Are we saved by Grace?
Today man believe that to be saved by grace is enough for any one to be a heir of the heavenly king. However others say that it may be accompanied by other actions, as Jesus told to the young reach to sell all that he had and follow him.
So both these options are different and between the two which is right?
TO answer this I need to clarify the difference between God’s people Israel and the Church of God. We live in a time which is called the Church Age. It is sometimes called the Church dispensation or the dispensation of grace.. and this is the period in the bible that starts after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ..
The period from the Exodus of Israel from Egypt to the crucifixion of Christ was called the age of the Law (Mosaic) which is sometimes called the dispensation of Israel or the age of the Law. During the age of Law the people of Israel were looking forward to the coming of the promised Messiah. The nation of Israel was called in scripture the adopted son of God – for God chose Israel to be His witnesses to the world. God unconditionally promised Abraham that the Messiah promised to mankind in Genesis 3 would come through him and his promised Seed, (via Isaac and Jacob). This would be the One Who would save His people Israel from their sins and give them a kingdom and a king to rule over the,…
Over the centuries Israel sinned more and more against God and over and again the prophets repeatedly told Israel that they must repent. All the prophets told of the Annointed One that would come to set up His kingdom. They were told that the Messiah would do many signs and wonders. After a 400 year period of silence from God, John the Baptist was sent as the final prophet to announce to Israel that the kingdom was coming…. Finally the king was coming….
However over the centuries since the Exodus, the people of Israel had committed spiritual ‘adultery’ against God.. in other words they did not trust in Him or obey his commands and they worshiped many other idols and false gods, just like the other nations that Israel was called upon to bring to God… but instead of bringing the nations to God as He has commanded, they rebelled against Him.
The prophets continuously told Israel to ‘repent’ and turn back to the true God… but apart from a very small remnant they did not heed. After 400 years of silence, John the Baptist came telling the people of Israel to “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven… the kingdom that God that had promised for so long was near…. was coming” All the Jews had to do was to repent for the way they had sinned to get ready for the coming King – Jesus. Both John and Jesus taught Israel the gospel of the Kingdom… Some did, but the Jewish leaders refused, and in so doing were rejecting God.. The ministry of John and Jesus were both proclaiming the kingdom of God.
Although the four gospels (Matthew, Mark Luke and John) are part of the new testament canon, in reality the period of time they covered, was before the cross. The time that John and Jesus ministered was still a time that was under the Age of the Law (it was only after the resurrection that the gospel of the grace of God started to be taught…)
What many people do not understand is that there is a difference between the teaching that took place before the cross ( when the gospel of the KINGDOM was given to Israel) and what was taught after the cross.. (when the gospel of the GRACE of GOD was opened up to the gentiles as well)
You will remember that on many occasions Jesus said “I am only sent to the people of the House Israel…” Therefore much of the teaching that Jesus taught before the Cross was only directed towards the Nation of Israel. Most of the miracles that Jesus during this time were SIGNS to the Jews. The OT prophets had prophesised that these very signs would be done by their Messiah. However at that time Israel rejected their Messiah and, they crucified their King, they rejected the gospel of the Kingdom because it was not what they had expected.
Although most of the teachings of Jesus were directed towards Israel, there are certain sections that hint that He was going to be rejected by His people, Israel – But this did not stop God from carrying out His purpose through the gentile nations – until the prophesied time when the nation of Israel would FINALLY repent as a nation.
Please be VERY CLEAR – God has NOT finished with Israel. There is coming a time when God is going to complete the plan He has for Israel – and during that a seven year period called the tribulation (of the time of Jacob’s Trouble, when 144,000 Jews from every tribe will become believers in Jesus as the Messiah and start to evangelise. This time of tribulation starts AFTER God has removed the Church, after the Church Age has finished – which is the time that God starts again to complete His work through Israel, a time that will revert back to being under the Law. During this great tribulation it will be the gospel of the KINGDOM will be taught not only to the Jews but to all the nations – just as God wanted at the beginning.
NOTE that in this Church dispensation the gospel of the GRACE of God is the one that is taught.. It was the apostle PAUL that God to whom God opened up the various mysteries about the Church.. as the Body of Christ… as the Bride of Jesus.. and you will see that Paul taught the gospel of the Grace of God as opposed the the Gospel of the Kingdom which John the Baptist and Jesus taught to Israel before the cross.
You have asked a question that is very simple… both are correct..
ONE is directed towards CHRISTIANS in the AGE of GRACE and explains to believers HOW to be saved By Grace through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus
The OTHER is directed towards the nation of ISRAEL in the DISPENSATION of LAW…
The young Jewish man you mentioned wanted to know how to get into the promised KINGDOM… he was not asking about SALVATION… which is how to get saved…… he was asking about how to receive an INHERITANCE… in the coming kingdom.
You see believers in the age of Grace (whether Jew of Gentile) have to simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ’s finished work at Calvary to be saved and nothing else.
During the time of Christ’s ministry the Jews THOUGHT that because they were BORN Jewish they were already Gods adoptive son… and only sons can receive an inheritance…. However because Israel as a NATION had for centuries collectively sinned against God every Jew and the nation as a whole had to REPENT of their ways and be baptised to show that they repentance was real… this is not the case in the Church Age. I hope that you can see that there is a significant difference between the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of Grace of God…
Jesus knew that like most of the Jews, this young man’s heart was far from God and Jesus knew that this young man had greater regard for his possessions than his GOD. So this was something that Jesus identified in this one young man. The first thing that the young man AND ISRAEL had to do was to repent.… Notice that Jesus gave lots of different instructions to many different people. Nicodemus was told to be born again – nothing about selling all he had. One blind man was told to go and wash in the pool of Siloam – not to sell all he had. Zaccheus was instructed to come down out of a tree and serve a meal.. not to sell all he had – he CHOSE to give back a lot of his wealth but it was not a requirement. Repentance and trusting in the Messiah send by God was all that was required of the Jews BEFORE the cross.. After the cross Jew and Gentile alike had to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour to be saved.
ALL people from Adam onwards that are saved are saved through the GRACE of God…In the dispensation of the Church, in which we live, Christians must simply BELIEVE on the LORD JESUS CHRIST alone to be saved.
Some people say that you have to DO something ELSE as well as believe on the Lord Jesus to be saved… Believe AND be baptised, or believe AND speak in tongues, or believe AND keep the Law, or believe AND keep the Sabbath day, or believe AND make Jesus Lord – or believe AND sell all that you have. TO be blunt adding ANYTHING to believing on the Lord Jesus as saviour is a violation of the scriptures. ONCE SAVED is it great to be baptised as a demonstration of your faith but it is not REQUIRED to be saved. I am sure that we all should make Jesus Lord of our lives… but it is not a REQUIREMENT to be saved.
The doctrine of the church is laid out very clearly in the epistles.. and particularly in Paul’s epistles.. because PAUL was main person to whom God revealed the mystery of the CHURCH. The believer saved by grace is automatically becomes an child of God and a joint heir with Christ.
Always remember to look at the Gospels, (and particularly the first three gospels) as being written BEFORE the cross and mainly directed to the House of ISRAEL ALONE… and many of the problems that you find, such as this question will become clear.
Other ‘actions’ that people say have to accompany believing are generally a misunderstanding of the difference between God’s dealings with ISRAEL and His dealings with the CHURCH. Some denominations build their entire doctrine on a false understanding of the CHURCH age by mixing it up with the age of ISRAEL.
