“For,” not “By”

 September 29, 2024

Among the Scriptures I memorized when I came to Jesus was this:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” —Ephesians 2:8-10 

Salvation by grace through faith is a keystone of authentic Christianity. Why is it so important? If my standing with God is dependent on my good works, how can I know how good I have to be? I can never be certain of my salvation, and life becomes a frantic effort to be better instead of a grateful response to the love of God. We have been saved TO good works, not BY them.

What’s the difference between being saved “TO good works, rather than BY them?” When Linda and I were dating, I treated her special in order to win her love. Now I don’t treat her well in order to win her love, but because I know I have it. 

If God hadn’t already bestowed it upon us in Christ, we could never do enough to win God’s love. We already have God’s love, which means anything we do must necessarily be in response to the love we’ve already been given. 

So we work. We give the best we have, not to earn God’s love, but because we already have it. We are saved not by our works, but in order to do them.