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NASB | Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace [God's remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; |
Subject: Saving and Forgiving Grace? |
Bible Note: Hi Doc, I'm not sure they do much to demonstrate a good rebuttal to those who might argue that we can "increase our merit before God". There is pleny of scripture to do that sufficiently and undeniably though. I believe that these verses do help to demonstrate that we certainly can please God. Pleasing Him though does nothing concering out "merit" as that is sufficiently accounted for by the work of Christ and God's Holy Spirit only. I realize that this was the context of the thread. I only wanted to show that, yes, we can and do please God when we obey Him. Just as we grieve Him when we are disobedient. Of course, obedience does nothing to add to our merit as nothing we contribute can increase or inhance what has been given freely by grace. with love, Jeff |