Being Saved By Grace

“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” (Eph. 2:8,9). “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:11-14). It’s amazing how much can be gained by adding scripture to scripture, to give a more complete picture of truth; rather than pulling a scripture out of context and making a cozy, sin-friendly doctrine out of it. Ephesians 2:8,9 is one of the most misused scripture passages in the Bible, and just by adding one more passage of scripture to it we see that grace is not some kind of eternally secure ticket to salvation, if we continue sinning. So let’s add a couple of more scriptures to the mix, in regard to grace and being saved: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:1,2). There’s the grace part, now let’s take a look at the “saved” part: “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:5,6). It’s no wonder that the apostle Paul admonished us to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philip. 2:12). Case closed.