Mission Venture Ministries

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) 

We are NOT saved by our works. Only the sacrifice of Christ’s shed blood can cleanse us from our sins. None of our actions can accomplish this; Jesus is the only way to heaven for several reasons. First and foremost, He is the only way to heaven because He is the only one who came from heaven (John 3:13). He is the heaven-sent, unique Son of God. He is God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). Jesus was “chosen by God” to be the Savior (1 Peter 2:4). He is the only person to have lived a perfect human life (Hebrews 4:15). He is the only sacrifice for sin (1 John 2:2; Hebrews 10:26). He alone fulfilled the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17). He is the only man to have conquered death forever (Hebrews 2:14–15). He is the only man whom God has “exalted . . . to the highest place” (Philippians 2:9). 

The apostle Paul made this clear: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:8-10). Christ living in us enables us to do good works (see Galatians 2:20). God’s forgiveness of our past sins and His helping us to obey His law are both aspects of His grace toward us.

The word grace comes from a Greek word that means “gift” or “favor.” Salvation, or eternal life, is a gift we receive by grace (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). No amount of works or effort to obey God on our part could ever earn us eternal life. This is not to say that eternal life is free in an ultimate sense, since, Christ paid with His life so that we could receive the gift of salvation (Acts 20:28). 

Yet while salvation is given to us as a gift, there are conditions attached. The first is that we repent. Repentance earns us nothing; we deserve no favors because we repent. But repentance is required. Why? Because repentance is a condition for forgiveness (Acts 2:38). Paul declared “I preached . . ., that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20). 

It is God who leads us to obey Him (Romans 2:4; Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25) and then empowers us to succeed (Ephesians 3:20; Ephesians 6:10; Colossians 1:11). Both of these actions by God are aspects of His grace toward us. Our role is to cooperate with Him (Acts 26:29). 

God expects good works in our lives to demonstrate repentance and His love and faith active within us. The apostle James explicitly states that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20-26), and Paul makes it plain that God saves us by grace through faith for the very purpose of producing good works, even though those good works cannot earn our salvation: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). 

Jesus said to His disciples, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Though works do not earn us eternal life, they do glorify God, and He requires that we honor Him by the way we live. People who refuse to include good works in their lives are, whether they realize it or not, dishonoring God. “They claim to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (Titus 1:16). 

In John 14:2-3, we find Jesus explaining that He would “prepare a place” for His followers. In the coming Kingdom of God, He will grant various positions of authority to those who overcome (Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:21). The resurrected saints will rule with Jesus Christ in His Kingdom (Revelation 20:4-6). Through submission to God, allowing His Spirit to lead us and living a life of good works, we build righteous, godly character that will enable us to rule with Jesus Christ. 

Though our works will not earn us salvation, they will determine our reward in His Kingdom. Jesus explained this in His parable of the talents (Matthew 25:20-29). Our Lord also made this clear in Revelation 22:12 when He said, “I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” 

Please remember that eternal life in heaven is made possible only through Christ. Jesus prayed, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). To receive God’s free gift of salvation, we must look to Jesus and Jesus alone. He is the only mediator between God and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5). 

We must trust in Jesus’ death on the cross as our payment for sin; believe in His resurrection and ascension to heaven were He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. As we read further in Ephesians 2:9 we are told that we are not saved “by works, so that no one can boast,” it restates and clarifies the meaning of verse 8, that salvation cannot come from works but only by grace through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. 

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