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<blockquote data-quote="BrownFlush" data-source="post: 5933546" data-attributes="member: 65823">&quot;For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God&quot; (Eph. 2:8).Eternal life is a gift given by God.&nbsp; &quot;For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord&quot; (Rom. 6:23).Eternal life has been offered by God to all mankind because of his great love and mercy. It has not been offered because of mankind&#039;s deservings or on the basis of any good thing that we have done. This is what is meant by Paul&#039;s statement that we are saved by grace (or favor) and not by our own works or because we deserve it. God did not decide at a particular point in time, that man had behaved well enough to enter into life eternal.&nbsp;We have not done anything to deserve this gift. Being baptized does not earn your way into life eternal. Being a good parent, a good employee, a good Samaritan or just being &quot;good&quot; does not qualify or earn one&#039;s eternal life. It is God&#039;s gift that he has offered for no other reason than his love and mercy for us.How can we show our appreciation to this truth? How about showing our thankfulness in a life that is governed completely by his will. Paul stated that God&#039;s grace (favor, mercy) teaches us that &quot;we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world&quot; (Tit. 2:11-12).&nbsp;God&#039;s gift is given on a conditional basis. Oh, no! It&#039;s the truth of God&#039;s word whether we like it or not.Think. Grace means unmerited favor. No one can work enough, or hard enough, to earn the blessings God gives us everyday. What we wear, the food eat, and the air we breathe, are all manifestations of God&#039;s bountiful grace. But, no one is completely passive in the reception of these blessings. You have to breathe the air, eat the food, and put on your clothes if you are to receive any benefit from God&#039;s unmerited favor in these things.Notice that Paul said that we are saved &quot;by grace through faith&quot; God&#039;s decision to offer eternal life was not conditional. He offered it only because of his grace and mercy. But, to receive it is conditional. The gift is received &quot;through faith.&quot; The Lord will not force any one to accept his offer and will only give it to those who, through faith, accept and obey his conditions. The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus &quot;became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him&quot; (Heb. 5:8-9).More later, Calvin.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BrownFlush, post: 5933546, member: 65823"] "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). Eternal life is a gift given by God. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). Eternal life has been offered by God to all mankind because of his great love and mercy. It has not been offered because of mankind's deservings or on the basis of any good thing that we have done. This is what is meant by Paul's statement that we are saved by grace (or favor) and not by our own works or because we deserve it. God did not decide at a particular point in time, that man had behaved well enough to enter into life eternal. We have not done anything to deserve this gift. Being baptized does not earn your way into life eternal. Being a good parent, a good employee, a good Samaritan or just being "good" does not qualify or earn one's eternal life. It is God's gift that he has offered for no other reason than his love and mercy for us. How can we show our appreciation to this truth? How about showing our thankfulness in a life that is governed completely by his will. Paul stated that God's grace (favor, mercy) teaches us that "we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Tit. 2:11-12). God's gift is given on a conditional basis. Oh, no! It's the truth of God's word whether we like it or not. Think. Grace means unmerited favor. No one can work enough, or hard enough, to earn the blessings God gives us everyday. What we wear, the food eat, and the air we breathe, are all manifestations of God's bountiful grace. But, no one is completely passive in the reception of these blessings. You have to breathe the air, eat the food, and put on your clothes if you are to receive any benefit from God's unmerited favor in these things. Notice that Paul said that we are saved "by grace through faith" God's decision to offer eternal life was not conditional. He offered it only because of his grace and mercy. But, to receive it is conditional. The gift is received "through faith." The Lord will not force any one to accept his offer and will only give it to those who, through faith, accept and obey his conditions. The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus "became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb. 5:8-9). More later, Calvin. [/QUOTE]

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