Saved By Grace In Every Era

Robert Meredith

The fact that one is saved by grace is clearly taught in the Scriptures.  No one should dispute this fact.  The Apostle Paul declared, “by grace ye are saved” (Ephesians 2:5).  The word “grace” means unmerited favor.  Man can neither merit salvation nor obligate God to save him.  It is by God’s unmerited favor that an individual will be saved.  Some people want to add the word “only” when discussing salvation by grace.  Many man-made churches advocate salvation by grace alone.  It is somewhat interesting that they will teach one is saved by grace alone and then also teach that one is saved by faith alone.  My friends, if it is something only or alone, then there is not anything else involved.  The Bible does teach salvation by grace; however, there is a big difference between grace and grace only.  Let us notice from the Bible that man has always been saved, in every age, by grace.

  The History of mankind can be divided into three eras or ages:  the Patriarchal, the Mosaical and the Christian.  During the Patriarchal dispensation, man was saved by grace.  Notice in Genesis 6:8 it is recorded, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”  If it were not for God’s grace, His unmerited favor, Noah would have perished with the rest of the world.  Noah accessed God’s grace by his obedient

faith.  The Apostle Paul informs us in Romans 5:2 that “...we have access by faith into this grace.”  God had told Noah what to do in order to be saved from the flood.  By faith, Noah moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving of his family (Hebrews 11:7).  Therefore, he was saved by God’s grace, but not grace only.  It was grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).

  In the Mosaical dispensation, we can see, once again, how grace and faith are linked.  In Joshua 6:2 we read, “And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.”  The city of Jericho was given to the Israelites by God’s grace.  However, they had to do something in order to receive the promise.  God commanded, “And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once.  Thus shalt thou do six days.  And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.  And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him” (Joshua 6:3-5).  God said He had given Jericho to the Israelites, and then instructed them how to go about accessing His gift.  When they obeyed His instructions, they were not earning the city, but simply receiving it on God’s terms.  No one could say that by walking around and blowing a trumpet they defeated Jericho.  God’s gift of the city of Jericho to Israel was by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).

  Today, we live in the last dispensation, the Christian Age.  God’s grace works the same today as it always has.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”  The faith that accesses God’s grace is an obedient one.  In James 2:14-26 one can learn this great lesson.  Mankind could not, on his own, make himself right with God.  The loving and just Creator of all made the way of salvation possible by the giving of His Son as an atonement for sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).  On the Pentecost following the Lord’s resurrection, when the first gospel sermon was preached, Peter told them that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).  This implies that they had to do something to be saved.  Later, he told them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).  Luke tells us, “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:40).  Luke then tells us, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized...And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:41, 47).  These were saved by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:5) through an obedient faith (Ephesians 2:8).  The workings of grace and faith have always been coupled together.