Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
This verse is one of the foundational truths we hold to as believers. We are not saved by external acts of works as many have erroneously taught in the centuries past, but we are saved by grace through faith.
There is another erroneous teaching that likes to cut this verse short by saying we are saved by grace and leave out our faith, a faith which requires obedience to the word of God. There is a marriage of grace that proceeds from our Heavenly Father through the work of Christ’s sacrifice and obedience, and faith which proceeds from us as a gift from the Holy Spirit who draws us unto the Lord, convicts us, saves us and leads us continually on the path of the righteous.
How do we know we have faith to be saved by grace? We believe in our heart and confess without mouth that Jesus is Lord.
Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
When we have faith in Jesus we become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21) and we receive the promise of salvation but salvation is just the beginning of the promise! This salvation puts us on the path of the righteous and we begin to walk this thing out by faith. The same faith we confessed with is the same faith we walk with. (2 Cor 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight)
We who are righteous through faith shall live and not die! Living is part of the Promise!
Romans 1:17 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”[a]
Abraham walked and lived by faith!
Abraham is our father of this Faith we possess. He was a man of faith, and it was counted to him as righteousness. He was not righteous because of his works. Rather, through his obedience, his faith was evident, and the righteousness of God was seen in his acts of obedience and trust.
Romans 4:1-8 1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.
Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Friendship with God
Having faith for a particular outcome in our life is very different than focusing our faith on bearing the fruit of righteousness which is obedience to the word of God. When Romans 1:17 says, “He through faith is righteous, shall live”, that life we are living is unto the Lord. The righteous fear the Lord, the righteous love the Lord, trust the Lord, honor the Lord, please the Lord, worship the Lord, and put the Lord first. The righteous man or woman of God sanctifies his or her life unto the Lord.
Abraham received the promise of Isaac, yes, but he received something even greater than that. He was able to walk with the Lord, talk with the Lord, obey the Lord, and have peace and confidence in the Lord, even in his deficiency.
Let us not bypass the greatest promise of being made righteous while reaching for the lesser promise of something temporal. This promise of salvation and intimacy with Christ gives us a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Abraham was called a friend of God.
James 2:23 23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.
Let us not allow the things we are believing God for overshadow our desire to be a righteous friend of God. I want more than anything to walk in righteousness by faith and to be called a friend of God. A friend shows up, a friend listens, a friend trusts, a friend is faithful. The greatest promise we could ever believe God for is to become a friend of God.
