by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
If one verse said it all, and we needed no more than one verse to be saved, I would choose\u00a0Ephesians 2:5. “By grace you have been saved.<\/em>” That way, I wouldn’t have to believe, repent, confess, or be baptized. I would rest my case here and just tell people they have been saved by grace. However, the problem is that while this is true, it is not universally true. It is written to people who believed, repented, confessed faith in Jesus, and were baptized. It is\u00a0these\u00a0<\/b>people who are saved by grace. (Acts 19:6;\u00a0Ephesians 1:12-13;\u00a02:1-6;\u00a05:25-26;\u00a0Galatians 3:26-27). Therefore, it would be incorrect to take\u00a0Ephesians 2:5\u00a0out of context and apply it to people who are unlike the Ephesians, who trusted and obeyed Jesus for salvation by grace.<\/p>\n Ephesians 2:5\u00a0is true for a specific type of person. By grace, you\u00a0can\u00a0<\/b>be saved, but you are not saved by grace until you meet the terms or conditions of pardon.\u00a0Acts 2:36-41\u00a0shows us that “remission of sins” (grace) is given at a certain point in faith. So if you do not have faith in Jesus and meet these same conditions, you are not yet a person who\u00a0has been<\/strong>\u00a0saved by grace. The 3000 moved from “can be<\/strong>\u00a0saved by grace” to “have been<\/strong>\u00a0saved by grace” when their faith moved them to repentance and baptism in the name of the Lord. The Ephesians operated under the same conditions. They too had the same baptism (Ephesians 4:3-4).<\/p>\n If we could pick one verse and dismiss all other verses on the subject of salvation, we would probably make the same mistake as I would if I took\u00a0Ephesians 2:5\u00a0out of context and pretended that we are all saved by grace. No! This verse is written to people who\u00a0have been<\/strong>\u00a0saved by grace because they believed and met the terms of pardon. Others were not in the “have been<\/strong>\u00a0saved by grace” category. They are all in the “can be<\/strong>\u00a0saved by grace” category until they hear and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ in the same way. (Mark 16:15-16;\u00a0Matthew 28:18-20;\u00a0Acts 2:36-41). There is not a single verse that tells the whole truth. It reveals the truth within the confines of a broader context, and the entire Bible provides the complete truth.<\/p>\n Grace is longing and waiting to save you, but you must meet the terms and conditions of pardon.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton If one verse said it all, and we needed no more than one verse to be saved, I would choose\u00a0Ephesians 2:5. “By grace you have been saved.” That way, I wouldn’t have to believe, repent, confess, or be baptized. I would rest my case here and just tell people they have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1008,47],"class_list":["post-47567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-faith-only","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36760,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/by-grace-through-faith-with-the-washing-of-water\/","url_meta":{"origin":47567,"position":0},"title":"By Grace Through Faith with the Washing of Water","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Notice the prepositions: by, through, and with. The Book of Ephesians uses all three to describe what is involved with our salvation. It teaches we are saved by grace. It teaches we are saved through faith. It teaches we are saved with the washing of water\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54501,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-show-my-coworker-that-it-is-not-faith-alone-that-saves\/","url_meta":{"origin":47567,"position":1},"title":"How do I show my coworker that it is not faith alone that saves?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am in a discussion of the Bible with a man that I work with. He is Lutheran and I go to a church of Christ. His beliefs are that faith saves and continues to recite the verse from Ephesians 2:8-9. I'm sure you're very familiar with that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63421,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/salvation-by-grace-through-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":47567,"position":2},"title":"Salvation by Grace Through Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 2:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we read Ephesians 2:8-10, there are four important words which stand out: grace, saved, faith, and works. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The gift mentioned in verse 8 is the gift of salvation given to us by God\u2019s grace. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Grace is an unmerited favor. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83696,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-alone-in-ephesians-28\/","url_meta":{"origin":47567,"position":3},"title":"Faith Alone in Ephesians 2:8?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Question: Many claim that Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches salvation by faith alone and that baptism is not necessary for salvation. Please respond. Answer: First, the word \"alone\" is not in Ephesians 2:8 but it is in James 2:14-24 and there it clearly says, \"Not by faith alone.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58392,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/obeying-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":47567,"position":4},"title":"Obeying the Lord","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 8, Feb. 20, 2009. Question: How can one talk about \"obeying the Lord\" in the light of what is said in\u00a0Titus 3:5\u00a0and\u00a0Ephesians 2:8? Answer: First, let us notice what these two passages say: \"Not by works done in righteousness, which we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93651,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/saved-by-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":47567,"position":5},"title":"Saved by Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong \"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-\u00a0 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}