Without Merit is there Salvation?

[chrisb]

Grace and Peace,

Is there Salvation without merit? In other words, are we ultimately saved by our response to God’s Grace and is this response meritorious?

Thank you for helping me understand our faith.

 

[FCEGM]

Grace and Peace,

Is there Salvation without merit? In other words, are we ultimately saved by our response to God’s Grace and is this response meritorious?

Thank you for helping me understand our faith.

Chris, there is no salvation without merit. This article should help:

bringyou.to/apologetics/a127.htm

A brief excerpt on the point:

So when we say “merit” we mean that God is united with the soul and thus is giving divine value to our accepting His grace to apply or develop, simultaneously with His willing it, the “talent” of a virtue. Otherwise, we can’t say “merit” when God is absent. With God actually present, He first, and we simultaneously together with Him-Who-Is-Within, do the same virtuous action (“work”) and that is how there is an increasing meriting of the intensity of His presence within us, and increasing of the quality of His love within us.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

Grace and Peace,

Is there Salvation without merit? In other words, are we ultimately saved by our response to God’s Grace and is this response meritorious?

Thank you for helping me understand our faith.

My personal opinion is that our response to the grace of initial conversion is necessary but not meritorious.

We are saved by God’s grace. Our response makes it possible for His grace to operate in us. Once we are baptized into Christ, we can merit because we are ‘in’ him. Apart from him we cannot merit.

A baptized infant who dies is saved. This salvation was merited by Christ’s death. The infant’s parents requested baptism for him but they didn’t merit it for him.

 

[Cristiano]

I would look at things this way:

The default state is that you are going to be saved because God wants it that way.

You may change the default state (through free will). Move away from God through sin and reject salvation.

Using this approach you will see that you cannot merit salvation. It will happen by default as set by God.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Grace and Peace,

Is there Salvation without merit?

There is salvation in no other way.​

As for merit, it is impossible unless it is totally a grace. Which it is, in every respect.

In other words, are we ultimately saved by our response to God’s Grace

No, no, no, & no IOW - No. Not “ultimately” - ultimately, & in every respect, the whole of our salvation is all from God. If it were ultimately in our hands, that would be naturalism, not Christian faith at all.​

God & man are not joint authors of our salvation, like the co-authors of a book: the relation is more like that of the author & one of the characters in the story the author creates. It’s a lop-sided relationship, one in which God is responsible for all of our salvation, & gives us a part in promoting it too. And the more God works in us according to His Will, the more we fictional characters become like our Author.

The Cause of all our salvation is the undeserved, undeservable, totally, totally, totally, totally free grace of God. There is no price tag of any kind at all of any description - not for us.

The price has been paid in full by Christ: grace is of such great value, that God-made-man had to die in order to pay for it, God had to be crucified & to become accursed, had to become sin, for us to receive grace. There is nothing grace did not cost Christ - it cost His Father the Death of His Son Whom He Loves. That is how costly grace was to God, & is why it is absolutely free for us. We who need it cannot pay for it - God, Who is its only Source, could, & has paid for it, when there was not the least reason why He should, other than that He is Himself Infinitely gracious; He gives totally freely, because He is Himself infinite in freedom - there is nothing that can “make Him” act other than as He pleases to act.

So **if **by merit is meant, “something we do independently of God’s grace so as to earn good from Him (such as salvation)”, then merit is totally worthless, because it is based on the activities of the man without grace. The grace of regaining God’s favour cannot be earned by any good works whatever: it is a totally free gift of God, or it is not existent at all.

Christian merit is radically different. It can have no source but the mercy of God In Christ - so it is not something we could have independently of Him. It is itself a grace. Which is why there is not a shadow of justification for boasting of it. And as its source is Christ, we cannot use it as a title to gaining it when we do not have it: the enemy of Christ (= man before justification) cannot deserve the love of Christ with Whom he is not united in love. To deserve it, he can receive it only as a gift from the Christ with Whom he is not united. Then, & not before, he is a member of the Body of Christ, so that the only works he has any right to do are those of Christ - he has no right or desert to be “his own man”: he has no mind or body that is not Christ’s. The Christian is completely the slave of Christ: so that even his works are not to be his, but Christ’s. And because the Body & the limbs of the Body are Christ’s, the reward He receives is received by them.

If this sounds odd, that is because faith in Christ is a mass of paradoxes. But that is the sort of faith the NT shows us.

Hope that helps (Sorry about the length)

and is this response meritorious?

Thank you for helping me understand our faith.

 

[moondweller]

Is there Salvation without merit?

There is salvation in no other way.​

I fully agree!

As for merit, it is impossible unless it is totally a grace. Which it is, in every respect.

However, here I think you’re presenting an oxymoron. Grace by definition is free of all merit. Merit is free of all grace.

No, no, no, & no IOW - No. Not “ultimately” - ultimately, & in every respect, the whole of our salvation is all from God. If it were ultimately in our hands, that would be naturalism, not Christian faith at all. God & man are not joint authors of our salvation, like the co-authors of a book​

Absolutely! Salvation is not a process. It is not a co-operative effort by both God and man. It is gifted, in full, at the time of belief in Christ.

: the relation is more like that of the author & one of the characters in the story the author creates. It’s a lop-sided relationship, one in which God is responsible for all of our salvation, & gives us a part in promoting it too.

Yes. Like the Apostles who first took the word of reconciliation to the world. But that work did nothing to add to their justification which was gifted at the time of belief.

And the more God works in us according to His Will, the more we fictional characters become like our Author.

Yes. This is experiential sanctification. It’s not redemption, but God working in those who belong to Him, those whom He’s already redeemed through the blood of Christ.

The Cause of all our salvation is the undeserved, undeservable, totally, totally, totally, totally free grace of God. There is no price tag of any kind at all of any description - not for us.

The price has been paid in full by Christ: grace is of such great value, that God-made-man had to die in order to pay for it, God had to be crucified & to become accursed, had to become sin, for us to receive grace.

That right! “PAID IN FULL.” And Christ’s sacrificial work of redemption is appropriated to the believer, in full, at the time of belief in Christ.1 Pet 1:18-19 “…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ.”

Eph 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”

Heb 9:12 "…and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."There’s three Greek words for our one English word “redeem.” Together they convey the believer’s complete rescue from the penalty of sin, having been redeemed, once for all, through Christ’s sacrificial blood:Agorazo: It means to buy in a market; from agora, meaning “market.” Man is viewed as a slave sold to sin and under the sentence of death, but subject to redemption by the purchase price of the blood of the Redeemer (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; Rev. 5:9; 14:4).

Exagorazo, to buy out of the market, that is, to purchase and remove from further sale (Gal. 3:13; 4:5).

Lutroo, to loose and set free, never to return again (Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:18).

The noun form, lutrosis is used in Heb. 9:12 where it states that through His blood Christ obtained eternal redemption. At the time of true belief in Christ, by the grace of God alone, the believer is eternally purchased from the slave market of sin, never to return and set free: John 8:36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

So if by merit is meant, “something we do independently of God’s grace so as to earn good from Him (such as salvation)”, then merit is totally worthless, because it is based on the activities of the man without grace. The grace of regaining God’s favour cannot be earned by any good works whatever: it is a totally free gift of God, or it is not existent at all.

Any salvation based on the “activities of man” is inherently worthless. Divine salvation truly is a free gift of God:“For by GRACE you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, the GIFT of God; not as a result of (your) works…”

 

[thessalonian]

“You are glorified in the assembly of your Holy Ones, for in crowning their merits you are crowning your own gifts.59”

Eph 3
20] Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

There is no salvation without merit. The part in the merit of ours is saying yes to letting God work in and through us. It is his work that we do and so he is crowning his work in and through us.

 

[Cristiano]

Grace and Peace,

Is there Salvation without merit? In other words, are we ultimately saved by our response to God’s Grace and is this response meritorious?

Thank you for helping me understand our faith.

I was just looking at this from another point of view, because a lot of people think that choosing to accept salvation is a merit on our side.

If I am sick and I am dying I go to the hospital. Once I am at the hospital if the doctor is there I am saved, but if the doctor is not there I am going to die anyway. My choice of going to the hospital while a good one does not have any merit in it, because if the doctor is not there I am dead any way.

I think that there is a common confusion between having merit and being necessary. Our choice is necessary because God willed so by giving us free will; however, by itself it is completely useless unless the doctor is in (sacrifice of the Son)…

 

[moondweller]

“You are glorified in the assembly of your Holy Ones, for in crowning their merits you are crowning your own gifts.59”

Eph 3
20] Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

There is no salvation without merit. The part in the merit of ours is saying yes to letting God work in and through us. It is his work that we do and so he is crowning his work in and through us.

But the work we allow Him to do through us is not the work by which He saved us. That salvation work was completed by Another. And for that reason men are saved “by grace through faith…” By definition grace is free of any merit. Merit is free of any grace. Paul could not write: “For by merit you have been saved through grace…” That would be a contradiction of terms - an oxymoron.

 

[Teflon93]

Not according to Christ.

Matthew 25:

: Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2: And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3: They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5: While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6: And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7: Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8: And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9: But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10: And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11: Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12: But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13: Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
**14: For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15: And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16: Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17: And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18: But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
19: After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20: And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21: His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22: He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23: His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24: Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26: His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28: Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29: For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30: And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. **
31: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37: Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38: When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39: Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40: And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44: Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45: Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

 

[Philthy]

chrisb:

Is there Salvation without merit?

No.

In other words, are we ultimately saved by our response to God’s Grace

This is not at all the same question. This question will evoke some big claims and very impractical information with respect to salvation. Perhaps the biggest most useless claim is that it is “all God”. It’s not that I disagree with the claim entirely, it’s simply not particularly useful. For example - why would the person who believes its “all God” bother responding to your post? Do they not believe that its “all God” and that He will answer the question for you and promote your salvation?
In the purest sense we are not saved “by” our response. We are saved “by” grace. That is certainly not to say that our response is irrelevent. It is simultaneously true that without responding (if given the opportunity) to God’s grace we will not be saved. The response that we must embrace is one of faith. It is by grace that we are offered the opportunity to respond in faith. Scripture describes this as being saved* by* grace* through* faith.

and is this response meritorious?

God has bound himself to save those who respond through faith, and he has done this entirely according to the merits that Christ accomplished on the Cross. But having established that salvation is by grace through faith and binding Himself to honor his word, we can, in a sense, consider that when we respond in faith we have “merited” - within the context of the “rules” God established - the grace which Christ merited for us on the Cross.
Using the word “merit” is probably not the best term to describe what happens when we “fulfil the conditions” established by God with respect to his sovereign dispensation of grace, but when understood in the proper context it suffices.
Im sure I’ll be attacked profusely for such comments - probably from both sides!

Thank you for helping me understand our faith.

I think the following Q&A will give you more insight.

• Does salvation involve a response? Yes
• Must we individually respond in order to be saved? Yes
• Does God force our response? No
• So, does our response “save us”? Yes…and No.