Are you saved? If so, why are you in a saved condition?
There are many answers given to this question. Some say, “I am saved because I obeyed the gospel.” Some say, “I am saved because I go to church every Sunday and Wednesday.” Some say, “I am saved because I give of my means, I pray, I study the Bible, I’m good to my family, I don’t swindle people, or murder, or commit adultery, and I’m fair with others.”
All of these things are important things that we should strive for, but notice the emphasis in each of these. I obeyed the gospel, 1 go to church, I give of my means, and so forth and so on. “I” is the operative word here.
In salvation God ought to be the operative word. We are saved by God’s grace! He empowers us to obey the gospel, to go to church, to give of our means, to pray, to study the bible, to be good to our family, to avoid sins like swindling, or murder or adultery. Read the following passage with care…
Eph 2:4-10 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, (7) in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Note, then, that it is by grace we have been saved. We are “God’s workmanship.” Will we do good works? Yes, God preforms them through us! We are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Only God can create! God “prepared” the good works “beforehand, that we should walk in them.” As Paul says. "so no man can boast.”
The next time someone asks you why you are in a saved condition say, “because God saved me by His grace through faith.”