(Part One)

Not long ago, I was perusing a certain church’s website when I came across the following statement under the church’s “Beliefs” section:

“We believe that the Bible teachers (sic) that sinners are saved by faith, repentance, confession, and baptism (John 3:16, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Romans 10:9-10).”

I’ve been thinking about this statement and want to respond to it. I’d like to hear your response to it, too.

First, let me respectfully suggest that a church’s website should not list or promote “the church’s beliefs.” I know this suggestion flies in the face of what is commonly practiced, but permit me to explain why I believe this.

I believe the content on a church’s website should be geared to the unchurched, to those who may be looking for God, and to those who know they need help for their lives but don’t know where to turn. In other words, that content should be written with outsiders in mind.

I doubt that outsiders initially care a whole lot about what a church believes. Likely, they come to a website looking for answers to the questions they have, or solutions to the problems they face, or help for certain felt needs. Hopefully, a church’s website will be responsive to those questions, problems, and felt needs.

For example, what content could you put on your church’s website

・to help struggling parents?

・to help those who are slow to believe that the Bible is God’s revealed will to humankind?

・to introduce people to Jesus?

・to offer biblical tips on how to manage anxiety or handle money? Or

・to present information on what the good book says about how to live your best life?

In other words, what can you do to make the content of your church’s website more outsider-centered, rather than church-centered? Instead of telling people about your church, offer helpful content geared to outsiders who don’t yet know God.

Yes, of course, there will come a time when your beliefs should be discussed. However, I don’t believe that should happen when the unchurched walk through the church’s front door for the first time. And the church’s front door is her website.

Second, and this is my most important response to the above church’s website statement about what they believe, I disagree with it. I don’t believe the Bible teaches that sinners are saved by faith, repentance, confession, and baptism. I don’t believe the Bible teaches that we are saved by any of these actions.

What the scriptures teach is that we are saved by grace. That’s what Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 2:

“By grace you have been saved . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:5, 8-9).

Again, to Titus, he wrote this:

“But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7).

There are several key phrases in these passages which we don’t want to overlook. “This is not your own doing.” “Not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” “Not because of any works of righteousness that we had done.” “According to his mercy.” “Justified by his grace.”

Further—and I hope I’m not boring you with this!—I think when we discuss how we sinners are saved we must not overlook the prepositions in scripture. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Those words “by” and “through” have significance, and they don’t mean the same thing.

We are saved through faith, but not by faith. “By grace” communicates the cause of our salvation; “through faith” signals the condition of our salvation. There is a difference between those two concepts. We need faith to be saved, but we are not saved by it.

Certainly in this discussion, we need to lean heavily on the meaning of that little two-letter preposition, “by.” We are saved by grace. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the preposition “by” 1) identifies the agent performing an action, or 2) indicates the means of achieving something.

With the above definition of “by” in mind, does the New Testament teach we are saved by faith, repentance, confession, and baptism? Undoubtedly, each one of these responses to God’s grace is important. But, are they agents that perform the action of, or the means of achieving salvation? No, I don’t think so. I don’t believe the Bible teaches this.

Another way to look at the significance of “by” is to think in terms of “cause.” What is the cause of our salvation? What produces salvation? What generates it? God’s grace!

Sinners are not saved, then, because they believe. Or, becausethey repent. Or, because they confess and are baptized. These actions do not identify the reasons God saves us. He saves those who believe (John 3:16). He saves those who repent (Acts 2:38). He saves those who confess Jesus (Romans 10:9,10). He saves those who are baptized (1 Peter 3:21). But, we are not saved by or because of these actions.

We are saved solely by God’s grace.

I hope to continue this conversation in a future podcast. One thing I want to discuss is why an understanding of how we are saved and what saves us is important. I want to get very practical with it. But this is enough for now. I would be pleased for you to enter the conversation. Click contact and let me know what you think about all this.

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(Part Two) Saved by Grace through Faith

In last week’s Growing Steady newsletter, I responded to what I had read on a certain church’s website. The website stated their church’s belief that the Bible teaches that “sinners are saved by faith, repentance, confession, and baptism.”

You may recall that I disagreed with that statement, and I still do. I believe the Bible teaches that we are saved not by faith, repentance, confession, baptism, or any other action that originates with us. Rather, I believe the Bible teaches that we are saved by God’s grace. Isn’t that what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith”?

Then I remembered what Paul wrote in Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And, I thought: Surely Romans 5:1 doesn’t contradict Ephesians 2:8! One says we are saved by grace; the other, that we are justified by faith. One says we are saved through faith; the other, that we are justified through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, what is it? What is the meaning of these two passages? Just what is the relationship of grace and faith to our salvation? And, are these two prepositions, “by” and “through,” as significant and different in meaning as I have thought?

At that point I went to my Greek New Testament. As you know, our New Testaments were originally written in the Greek language. I wanted to know exactly what the original text said before it had been translated into English.

Now, I hope I don’t lose you here. You may not be interested at all in the Greek text. Your eyes may tend to glaze over when a preacher says, “Now, the Greek here says . . .” In fact, you may be extremely bored with what I am about to write. (I can imagine that some who might read this are rolling their eyes just here.) But, here goes.

Let’s go back to our days in English class. Hang with me, won’t you? 😁

Sentences are formed with nouns and verbs, right? And nouns in a sentence have what grammarians call “case.” A noun’s case identifies how it functions in a sentence. For example, when a noun functions as the subject in a sentence, we say it is in the nominative or subjective case. When a noun functions as the direct object in a sentence, we say it is in the objective or accusative case.

OK, are you still with me? Good! Greek nouns have at least eight cases, these cases are determined by the endings on the nouns, and one of these cases is the instrumental case. The Greek word for “grace” in Ephesians 2:8 is in the instrumental case. According to Dana and Mantey’s, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, the instrumental case “denotes the means described in an expression of thought” (p. 66). The root idea expressed in the instrumental case is that of means, that is, the means by which something is done or carried out.

Greek grammarians would say that “grace” in Ephesians 2:8 functions either as an Instrumental of Means or an Instrumental of Cause. If it is an Instrumental of Means, the idea is that grace is the impersonal agent of salvation. An Instrumental of Cause simply states the cause by which an action occurs. In this case, Paul would be asserting that grace is the cause of salvation.

So, what is Paul claiming for God’s grace in Ephesians 2:8? After much study, I decided he is saying that grace is the impersonal agent or cause of salvation. Meaning? Sinners are saved because of, on account of, or on the ground of God’s grace.

Now, let’s talk about the phrase, “through faith” in Ephesians 2:8. This phrase is a translation of the Greek phrase, dia pisteos. Dia is a preposition, and it’s followed by the Greek noun for “faith.” That Greek word for “faith” is in the genitive or ablative case. Interestingly, at least for me anyway, dia with a genitive noun means “through,” whereas dia with an accusative noun means “on account of.”

So, Paul is not claiming for faith what he claimed for grace. He understands the roles of faith and grace differently in Ephesians 2:8. The words have different case endings. Consequently, they do not share the same function in Paul’s sentence.

Paul understands faith to be the means through which we are saved and grace the cause by which we are saved.

To put it another way, salvation springs from God’s grace and is appropriated to us through faith.

“It’s important that we have faith!” someone says. Yes, it is. Undoubtedly, the scriptures teach that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6; Acts 16:31). But this does not mean faith is the cause of our salvation. A condition of our salvation, yes, but not the cause of it.

The long and short of it is that our salvation does not have its source in us, or in any action we might take. Our salvation has its source in God, and in God alone.

One of the implications for me from all of this is that God’s grace and our response to his grace should not be seen in the same light, or in the same category, or with the same significance. We’re talking apples and oranges here.

I’ve heard people say that grace is God’s part and faith is our part in the salvation process. The implication is, or at least may exist in the minds of some, that both we and God contribute to our salvation. No, sir. This cannot be biblical. If it were true that we humans somehow contributed to our salvation by believing in Jesus, repenting of sin, and being baptized into Christ, we would have reason to boast. But, Paul wrote that this (salvation?) is not our own doing; “it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

There is no ground for any of us to boast about our salvation. No, not even after we have responded to God’s grace in the way he stipulated in scripture. Our salvation—we are not responsible for it, do not contribute to it, or deserve any credit for it.

The Bible surely teaches that we must respond to God’s offer of salvation in order to receive his free gift. But we are not saved by or because of our response to God’s grace. We are saved by his grace alone.

Someone says, “Why does this matter?” Well, why I think it is important for me and you to understand this must wait for another day. But, it matters!

In the meantime, feel free to send your questions and comments to hello@effectivechurchleaders.com. I read every comment and will be very happy to hear from you!

And by the way, the noun that is translated “faith” in Romans 5:1 is in the genitive or ablative case. Not the instrumental!

—Kerry

These articles were first written in the Growing Steady Newsletter. If you would like to receive the newsletter, you can subscribe here.