Does grace save you?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8, NIV)

How do you understand grace?

Grace, to me, is something undeserved, a gift we can never earn. Because of this, I tend to read Ephesians 2:8 as if it said: You are saved by grace on your way to heaven, forgiven for your sins, through faith – and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God.

If I read the same verse in Greek, it would read like this: Because you have entered into the covenant with God, you give God charis. Because you give God charis, he gives charis. Charis will ensure you are continually saved – and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God.

Do you see the difference between the two?

The main difference is this; the Greek word chairs which we translate as grace, depends on what we do or dont do. If we dont do our part to enter into the covenant, we are not given charis/grace.

In Greek, we are told we need to enter into the covenant, and we do this by faith.

The word used for faith is a verb, so this type of faith is something we do. The word charis describes what we do; we give good deeds to God and receive the same from God. The question then is this, what does God define as good deeds which provide us with membership in his covenant?

In Jeremiah, Exodus, and Romans, the Bible says those who obey Torah are the people of God. Those who have faith in the Torah will show their loyalty by following the Torah and becoming members of the covenant. This is the charis they are giving to God, and God will, in turn, provide them with charis by saving them continually. (Matt 6:25-34)

Now we understand Ephesians 2:8:

“If we live by faith in the Torah, we have entered into the covenant with God. Because we are in covenant with Yehovah, He will continually save us because of our Torah obedience”.