If God did not act first, no one would be saved.
There is no way of salvation except through the cross of Christ.
As a pastor in a Protestant church, my whole ministry centers on the conviction that by grace we are saved through faith. And it's not our faith that delivers us, as if believing something, anything at all were pleasing to God. It's the object of our faith - Christ's life, death, and resurrection - that saves us.
Christianity teaches salvation by grace through faith, every other religion teaches salvation through works and merit.
And I will go as far as Martin Luther, in that strong assertion of his, where he says, "If any man ascribes any of salvation, even the very least, to the free-will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ aright."
"Otherwise grace is no more grace," since it is bestowed on us, not because we have done good works, but that we may be able to do them.
The grace of God is love freely shown toward guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed in defiance of their demerit.
What Paul is clearly saying is that if anyone is worthy of being saved, they will be saved. At that point many Christians get very anxious, saying that absolutely no one is worthy of being saved. The implication of that is that a person can be almost totally good, but miss the message about Jesus, and be sent to hell. What kind of a God would do that? I am not going to stand in the way of anyone whom God wants to save. I am not going to say 'he can't save them.' I am happy for God to save anyone he wants in any way he can. It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved.
Grace alone brings about every good work in us.
For no man is damned precisely because God hath not chosen him, because he is not elected, but because he is a sinner, and doth wilfully refuse the means of grace offered.
One of the most staggering truths of the Scriptures is to understand that we do not earn our way to heaven. ...works have a place--but as a demonstration of having received God's forgiveness, not as a badge of merit of having earned it.
Let all Arminians know: we have as high an esteem for faith as any men in the world, but yet we will not rob Christ to clothe faith.
If any man doth ascribe of salvation, even the very least, to the free will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright.
It is not your hold of Christ that saves you, but His hold of you.
The lifeblood of Christianity is not our persistence in moving toward God but God's persistence in moving toward us.
Consider that it is not failing in this or that attempt to come to Christ, but a giving-over of your endeavors, that will be your ruin.
God Himself supplies the necessary condition to come to Jesus, that's why it is 'sola gratia,' by grace alone, that we are saved.
One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation
A Christian expects to go to Heaven on the virtue of another.
How do we know that God has elected us before the creation of the world? By believing in Jesus Christ.
Grace stands in direct opposition to any supposed worthiness on our part. To say it another way: Grace and works are mutually exclusive. As Paul said in Romans 11:6, "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." Our relationship with God is based on either works or grace. There is never a works-plus-grace relationship with Him.
Paul spoke about the root of faith (Eph 2:8). James spoke about the fruit of faith (Jm 2:17-18).
Recently I prayed, "Lord, I want to know your peace at all costs. I won't listen to the devil's lies any longer. I know my salvation is not in my performance. No, Jesus, you alone plead my case. I rest in what you've done for me." Can you say the same by faith?
Right now if this preacher died he would go to heaven. Not because I spent years in the jungles and the Andes Mountains of Peru. Not because of piety, devotion or bible study. Not because of denominational affiliation, baptism, or participation in the Lord’s supper. If I died right now, I would go to heaven because two thousand years ago the Son of God shed His blood for this wretched man. And that is my hope.
The salvation of man is through love and in love.
