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Man Is Saved By The Grace Of God Ephesians 2:8 " For by grace are ye saved …"
Grace is "the idea of kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved" (Thayer's).
Man is saved by the kindness of God. Man does not merit salvation through works (Rom. 3:23; Rom. 4:4).
God saves man by grace through the redemption (forgiveness of sins) that is in Christ Jesus ( Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7).
To be saved by God's grace does not mean that man does not have to do something to be saved (Matt. 7:21-23; Acts 2:37,40; Phil. 2:12).
If salvation was dispensed wholly by grace without man having to do anything to be saved, salvation would be universal (everyone saved) or by the arbitrary selection of men by God (some men's concept of predestination). The scriptures, however, teach neither universalism nor the denominational concept of predestination (Matt. 7:13,14; Jn. 3:16; Rev. 22:17).
"Having sinned a man forfeits all rights to heaven; if he is ever saved, it must be by an act of favor on the part of God, for God owes him nothing. This grace, this favor, which we all need, can be obtained only through Christ… " (Sound Doctrine, Vol.1, Pg.59). Whether there be one condition of salvation or a dozen conditions required for salvation, no amount of works that a condemned sinner can perform will ever bring salvation to him as a debt. Salvation is always by grace!
"Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?"