What does it mean that salvation is by grace alone? - Podcast Episode 155

Salvation by grace alone - what does the Bible teach? What is the definition of grace? How does grace relate to faith in salvation? Why is salvation by grace alone such an important concept?
Links:
Why is sola gratia important? - www.gotquestions.org/sola-gra...
What are the five solas? - www.gotquestions.org/five-sol...
What is the definition of grace? - www.gotquestions.org/definiti...
Transcript: podcast.gotquestions.org/tran...
---
podcast.gotquestions.org
GotQuestions.org Podcast subscription options:
Apple - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Google - podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...
Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/3lVjgxU...
Amazon - music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab8...
IHeartRadio - iheart.com/podcast/81148901/
Stitcher - www.stitcher.com/show/gotques...
Disclaimer: The views expressed by guests on our podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of Got Questions Ministries. Us having a guest on our podcast should not be interpreted as an endorsement of everything the individual says on the show or has ever said elsewhere. Please use biblically-informed discernment in evaluating what is said on our podcast.

[@samuelrodriguez9199]

Amen. Salvation is a gift from God.

[@cruiznjoe4031]

Grace through Faith

[@loissmith7541]

Amen… Thank you Lord for your salvation that I don’t deserve .

[@Gloriagal78]

EXCELLENT analogy. Thank you.

[@NewCreationInChrist896]

Romans 9:14-16 “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”

[@iamishin7675]

Thanks for doing this show guys.

[@user-pf3zw5sl8o]

Amen

[@kelvin929]

Jesus calls all men to salvation. No one deserves it but it’s offered to all

[@jonathanharness2962]

But all don't believe, only the elect by the Holy Spirit has faith in Christ.

[@user-pf3zw5sl8o]

Amen

[@NewCreationInChrist896]

Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Romans 4:23-24 "Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

[@sweetvictory3100]

How does one know if they have truly received? Struggling mentally and physically, crying out to God to help me, the physical suffering is affecting me all around, I think my past and present is haunting me, have a lot of trauma and struggling to believe and receive, deal with unworthiness and accepting, I want to believe receive and accept but I'm afraid my motives aren't right becuz I'm suffering so much, I wish there was someone to talk to about all this, I've never understood grace of God, I tried to listen to all of this, I'm scared I'm going to hell, idk how to know if I've truly believed and received something, everything in me is fighting what I don't want it to, so much unhealed and unprocessed trauma that is spilling over into this, my suffering takes over and is louder than everything, I hate it

[@sevendayoptions6704]

You need to treat your suffering as an opportunity that God has given you so that you may trust in christ even through that.

[@deanfry879]

It sounds like you are making things more complicated than they are. Jesus made a promise and sealed it with His blood. To say the same thing a different way, Jesus made a promise He was willing to die for. That promise is He will give salvation to everyone who believes in Him. Let me show you what I perceive is going on with you, and we can see if that is the beginning of progress; if not, we will try something else. I perceive your motives are indeed not where they should be yet, and not because of your suffering. You seem to be trying to work your own salvation. You appear to not yet believe the promise of God can overcome your past and present, your trauma, your unworthiness. What if it does not matter if you are unworthy? What if He is capable of brushing off your past and treating you like you never did any wrong? How would your life change if you saw He could do that? How much credit for your salvation do you want to keep for yourself? May the Lord grant you His peace and open your eyes to see the glory of the promise He made.

[@andrewe9612]

You're not alone in that. I've struggled with that and still struggle with that now. But trust me when I say that through your questions and struggles God will see you through. I'm more secure in my faith more than ever before because of my suffering. God uses our suffering to bring us closer to Him and it's for our best good.

[@deanfry879]

@@mattr.1887 It is a vicious game none of us can ever win, which is why we need a Savior, one who could pay for our sin on our behalf and rise again from the dead. It is not that hard to make anything confusing; all one has to do is mix in more and more merely human rules (Isaiah 29:13). I am going to have to pay more attention to people if they say "believe and repent," for Jesus said to "repent and believe the good news" (see Mark 1:15), suggesting unbelief was what was to be repented of.

[@andrewe9612]

Brother Shea I would like to watch your videos but your camera angle makes it hard to watch. Can you back up a little to make it less distracting.

[@NewCreationInChrist896]

Seek Christ to overcome sin struggles and seek His will. Exercise His will in love, honor and obedience, in gratitude of His Finished work on the cross. 1 John 3:7-8 “Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.”

[@jonathanharness2962]

Luther and Calvin would be proud of this podcast!

[@yvonnegordon1952]

Salvation is by GRACE alone, but Zachariah 12, the SIGN the Jews are unknowingly WAITING FOR, explains that this GRACE IS POURED out on the HOUSE OF DAVID first and then all Israel and eventually the whole world: So Grace is a real thing that is poured out from above and this is why Paul was told, MY GRACE is sufficient: If he didn't really experience this GRACE, it would not have helped him much because he wouldn't understand what or where it was: It came with the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST IN HIM: Jesus did say, to receive this HOLY SPIRIT just ask for it. It is the HOLY SPIRIT where everything from God comes from and through, including the Messiah and Elijah (John the Baptist our ability to prophecy after seeing the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, so the GRACE and WISDOM and all good things come by the HOLY SPIRIT poured out upon all flesh: Faith is more than mere belief, for the devils believe and tremble. FAITH is trust and KNOWING in whom you believe: So without KNOWING Jesus so you don't hear "depart from me because I never KNEW you", one should look at their faith and ask, do I believe Jesus died for me, but I don't know what to make of that story or how do I trust that story? TODAY Abraham's children are at odds and at war because of the variety of ways that they read the SAME BIBLE, so its a serious thing. ANYTHING WRITTEN BY MEN can be interpreted the wrong way, which is why we need the ANOINTING to understand it the Bible the RIGHT way: It says the Bible is written by men who wrote it by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, the anointing. Without the anointing, the human carnal mind can not KNOW God/Hashem or the things of God/Hashem. Why? because the carnal mind is the SEED OF THE SERPENT which is at enmity with God's/Hashem's seed, the HOLY ANOINTING, and the carnal mind or lower mind can not really interpret the BIBLE period: Sorry to have to say this out right in Jesus we see that it isn't a person who is sacrificed but God is sacrificed because it isn't about his physical death (MILLIONS DIE constantly and this is the result of sin) but God gave his BLOOD which is the anointing, the HOLY OIL that is hidden within us (we are the grave of Christ or Messiah and the STONE or heart needs to be rolled away for the MESSIAH, the HOLY OIL to come out of our heart and bring life to the BODY just like physical blood does. The blood of God, his HOLY ANOINTING, raises you to the place of the skull (KETER, the crown of life) and restores ADAM to life. The death of Jesus is a picture of the TREE OF LIFE being JOINED to the Tree of knowledge (YOU) because he is the GOOD ROOT, making your tree good: Jesus is "MAN" (the Last Adam) a many membered body that is resurrected by the CHRIST or Messiah through the heart which is the CIRCUMCISION that reveals the evil inclination *Yetzer hora, lashon hora) and gets RID of it with the brightness of its rising and the truth of its appearing. God then made a vessel of vanity (which is the EXILE OF ADAM and EVE) and then at the fullness of time, the HEART goes into covenant with Hashem when the ANOINTING RISES between the animate parts (three levels) and this is Abraham's covenant with Hashem in the order of Melchizedek that David is also going to KEEP because his son (son of David) is a priest after the order of Melchizedek that is the priest of the MOST HIGH ELYOWN, which is before the law is given: When Israel did not keep that COVENANT that Jesus said, "Abraham saw MY DAY and was glad", the refusal to keep this covenant, put them UNDER THE LAW through Moses: Who is Moses? He is the CONSCIENCE of ISRAEL that must rise before they can be taken out of the EGO (Egypt): Moses died hence the conscience of Israel died and is buried at MT NEBO (means prophet): ONLY THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY WILL RAISE MOSES and ISRAEL from the dead: THE WITNESS OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY: One must become a WITNESS of Jesus, not just a believer of him; Where do they see him? HE IS THE GOOD ROOT OF THEIR SOUL, of Adam Rishon that he lost by exile (EGO): Only a return (REPENT) to God who is revealed as YHVH that Israel doesn't grasp or understand, so they don't use it; Jesus is IN THAT NAME, the VOV of the YHVH, the MAN in YHVH'S IMAGE and LIKENESS, hence Jesus said "I COME IN MY FATHERS NAME": Now YHVH is also ELYOWN, Jesus calls ELI ELI why have you forsaken me: Through the BLOOD OF God which comes through Jesus (the son of David and the son of Adam/man) the SOUL GETS A BLOOD transfusion and is able to rise and return to Paradise (We see this with ENOCH (initiated) and Paul and anyone who rises in the FEAST OF TABERNACLES, the true feast, not the ritual tradition: The feast of tabernacles is the Christian rapture just as the day of atonement (Yom Kippur) is seeing Zechariah 12, which is Galatians 3, seeing Christ crucified "AMONG" (in the heart) of you, in a vision that happens when the OIL rises to the place of the skull): Jesus is born to every heart that does the WILL of his FATHER which is REPENT (return to the good root, the HOLY OIL, the anointing Adam lost) and be resurrected from the dead by that BLOOD transfusion and you receive SIMCHAT TORAH or the JOY of the TORAH as a TREE OF LIFE because now you will grasp it the way it is meant to be understood through the PURE HEART and PURE LANGUAGE that is returned to you: if you don't see the story of the cross in the right way, you commit blasphemy as all who make claims about knowing God without being able to HEAR OR SEE him (becomes witnesses of him) directly: A false witness says things about God that they were told and they may have been told a lie without knowing it from either side: People pass lies around as much as they pass truth around: A false witness is also a false prophet, which is the carnal mind or enmity with God for it can not know God or the things of God. ONLY A WITNESS will know one from the other: Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. why? Because they don't really "KNOW" him, but just repeat what someone else told them: Even when you take a vs out of the Bible to build your whole religion, you could build it on a lie if another vs contradicts what is written. ONLY A TRUE WITNESS can reconcile all things written as ONE MESSAGE. A false witness is someone who repeats what someone else said they saw and heard: A true witness speaks of what he sees, saw and heard directly through his heart, hence out of the abundance of the heart the MOUTH speaks: Psa 74:10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Show less Jas 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? Jas 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Jas 2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

[@klarag7059]

1:51 how grace is described by Jeff here sounds like what the Bible shows mercy to be. I don’t see grace to be what is described here at all.

[@deanfry879]

If I may, I have heard grace described as getting something good the person does not deserve, and mercy as not getting a punishment one should. Essentually the same thing from different perspectives, like two sides of a coin. It is sometimes difficult to talk about one part of what God does without talking about the whole, using human definitions. Maybe that helps, maybe not.

[@klarag7059]

@@deanfry879 I just see a lack of biblical references for defining such important teaching. Grace, from my reading of the Bible, (please forgive my hypocrisy as I have no time now to gather verses studiously), refers to grace when discussing the power and intervention of God. I’m more than interested in feedback, thank you.

[@deanfry879]

@@klarag7059 You are talking about actions of God while Jeff starts with talking about an attitude of God. It seems to me grace will look the same as mercy at the level of attitude. As I look at all God has done to show His grace, I could see myself as using the same words to describe grace, since there is no one to make God go against His attitude. I agree grace can be said to be God using His power to favorably intervene in a person's life. If one is going to paint an exact copy of a painting, one has to study it in very close detail, but that gives a much deeper appreciation of stepping back and seeing the whole painting. I get the impression you have studied grace enough to understand nuances most people miss, so I am wondering if now might be a good time for you to step back for several minutes and appreciate the whole picture.

[@klarag7059]

@@deanfry879 thank you for giving me thoughts to ponder on.

[@Antonio.R.O.C.]

Is Christianity a merit based religion or have lukewarm Christian’s simply cherry picked an easy way to acquire salvation❓ Jesus: 🚨“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭34‬-‭46‬ Are those not works❓Did Jesus ever claim that the consequences for refusing those works no longer applied to those who “believed” in him or were “saved by grace through faith alone” ❓isn’t this an example of a “merit based religion” or was Jesus lying❓ 🚨“Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.”Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ Actions❗️Requirements❗️Is Jesus not God❓Are his words not truth itself❓Did he not clearly state actions❓Are actions not works❓Are requirement not performed by actions❓or was Jesus lying❓ Judas is a prime example that being saved “by grace through faith alone” or simply by “believing” are in fact false gospels preached by either ignorance of scripture or intentionally to lead others astray❗️ Judas had God’s grace when he was picked as an Apostle and through his faith was given the power to heal the sick and cast out demons by Jesus himself BUT it was his one action/deed/work that caused him to be condemned by Jesus himself❗️ People claim to have “faith” or simply “believe” as those Jesus himself encountered and yet he said the following to them❗️ 🚨“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬ People don’t have enough “faith” or “believe” enough to move mountains but they claim to have enough “faith” or “believe” enough to guarantee their salvation before God can render his judgement⁉️ Is it not God alone who decides who will rise and who will fall❓ 🚨“It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall.” Psalms‬ ‭75‬:‭7‬ 🚨“God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?” James‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ ‭ 🚨“No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.” John‬ ‭5‬:‭44‬ 🚨“Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.” John‬ ‭7‬:‭18‬ ‭ Will everyone who confesses to “believe” or claims to be “saved by grace through faith alone” in Jesus enter his kingdom❓ 🚨“Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He replied, “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.” Luke‬ ‭13‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ 🚨“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” Matthew‬ ‭7:13-14‬ 🚨“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ Doesn’t someone break God’s laws by their actions❓What happen to that easy way in “by grace through faith alone” or simply by “believing”❓or was Jesus lying❓ If anyone’s OWN understanding of scripture from the Apostles words lead them to contradict Jesus’ own teachings then they have misinterpreted scripture‼️it’s that simple❗️ 🚨“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.” John‬ ‭8‬:‭31‬ “faithful to my teachings”‼️ ⚠️Warning about Teaching⚠️ 1. Did Jesus warn us about the consequences of our words❓ 🚨“The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭37‬ 2. Did the Apostles warn us about teaching our Father’s words❓ 🚨“Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ 🚨“Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” 1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ Does that sound like your salvation is guaranteed by “believing” or “faith alone”❓ “Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ”, it’s that simple❗️