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The Grace Of God
By Ron Boatwright  

     God’s grace is His unmerited favor.  Grace “is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).  We cannot earn our salvation, but we must qualify for it.  “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11).  But we know all men will not be saved.  Jesus says only few will be saved but the vast majority will be eternally lost (Matthew 7:13-14). 

     The supreme need for all of mankind is to obtain the forgiveness and salvation God wants to give us if we are to be saved.  But what must we do to qualify for it?  “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).  To not be lost we must repent by making changes in our life.  We must change and do what God says we must do if we want to be saved.

     Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).  One must do God’s will if he/she really wants to go to heaven.  Hebrews 5:9 says concerning Jesus, that “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him”.  What does Jesus say we must do to obtain the salvation He wants to give us?  Jesus says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he that does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).  One needs help to misunderstand what Jesus says here.  Jesus does not say, “He that believes and is not baptized shall be saved”, nor does He say, “He that believes is saved and can be baptized later”.  The majority of denominational churches laugh at the Lord’s requirement for one to be baptized in order to be saved.  The denominations say that it is not necessary for one to be baptized to be saved.  They do not really believe in Jesus because they are not willing to do what He says and for the reason He says.  In doing this they reject the grace of God and the salvation He wants to give us.

     God’s grace is located in Christ.  2 Timothy 2:1 says, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  One must be in Christ to take advantage of this grace.  How does one get into Christ to receive this grace?  Paul says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).   According to God’s word as found in the Bible, baptism is the only way to get into Christ in order to be saved.  Paul says, “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:10).  After we have been baptized into Christ in order to be saved we must continue to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

     By doing any of the things man says we must do to be saved will not qualify us to receive God’s grace so we can be saved.  Jesus says, “In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7).  The commandments of men will only cause one to be eternally lost.  Anything that differs from what God says in the Bible is false doctrine which is designed by Satan to cause people to be eternally lost.  In order to qualify for God’s grace so we can be saved, we must do what God says, the way He says, and for the reason He says.