Establishing the Law of Salvation by Grace

The Way of Salvation

(Romans 4:16-17)

God did not intend to save only one or two people, but all mankind. Therefore, there needed to be a settled and unshakable way of salvation. Among human beings who could never make themselves righteous, the one basis God chose to recognize for salvation was faith.

1. Grace Open to All
Because salvation comes only by the grace of God, a person’s bloodline, status, or outward qualifications could never become barriers. Even Abraham, who is called the father of faith, was an idolater when God first called him, and at that time the identity of the Jewish people had not even yet come into existence. His faith was not the exclusive possession of one particular nation, but became a universal foundation that all mankind could follow. Through this promise of grace, the barrier between Jews and Gentiles was broken down, and a new community made one in Christ—the Church—came into being.

2. The Lord Who Fulfills His Promise
The God whom Abraham looked to and trusted was the God who gave him Isaac, the son of promise, even when the natural ability to have children was completely gone. He was the God who gives life to the dead—the God of resurrection. Beyond that, He is not merely the God who works when the possibility is small, but the Creator who, even where the possibility is zero, brings something out of nothing by His Word—the God who calls those things which do not exist as though they did. Yes, our God is faithful. By His power of resurrection and creation, He will surely fulfill every promise He has made.

3. The Praise of Grace’s Beneficiaries
God accepted us just as we were, though we were lacking and unworthy from the beginning. We who do not even have the power to save ourselves have no righteousness of our own in which we can boast before God. So let us lay down the futile compulsion to prove our worth through our own efforts and works. Let us look wholly to God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did, and let us praise Him each day with gratitude and joy.

Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim