Grace and Faith – The Balance

Understanding the Relationship Between Grace and Faith with Salvation

You’ve got to recognise that God loves us by grace. Grace means unearned, unmerited, undeserved, or unconditional favour from God. God gives it to us not because we deserve it, but because God is love. And all He asks is that we just open up and receive it as a free gift. The moment you start trying to pay God and earn something from Him, this essentially comes from Ephesians 2:8. And it says,

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:

In the next verse, he goes on to say,

it is a gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And so it’s the grace of God that provides salvation through faith. It’s not one or the other.

The Camps of Grace and Faith

This is where so many people in the body of Christ are divided. You will have the faith camp, and they talk about faith, and that through faith we can do this. And through faith is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith, and on and on. And they just talk about faith, faith, faith. And then we got a camp over here that basically rejects all the faith stuff and says, “No, it’s not based on what you do, it’s just the grace of God.” And so they preach grace, and the grace people pretty much criticise the ‘faith’ people, in the faith people pretty much criticise the ‘grace’ people.

In Ephesians 2:8, it says you’re saved by grace through faith. If you go back into Ephesians chapter two, verse five, the latter part of that fifth verse says, “for by grace are ye are saved”. So it’s not technically wrong to say that you’re saved by grace, but it is technically wrong to say that you’re saved by grace alone. If grace alone saved you, then every person would be saved because it says in Titus chapter two, verse 11, it says,

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

Grace and Faith – What is God’s Part and What is Ours?

Grace alone did provide salvation for every single person. It’s a grace gift. In First John, chapter two, it says that “he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” You’re saved by grace through faith. Faith is your part, and faith is not something you do to get God to move. If God’s grace is tied to your faith and He only gives grace when you’ve done so many faith things over here, then it’s not grace anymore.

Grace and Faith – Receiving What’s Provided

Grace is unearned, undeserved, unmerited, and unconditional favour. So the moment you start making God’s grace conditional upon you being worthy to receive it, then it’s no longer grace. So grace is something that God does for you, independent of you. Faith is not something you do to get God to provide grace; it’s already there. Faith is what you do to reach out and to take what God has already provided.

The Balance of Grace and Faith with Adam and Eve

You know, there are a million examples of this in the Bible, but in Genesis chapter one, God created the heavens and the earth. He provided everything that Adam and Eve would ever need, and it was all by grace. They didn’t do anything to earn it. God created all of these fruit trees, all of the food, all of the air, and the perfect climate. He provided everything by grace. That didn’t mean that it just automatically works. Both Adam and Eve had to breathe, and when they got hungry, they had to reach out and take a banana [for example], and they had to take it and peel it. Now God had provided the banana, so the provision was there, but if they hadn’t reached out and taken what God had already provided, they could have died. Standing right in front of a banana tree, right in front of all of the fruit and all of the things. Both of them could have died if they hadn’t breathed. There was a requirement for them to take advantage of what God had created.

Grace and Faith – Our Response

So in the spiritual realm, God by grace has already provided salvation, joy, peace, healing, deliverance, prosperity, and anything that you need. It’s already provided by grace. But it doesn’t automatically work. You have to receive it by faith. You’re saved by grace through faith. Again, going back to Titus, chapter two, verse 11, it says, the grace of God that bring salvation hath appeared, unto all men.

If it were grace alone that provided everything for you, then all mankind would be healed, all mankind would be delivered, all mankind would be prosperous, have joy and peace, and all of the things that Jesus provided, because He by grace has provided everything for every person on this planet. But the difference is that not very many people respond in faith to what God has done.

On the other hand, there are people who talk about ‘man, …you’ve got to believe, and you’ve got to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.” Well, those things are true. Romans chapter ten, verse nine says that. But your confession and your believing on Jesus didn’t make Jesus come and die for you and bear your sins. He did all of that unconditionally. The grace of God came,

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

2000 years ago, He made the atonement for you. Your sins were forgiven 2000 years ago, before you ever committed sins. Even the sins that you haven’t committed yet they’ve already been dealt with. That’s grace. But it’s not going to benefit you if you don’t take advantage of it. If you don’t reach out and take it. So faith doesn’t make God do anything. Faith only appropriates what God has already provided. I tell you, that’s awesome.