Too often Christians are inclined to regard salvation as private and personal; but its scope is infinitely greater. God’s ‘purpose in Christ’ when ‘the times have reached their fulfilment’ is ‘to bring all things under him’ (1.9-10). For our generation, obsessed as it is with the dream of saving the planet, we would do well to remind ourselves of the only One who is able and eager to do just that and more!
Perhaps the greatest risk surrounding the doctrine of grace in the Bible is that we allow it to become a cliché. We talk about it, sing about it, take great care to define it, but through it all fail to feel its weight. So, as we continue our reflections on the many-sided beauty of God’s grace revealed in Scripture, I want to focus in this article on its immensity in salvation.
The obvious place to focus these reflections is Paul’s statement to the Ephesians, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God’ (Eph 2.8). It is the apostle’s grand and definitive declaration that, from its inception to its consummation, salvation is God’s free gift. What Paul says here is the New Testament counterpart to Jonah’s declaration from the belly of the great fish in the Old Testament, ‘Salvation is of the LORD’ (Jon 2.11). But in both these instances, these words carry theological freight that is infinitely more substantial than we can ever fathom.
In the context of Ephesians, the one thing we often forget when we blithely cite Paul’s affirmation is that it is not a stand-alone remark. It is the culmination of a chapter and a half of some of the most profound doctrinal reasoning found anywhere in Scripture. More than that, its profundity is designed to fuel doxology. We as readers, reflecting on the implications of grace for our own deliverance, are meant to be left breathless in our efforts to respond.
