I.e. in what is our salvation grounded?
Ephesians 2:4 - 10
ESV - 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us. 5 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved -
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The salvation of believers is grounded solely and completely in their faith in the redemption from sin that Jesus achieved through His sinless life, substitutionary death, and subsequent resurrection from the dead, which validated the sufficiency of His sacrifice. This redemption was made possible only by God's grace (that is, His undeserved mercy and favor toward humanity (Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-9)).
The basis or foundation for our hope of salvation is the grace of God demonstrated in the gift of His Son (Romans 5:6-9), the life and death of Jesus to be the author of salvation (Hebrews 5:8-9) to the obedient, and our sincere response to that grace and sacrifice to appropriate the benefits of that grace to our spiritual need for forgiveness, redemption and justification (Ephesians 2:5-10; Like 6:46-49).
What is the basis of our salvation, the salvation of believers? I.e. in what is our salvation grounded? The short answer is that your Salvation is grounded in Christ alone. The Christian life in many places in scripture is likened to a building in progress. A building, by its very nature, must have a strong foundation. That foundation can be nothing other than belief in the finished work of Christ. Romans 10:8-11 New International Version (NIV) But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Let us explore further and ask, "why we must be saved?" By definition, salvation is the act of being rescued. In the Christian context, it is the gift of God to all of humanity, as a supreme example of His mercy and Grace. The truly momentous aspect of this saving Grace is that it is extended to those who do not even know that they are in need of saving. All people are born with the taint of Original sin, also sometimes referred to as Ancestral sin. The sin nature of the man and woman is passed from the parents to the child in conception because the sin defect is in the nature and blood of every man and woman. Remember, sin is a spiritual condition, not a physical condition. Have you ever heard the expressions, "like father, like son," or "she is her mother's daughter?" At conception, the two sin natures of a man and woman combine to produce a child that is born with the capacity and will to sin. This is called "Original sin." Original sin, also called ancestral sin, is a state of sin in which humanity has existed since the fall of man, stemming from Adam and Eve's rebellion in Eden, namely, the sin of disobedience in consuming the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Because of the fall, the image of God was corrupted. And the Bible teaches that Adam’s sin was passed on to the whole human race. Romans 5:12 says, “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned.” In Ps 51:5, David says, “Look, I was prone to do wrong from birth; I was a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.” Ecc 7: 20 "Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." The fall also explains why mankind is capable of great evil. Since sin is passed down through the generations from parents to children, this means that every person is born estranged and alienated from God at birth. There is nothing we can do about this, but God can and has. "God so loved the world (all humanity) that He gave His only begotten Son so that ALL who believe on Him will not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 "In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law to redeem those born under the Law." Galatians 4:4 The supreme purpose of Christ and the Cross of Calvary was to provide the means whereby mankind may be reconciled to God. This reconciliation is effected when a man or woman recognizes and acknowledges that they are a sinner in need of forgiveness and Salvation, and turns, in repentance, to the only One able to forgive trespasses and restore the lost relationship with God. By accepting Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are saved.
I would agree with both Tim and Dean regarding what they said about Ephesians 2. Salvation is based on God’s love for his people (Ephesians 2:4-5). Salvation is also based on God’s grace (Ephesians 2:4-10). Notice that little word ‘this’ in Ephesians 2:8. What does ‘this’ point to? In Greek, the ‘this’ refers back to the entire earlier phrase, including both salvation and faith. God didn’t just offer salvation as a gift; he also freely gave us the faith to believe in the first place. Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9not by works, so that no one can boast."
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