Grace and Faith

“
But now the righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law
and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all
who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented
him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”1 The word ‘grace’ in its simple form
means free gift from God. Grace doesn’t require any kind of ‘doings’ from the side of man in
order to satisfy God. We can identify three kinds of grace: natural grace, saving grace, and grace
for spiritual service. Natural grace refers to natural resources freely provided for men by God. It
also refers to natural gifts or capacities given to individuals by birth.

Saving grace is a special provision from God to receive a sinner ‘as he is’ into the privilege of
salvation. Thus the sinner is not required to accomplish certain duty to qualify himself for the
Kingdom of God. But God has done a certain duty for men so that His blessings of salvation will
be fully available for them. The basic duty on the side of God contains two things: ‘forgiveness
of sin’ and ‘the giving of the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2: 38). Forgiveness of sin avoids the wrath of God
and redeems men from death. The giving of the Holy Spirit will bring men into new relationship
with God.

The provision of these two gifts to men required a great work to be done by Godhead. One, the
penalty for sin must be paid. Two, the requirement from men, according to the Law must be
fulfilled so that men could be accepted as living and glorified saints into the family of God. In
order to do this ‘great work’ God sent His only begotten Son into the world. “For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life.”2

He became the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. On the other hand, He
became perfect man who could please God by fulfilling all the requirements of the Law, on the

1
Romans 3: 21-25
2
John 3: 16

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behalf of all men. As a result of this great work done by Jesus Christ, the grace of God for
salvation became available for all men. Since it is closely associated to the work of Christ, this
grace is said to be the grace of Jesus Christ. Anyone who receives this grace receives the mercy
of God and new life. Thus, ‘saving grace is God’s favor to the sinner for Jesus’ sake’3.

Thus, the work of Christ is the ground of justification. The particular work of Christ related to
‘justification’ is the shedding of His blood on the Cross. This signifies the representative or
substitutionary sacrifice offered on the behalf of sinners. By seeing the blood of Jesus offered in
the heavenly sanctuary, God the Father forgives the sinner. This forgiveness is the basis of
justification. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”4 “... the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin ...He is the atoning sacrifice for our
sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”5

John the Baptist’s first proclamation regarding the mission of Jesus says: "Look, the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world!”6 This reality was taught in fore-shadowing history of
the “Passover” incidence in Israel. “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of
this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. …all the people of
the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the
blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the
lambs. ‘On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men
and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be
a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No
destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt’”7.

This Passover sacrifice is the copy of God’s plan to set free all men from the bondage of sin and
death. The fulfillment of the plan of God was clearly manifested in the work of Jesus on the

3
Carl F. Wisloff; I Know in Whom I believe, 1990, Scripture Mission, page 79
4
Romans 6 :23
5
1 John 1: 7, 2: 2
6
John 1:29
7
Exodus:12: 3, 6, 7, 12-13

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Cross. The blood of Jesus has brought about forgiveness of sins; this mercy of God has secured
justification and the giving of the Holy Spirit to men.

‘Faith’ is a condition required of men to receive this grace of salvation. Faith is closely
associated with ‘repentance’. As mentioned above, ‘law’ clears the way towards repentance. In
a real situation, repentance must be immediately followed by faith. Otherwise any regret of
guilt in one’s life that is not accompanied by faith is not repentance at all. Hence, in any sermon
for salvation, the preaching of the law for repentance should immediately be followed by the
message of the Gospel. Repentance is change of direction; it is turning away from sin and
facing Jesus. Consider the case of the young man described in Matt. 19:16-25. “When the young
man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth”. This young man has now
come to know that he cannot be righteous according to the requirement of the ‘law’. He
already discovered his inadequacy to please God. But he went away sad. He was expected to go
one step forward to say: “I am a sinner that cannot save my self by my own deeds; Christ, be
merciful to me.” He turned away from self-confidence or his internal quality, that was good; but
this was not sufficient for he was expected to fall on the mercy of God.

Faith is confession of sin that is accompanied by receiving Christ Jesus. Faith is confidence in
God’s grace. This confidence is initiated by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. ‘Faith comes
from the Gospel. When the sinner-heart, which now has become tired and has given up self-
trust, hears that God loves sinners for Jesus’ sake, the heart in confidence grasps this mercy of
God and trusts His merciful disposition. This confidence in God’s grace, which is created by the
Word and the Spirit, is faith’8. Saving faith is an immediate relation to Christ, by receiving and resting upon
Him alone, for salvation by virtue of God's grace.

‘A mighty responsibility is laid upon a person when God would lead him to conversion (repentance and faith). God
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cannot save the one who always resists Him’ . So, the person who is hearing the gospel is expected to receive

Jesus. This requires decision of the heart. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone

those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers

8
Carl F. Wisloff; I Know in Whom I believe, 1990, Scripture Mission, page 80
9
Carl F. Wisloff; I Know in Whom I believe, 1990, Scripture Mission, page 81

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her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.10” “So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if
you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts ...’11”

Here are some Biblical examples that took place when people who heard the Gospel believed.
“‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both
Lord and Christ.’ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and
the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit’”12. Here two important acts are illustrated. From the side of the sinner,
repentance is required as the first step; then decision to be baptized has to follow as the
second step– these two steps are actions of faith. From the side of God, forgiveness of sins and
gift of the Holy Spirit are provided – this is the grace of God.

“
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought
them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus,
and you will be saved—you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him
and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their
wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized”13. To believe, in a simple
language, is to respond positively to God’s call of love. Repentance is basically confession of
sin. The jailer mentioned above has become aware of his sin due to the law of conscience. The
love of God was revealed to him by the circumstance occurred at that instant. He responded
positively to the situation and the miracle he has already seen.

On the contrary, there are some individuals that respond negatively to the revelation of the
grace of God. “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not
consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles”14. Those who reject the
call of God will be excluded from the grace of God and will be penalized for their sin by eternal

10
Mathew 23:37
11
Hebrews 3: 7-8
12
Acts 2: 36-38
13
Acts 16: 29-33
14
Acts 13:46

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punishment. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not
see life, for God's wrath remains on him”15. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness”16.

Let’s conclude the law of Justification: salvation doesn’t require any of the deeds of the law but
faith alone. “We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law 17”. “Now
when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However,
to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as
righteousness18”. As described above, two important acts are required for justification of a
person. From the side of God, forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit are provided – these are
said to be the graces of God for salvation. From the side of the sinner, repentance and a
decision for baptism are required – this is faith.

Scheme IV. Faith is built up of three components: Calling Word, man’s response to the call and
assured hope, provided that the newly formed faith is nourished with means of grace

Further explanation is required to comprehend the meaning of faith. Faith involves man’s
personal response to the call of God during gospel preaching. Man’s personal response requires
the will of the soul. We have to notice that the soul of the fallen man can use its free will to
choose the way of Satan or the way of God at the instant of Gospel preaching. Accordingly,
faith is built from three components (Scheme IV). First, the Word of God is preached; a call is
made to the sinner by the preaching. Second, the sinner positively responds to the preaching;
the response includes two actions: repentance and decision to follow Jesus. Third, the Holy

15
John 3:36
16
1 John 1: 8-9
17
Romans 3:28
18
Romans 4:4-5

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Spirit sustains the decision of the believer by assuring him the hope of eternal life and imparting
the love, peace and joy of God.

Faith is initiated by the Word of God. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the
word of Christ”19. Faith involves positive response from the hearer. “But to all who did receive
him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”20. “So those who
received his word were baptized”21. Now the final stage of faith comes to appear with a
property of seeing by revelation from the Holy Spirit. “Now faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”22.

Of the three components that create faith in a Christian, two components involve the work of
God and one component involves a response from us. The word of Grace reveals Jesus who
makes a call of salvation to the hearer (Matt. 11:28); the hearer is expected to receive the grace
of God provided for him. “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth
one confesses and is saved”23. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”24. When the person agrees to
receive the grace, Holy Spirit holds the person firmly in a new position. Faith is to take a new
position in God’s grace.

Let us sum up what is said so far about the initiation faith in a person; first, as the gospel is
brought to a natural man (Rom. 10:8), the darkened spirit of the man is enlightened and begins
to understand the message of God (1 Cor. 2:14, 2 Cor. 4:4). As such, when the kingdom of
darkness is taken away, the soul of the listener can use his free will to respond to the call of
God. As soon as the person responds positively, the Holy Spirit starts to support the decision
made to follow Jesus.

19
Rom. 10:17
20
Jn. 1:12
21
Acts 2:41
22
Heb. 11:1
23
Rom. 10:10
24
Heb. 4:16

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We said that the soul of the fallen man has a free will to choose the way of Satan or the way of
God. This reality is can be seen from Paul’s explanation on the basis of God’s wrath on people
who suppress the truth. Particularly, he says that the law is written in the hearts of Gentiles;
their conscience bears witness to their deeds either commending or accusing them. “For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them,
because God has shown it to them”25. “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature
do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears
witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according
to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus”26. Thus, the fallen man is not
depraved of the spiritual sensitivity or the capacity of the will or conscience.

As depicted in Scheme IV, the size of man’s role in building faith is smaller. This is due to some
reasons. One reason is general, man’s role is only showing willingness, and it does not qualify to
be a merit. It is simply receiving forgiveness of God proclaimed in the gospel. The other is the
perspective of God; in God’s viewpoint, salvation is granted to anyone that does not resist the
love of God. In this respect, it is known that there are community members whose ability to
make decisions is obscured. Examples are infants and mentally impaired individuals.

“We cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works,
or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by
grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for
his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us”27.

“Faith is that worship which receives God’s offered blessing; the righteousness of the law is that
worship which offers God our own merits. It is by faith that God wants to be worshiped,
namely, that we receive from him what he promises and offers. In speaking of justifying faith,

25
Rom. 1:18-19
26
Rom. 2:14-16
27
The Augsburg Confession, Articles of Faith and Doctrine, Article IV on Justification, paragraphs 1and 2

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therefore, we must remember that these three elements always belong together: the promise
itself, the fact that the promise is free, and the merits of Christ as the price and propitiation.
The promise is accepted by faith; the fact that it is free excludes our merits and shows that the
blessing is offered only by mercy; the merits of Christ are the price because there must be a
certain propitiation for our sins. And so at every mention of mercy we must remember that this
requires faith, which accepts the promise of mercy. Similarly, at every mention of faith we are
also thinking of its object, the promised mercy”28.

Eph. 2:8-9 summarizes the role of grace and faith as follows: “For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that
no one may boast”. Here, the gift of God is contrasted with the work of man. Salvation is the
gift of God; it is not attained by the work of man. The work of man as depicted in all the
scripture is connected with the deeds of the law. Here, the role of man in receiving God’s grace
is packed in a condition termed “faith”. The work of man, that is the deeds of the law, does not
have any connection with faith. “For faith does not justify or save because it is a good work in
itself, but only because it accepts the promised mercy”29. Some interpreters try to define faith
as a gift of God alone and nullify the role of man in it. Their interpretation is a confusing one.

“‘You have been saved by grace’; there is the source. ’Through faith’-there is the medium, the
instrument, or, if I may so say, the channel; or, to put it into other words, the condition by
which the salvation which has its source in the deep heart of God pours its waters into my
empty heart. ‘Faith’ is simply ‘trust’; it is not a theological virtue at all, rather it is a condition.
When salvation comes, into my heart by faith it is not my faith but God’s grace that puts
salvation there. Faith is only the condition; but it is the indispensable condition. One only, I
should suppose, and that is, to put out a hand and take it. If salvation is by grace it must be
‘through faith.’ If you will not accept you cannot have. That is the plain meaning of what

28
Apology of the Augsburg Confession on Justification (Article IV) paragraphs 49, 53 and 55.
29
Apology of the Augsburg Confession on Justification (Article IV) paragraph 56.

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theologians call justification by faith; that pardon is given on condition of taking it. If you do not
take it you cannot have it. And so this is the upshot of the whole-trust, and you have”30.

“On the part of God, salvation is by grace; on the part of man, it is through faith. It does not
come to us by an involuntary act, as light falls on our eyes, sounds on our ears, or air enters our
lungs. When we are so far enlightened as to understand about it, there must be a personal
reception of salvation by us, and that is by faith. Faith at once believes the good news of a free
salvation through Christ, and accepts Christ as the Savior. And that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God. Which of the two things is meant - salvation or faith? The grammatical structure
and the analogy of the passage favor the former view, ‘Your salvation is not of yourselves’,
though many able men have taken the latter”31.

Calling and election

In our discussion of grace and faith the gift of salvation from God’s side and the responsibility
from man’s side are made clear. However, some people claim that man does not have any role;
they say that calling and election is made by God alone. Hence, we need to discuss this issue
under this sub-topic. The nature of love has to be understood in man’s relationship with God. In
love, the two partners have participation. However, the initiation to have companion with
another partner generally comes from one of them. With regards to salvation, calling starts
from God Himself. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”32. Here, Jesus says that God loved the
whole world. Accordingly, the blood of Jesus is poured on Calvary for the remission of the sin all
people in the world (Jn. 1:29). This, God determined without our consent.

There is no mystery in this regard. “… He chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, … making known to us the mystery of
his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ”33. God loved all people in the

30
Online Bible Commentary: MacLaren's Expositions
31
Online Bible Commentary: Pulpit Commentary
32
Jn. 3:16
33
Eph. 1: 4-9

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world; but he chose or elected those who would be willing to believe in His Son. We cannot
choose the way of salvation. God chose the way of salvation. “For those whom he foreknew he
also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he
called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified”34. God’s foreknowledge
and predestination does not involve arbitrary election of specific individuals, but it refers to the
criterion of election; where this criterion is faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. We would be elected
provided that we are willing to be in Jesus Christ.

The problem with the Jews as Paul discusses in Romans 9 is their rejection of God’s criterion.
The transition of discussion to the idea in Romans 9 has been initiated based on Paul’s question
at the end of Romans 8; “who shall separate us from the love of Christ” (Rom. 8:35)? What
caused the Jews to separate from God? In his answer to the question Paul quotes "Jacob I
loved, but Esau I hated" (Rom. 9:13); this statement does not refer to Jacob and Esau as
individuals. The fact that Paul wants to disclose about the Jews is that Jacob represents the
status of “coming to the blessing of God by grace through faith”, whereas, Esau symbolizes the
position of “coming to take the blessing by deeds or merits or work of laws”. This reality is
reflected in their symbolic activities narrated in Gen. 27. In the history of the patriarchs ‘Isaac’
symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit, while ‘Ishmael’ symbolizes the work of the flesh. In a
similar way, ‘Lot’ symbolizes worldliness in comparison with Abraham.

God’s criterion is also symbolically disclosed in the parable of Jesus presented in Matt. 22: 1-14.
In this parable, it is said that “the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who
had no wedding garment”; then he ordered “cast the man into outer darkness”. Those who
entered into the wedding hall without the required uniform symbolize those who rejected
God’s righteousness (Is. 61:10). Jesus concludes the parable saying, “many are called, but few
are chosen”. In the conclusion he made about the problem of the Jews, Paul says “for, being
ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to

34
Rom. 8:29-30

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God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who
believes35”.

Some Bible interpreters think and teach that God calls those whom He has elected from the
beginning and opens their heart so that they would believe in Him; on the other hand, they
think that God hardens the heart of those He did not elect. Such a speculation that God has a
secret hand by which he draws some to come to Him is totally wrong; love does not have such a
behavior. God is pleased only if the person called by the gospel responds consciously by his free
will. Jesus had an expectation of man’s response as an element of faith; “I tell you not even in
Israel have I found such faith” (Lk. 7:9). God is pleased to receive love. As gospel is preached, a
positive response is expected from the hearer.

At some occasion, Jesus speaks of the Jews who rejected Him about the “drawing of the
Father”. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”36. This text is
further explained in the following verses; “it is written in the Prophets, 'and they will all be
taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me- not that
anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father”37. Let us have a
look at what Jesus is saying: “you Jews, who reject me, you claim to know and trust in my
Father. You are lying, because had you been with my Father, He could have introduced me to
you as He did to the others (e.g. Simeon and Anna, Luke 2: 25, 36); so you are not with my
Father, you do not believe in God after all”.

Some people may also be confused in their attempt to understand the text in Phil. 2:13 that is
read as, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure”. This
text is not about initiation of faith, but about loving to obey God in their growth in sanctified
life. Those who say that “faith is only a gift from God, man does not have a role of making any
response to the call of God in the gospel” are inclined to say that God loved and predestined to
save only some people. Those who say “the will of natural man is under bondage and cannot

35
Rom. 10:3-4
36
Jn. 6:44
37
Jn. 6:45-46

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freely decide to follow Jesus” are biased in their understanding of God’s love. Furthermore they
reject the role of human responsibility in making decision when the gospel of Christ is
preached; they want to say that God’s grace works in the opening the heart of those who are
predestined to eternal life. Obviously, such a teaching is not from God. Those who perish are
lost because of their refusal of God’s call for salvation. “They perish because they refused to
love the truth and so be saved”38.

The bondage of the will-power could be understood in our reading of Rom. 7. “I do not do what
I want” (Rom. 7:15); “… For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it
out” (Rom. 7:18). Paul says, “I have a desire”, which means free will; he then says, “I have no
ability to carry out the demand of the law”, which means, he lacks the will-power. Here, we
understand natural man cannot fulfill the commandment of God using his free will or religious
inclination to please God. The will of the soul cannot fulfill God’s law because of the old self or
original sin. This makes him incapable to be saved by the works of the law or human deeds. Our
lack of capacity to please God by our works required another criterion to be set from the side of
God, that is, justification by grace through faith. There is no bondage of the will of the soul that
prevents a person from believing in Jesus during Gospel preaching. The bondage of the will-
power is the manifestation of the old self. Therefore, the so called “the bondage of the will” is
nothing different than the behavior original sin.

Let us now make clear what makes evangelical Christians different in their doctrinal teaching
from the Roman Catholic Church and the Catholic Orthodox Churches. The Roman Catholic
Church and the Orthodox Churches teach that salvation is obtained by three things: faith,
fulfilling the requirements of the Law, and performing certain religious duties such as regular
fasting. Evangelical Churches teach that salvation is acquired by grace through faith in Jesus
Christ. The evangelical teaching does not say that a person does not have a capacity to believe;
it rather says that a person does not have a capacity to do good works. Evangelical teaching
does not make a person free from responsibility in acquiring salvation. Evangelical teaching
does not say that God saves elected individuals in grace by giving them faith secretly. We have

38
2 Thes. 2:10.

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to take care here; if any one tends to re-define a decision a person makes to follow Jesus is
considered as a good work or merit is making the whole thing into confusion; I dare to say such
thinking is from the evil one. God has an expectation of man’s response as an element of faith.

Now we will come to the concept of perseverance in Christian’s faith. As discussed above, faith
is symbolized as a quality built in a Christian from three components: the Word, Christian’s
decision to follow Jesus, the assurance from the grace of God. As indicated in Illustration IV, this
quality is preserved in a media symbolized by rectangular space representing the means of
grace. Faith is fortified by means of grace. The means of grace include the Word, Holy baptism,
and Holy Communion. Hence, perseverance in faith of a baptized Christian is secured by his
continuation to be nourished by the Word and Holy Communion; that is, personal commitment
to prayer, Bible study and fellowship of the saints.

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