Do we become saved by grace? or through faith? Which comes first? Does faith earn grace? Or is faith how we receive God's grace? Is it that man does nothing to merit the grace of God but only by faith is grace paid to the believer?
The proof text for Christianity in this debate is Ephesians 2:8-10:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which were created beforehand, that we should walk in them."
This text is often used to define the nature of salvation. Clearly Paul has in mind here that grace is unmerited and that faith is merely the reception, the application of God's grace. And while this may seem unequivocal, modern Christianity has taken this and distorted it to a dangerous degree. Traditional theology would term this distortion as some form of Arminianism.
Basically, Arminianism would say that God has offered His grace to everyone and that man has it within Himself to choose that grace and to have faith for Jesus. Essentially, under this concept faith initiates the reception of God's grace to the believer. This seemingly obvious affirmation about the nature of salvation, however, smuggles in merit in the form of faith.
God bestows grace. God alone initiates salvation. In fact, God transforms the heart of unrepentant humans so that they can have faith at all. Only God can compel the natural man to faith. This means that faith, though apparently a 'work' of man is as much a gracious gift as is Jesus death!
Let us not, then, ever think of faith as something we are capable of in and of ourselves. God is the Creator of faith as much as He is the Author of salvation.
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