December 15, 2003 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

I received the following e-mail recently:

Hi Mr. Cloud,

I’m a Christian that believes salvation is by faith alone. I have a Catholic friend that uses this argument to prove salvation requires more than just faith:

Ephesians 2:8,9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This passage was written to the Gentiles during a period when many Jews were still trying to be justified by the Law of Moses (See verses 11-15). Consider the parallel passage in Romans 3:28 “a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” These passages do not exclude the necessity of us doing anything to receive from God the gift of salvation. They simply state that we cannot save ourselves solely on the basis of our own good works or by trying to follow the law of Moses which has been abolished.

How would I respond to this?

REPLY FROM BROTHER CLOUD

Hello.

You respond to it simply by telling the friend that Ephesians 2:8-9 does not say what he says it is saying. It says plainly that salvation is God’s gift without works. If the Bible does not mean what it says, we can never know what it means! Further, if we cannot be saved by obeying God’s holy law, we certainly cannot be saved through obeying some man-made tradition.

I would focus on the gift aspect of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says salvation is a gift. Salvation is called a gift 13 times in the New Testament. A gift is the opposite of any sort of works or reward. If I offer you a gift and you then try to pay me for it, even partially, you show that you do not understand that it is a gift. You would also offend the one who purchased it and who is trying to give it to you. Salvation cost a great price, but that price is the blood of Christ, not our miserable works (Is. 64:6; 1 Pet. 1:19).

Show him verses such as Romans 11:6. Grace and works are opposites. If salvation is a gift by grace, it cannot be of works -- any sort of works. The Roman Catholic Church has redefined grace so that it includes works, but the Bible says that is impossible. If a person tries to add anything to Christ’s cross-work, he is saying that it was not sufficient.

Also show him that another reason we know that it is a gift is because it gives security to the believer. We can know that we have eternal life (1 Jn. 5:10-13). If we had to add any works to salvation, we could never know for sure if we had done enough and could never have security.

Again, the illustration of a gift is helpful. If salvation could be taken away, it would not be a true gift. I understand that Henry Ford used to give away cars to favored employees, but he was a changeable sort of man and if he an employee would later get out of his favor, he would ask for the car back. That shows that it was not a true gift.

God is certainly not like that. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2). “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6:17-19).

Remember that the Word of God is powerful and salvation is of God. Your part is to give the Scriptures and explain them. After that you must allow the Word of God to stand on its own merits and realize that you cannot argue or reason someone into salvation. Convincing them is the Holy Spirit’s work (Jn. 16:7-11). We sow the Seed, but it is God that giveth the increase (1 Cor. 3:6-7).