). The apostle said that the Ephesians had "heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation". What was Paul talking about?
The account of the Ephesians hearing and obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ is recorded in Acts 19:1-5. "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." The Ephesians had only been taught the baptism of John. When Paul learned that, he taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ and baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus (Mark 16:15-16).
Were the Ephesians saved by the grace of God? YES! Did the Ephesians have to have faith in God? YES! Did the Ephesians have to be baptized in order to be saved? YES! Lord willing, more next time.
