By Grace Are Ye Saved by G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 17, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 29.

BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED.

By G.

The flood in Noah’s time came upon the earth because of the hopeless condition of the people. They would not be saved, and therefore they could not. “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. . . . And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. . . . But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Gen. 6:5-8.

So Noah was saved by grace, or unmerited favor, notwithstanding the record that he was “a just man and perfect [margin, “upright”] in his generation,” and that he “walked with God.” Because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, he was taken into the confidence of the Lord, just as Abraham and Lot were taken into His confidence in the matter of the destruction of Sodom. “The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” Ch. 18:17, 18. Lot also was saved by grace, when the thing shown to Abraham came to pass. The Lord “delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds).” 2 Peter 2:7, 8.

The fact that we are saved by grace is emphasized in the statement that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:8. That puts every man, however good his record, on the roll of beneficiaries of grace; for Christ was the “Lamb slain [in purpose] from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8), before even Adam was created. But the expression, “By grace are ye saved,” is supplemented by a condition. That condition is faith. “By grace are ye saved, thru faith.”

So when God “said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence thru them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth,” He also said, “Make thee an ark.” Then He told Noah to take of “every living thing of all flesh” into the ark with him, “to keep them alive.” To this end the Lord added the instruction, “And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.”

Now suppose Noah had not believed the Lord, and had not gone to work to carry out His instruction, how much benefit would he have received from the grace of God? The grace of God is manifested in the offer of salvation, but the salvation can be actually bestowed only thru faith. The grace of God was shown to all the people to whom God sent Noah to preach the Gospel, but they did not find the grace because they did not believe the Word preached to them. Noah found grace because he believed. “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear [margin, “being wary”], prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Heb. 11:7.

Note that Noah condemned the world, not by reproaching them, not in his preaching the Gospel to them, but in building the ark. It was in this that his faith was pre-eminently demonstrated in contrast with the unbelief of mankind in general. When the flood came, the ark stood out as the visible witness against all unbelief of God’s word, and in vindication of Noah’s faith. The record in Genesis says that Noah did “according to all that God commanded him.” Then “the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.”

Noah’s righteousness consisted in his faith. While he had previously “walked with God,” the supreme test of his faith was the building of the ark. It was a faith exercised concerning “things not seen as yet.” No one ever had seen rain; no one ever had seen a flood; no one ever had seen a great boat floating upon the water. The wise men of Noah’s time scoffed at such propositions, as being unscientific and absurd. But it was with Noah as it was afterward with Abraham, he “believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Rom. 4:3. “Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.” Verse 9.

Abraham’s faith was notably “tried” when he “offered up his only begotten son.” As in the case of Noah, he was tested concerning “things not seen as yet”; for he offered Isaac “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” Now Abraham, or any one else at that time, never had seen a person raised from the dead; but God had promised to make of Abraham a great nation, and the promise specified that it should come thru Isaac. So Abraham reasoned that God’s word could not fail, and the resurrection of Isaac was essential to its fulfilment.

Noah had received much of the blessing of God before the flood; but his entry into the ark, his salvation when all the scoffers and unbelievers were destroyed, was after demonstrating his faith by obedience. It was thru obedience that the righteousness of his faith was sealed. The word was, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.” Then acceptable faith is practicable, visible. It is a theory that is demonstrable only in good works. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead.” Jas. 2:17.

When Abraham had proved his faith in offering up his son Isaac, the Lord said, “Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.” Gen. 22:12. Then the Lord magnified the promise, and added His oath to it. To the promise of an innumerable seed He added, “And thy seed shall possess the gate of His enemies” (meaning a final great victory); “because thou hast obeyed My voice.” Verses 17, 18.

The manifestations of faith are not that the Lord may know the heart; they are for witnesses to the truth before men, and for the purpose of proving us, that we ourselves may know whether we are in the faith. God does not want us to be deceived concerning ourselves. See 2 Cor. 13:5. God knew Noah before his great test in proclaiming the flood and building the ark, and established His covenant with him before he began the work. Gen. 6:18. He also knew Abraham before the trial of his faith on Mount Moriah. Before confiding to him the fate of Sodom, the Lord said, “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.” Ch. 18:19.

But God designs that the faith of His children shall glorify Him before the world. In this they are to be witnesses for Him unto all nations. He says to them, “Ye are the light of the world. . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5:14-16.

Two conspicuous characteristics will mark those who stand out in opposition to the wickedness that will pervade the earth when the judgment of God is again poured out; they will “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. And the peculiar sign that will show their faith by their works, at which the wicked will scoff as they did at Noah and his ark, will be the “Sabbath of the Lord”—which is the sign between God and His people forever. Ex. 31:12-17; Eze. 20:19, 20. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. The overthrow of Sodom was a type of the final judgment upon the wicked, and her people were destroyed because of “their unlawful deeds.” G.