Grace and faith: Understanding the balance between them

Grace and faith: Understanding the balance between them

BY Argie Simonis  

"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God". (Eph 2:8) 

That's one of the most powerful statements in the Word of God! Let us go deeper and expose some very important principles. Let's start with the definition of God's Grace – How do theologians define it?
According to Wikipedia, grace is "the divine influence which operates in humans to regenerate and sanctify, to inspire virtuous impulses, and to impart strength to endure trial and resist temptation; and as an individual virtue or excellence of divine origin".
In the New Testament grace means God’s love in action towards men who merited the opposite of love. Grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves. Grace means God sending His only Son to descend into hell on the cross so that we guilty ones might be reconciled to God and received into heaven.
"(God) hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In other words, grace may be defined as the unmerited or undeserving favor of God to those who are under condemnation.

Let's examine faith now. According to Wikipedia, faith is "complete confidence or trust in a person or thing; or a belief not based on proof."
I also like the Bible's definition for faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Faith and grace are connected in a perfect bond but in order for this to flow in harmony in our lives, we need to understand that grace is not something that is going to happen, but something that has already been done. And that's God's part. 

Faith on the other hand is not something we do to make God to respond. Faith doesn't move God. He has already moved by grace. Faith is just our positive response to what God has already provided by grace. Once we understand this balance between grace and faith, it takes the struggle out of receiving from God.  So, if God has done His part (grace), then it is just a matter of resting in what He has already done: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ". (Εph 1:3)
Jesus has already died for the forgiveness of our sins, the healing of our bodies and the deliverance from bondage.

"Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live to righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed." (1Pet 2:24) 
He became poor so that we might be rich:
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich." (2Cor 8:9) 
And all these have happened before we were even born, before we ever had a problem.  Our faith is our response to God's grace. If we get these things mixed up, we'll get frustrated. According to Eph 1:19-23, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead already dwells in us. You have the raising-from the-dead power at your disposal! Get up and start using it! God bless you.