Fundamentals of Faith: Salvation

As we continue our series on the Fundamentals of Christianity, we come today to a truth that sits at the very core of Christianity. Everything we believe about love, forgiveness, humanity, and life stands on this doctrine. If we misunderstand this fundamental, we will misunderstand Christianity itself.

To understand why this matters, it helps to begin with a moment in church history that changed everything.

In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation erupted with an intensity that could not be stopped. What began as a theological concern soon reshaped Western Christianity. In 1520, Pope Leo X wrote a papal bull (a formal document issued by the Pope) titled Exsurge Domine (ecks-sur-jay doh-min-ay) that circulated throughout Germany, seeking to excommunicate a relatively unknown monk. The document declared, “Arise, O Lord, and judge Thy cause. A wild boar has invaded Thy vineyard.” That “wild boar” was Martin Luther.

Luther became one of the most important figures in Protestant church history because of his 95 theses challenging the Catholic Church’s teaching, particularly on the issue of indulgences. Through prayer, study, and teaching, Luther came to the conviction that salvation is not earned through human effort, religious performance, or church mediation. Salvation is the work of God, by grace, through faith.

You may recognize the Latin phrases sola fide (faith alone) and sola gratia (grace alone). These truths became foundational to the Protestant Reformation and remain essential to Protestant Christianity today. Luther proclaimed them in opposition to the teaching of indulgences, which held that forgiveness and eternal life could be purchased with money or through religious acts.
Going against that system, Luther insisted that Scripture plainly teaches that sinners are saved by grace through faith, not by merit.

The consequences of this teaching were enormous. If salvation comes through faith in Christ alone, then priests are not mediators of grace. Scripture becomes central. Faith is formed and cultivated by the Word of God, not by rituals, payments, or prayers to saints. Then the authority of the church no longer rests on power or fear, but on the gospel itself. As you can imagine, this did not sit well with the powers that be.

I begin here because this is a fundamental Christian truth that many people, even sincere believers, still struggle to fully grasp today.

Throughout this series, we have been laying a foundation. We have talked about God as Creator, about how humanity was made in His image, and about the importance of truly loving and forgiving as God calls us to do. Each of these truths builds upon the next.
You cannot understand the Christian life without forgiveness.

You cannot understand salvation without understanding our condition apart from Christ.
And you cannot live faithfully as a Christian if you misunderstand how salvation works.
Many people have left traditions rooted in works-based righteousness and entered Protestant churches, yet they still live under the burden of earning God’s approval. They believe in grace intellectually but, in practice, live as though salvation depends on their performance.

My purpose today is to show that salvation is by grace through faith alone, by walking through Ephesians 2:1–10, which happens to be the fundamental explanation of this truth in all of Scripture.

Ephesians 2:1 - 10

The Apostle Paul begins by writing to the church in Ephesus with an unfiltered description of the human condition:

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…”

This language evokes a vivid picture and the truth of what we are apart from Christ. He says we were dead in our sins. This always reminds me of the fictitious creatures from horror movies and voodoo called zombies. Recently, zombies have been called the walking dead; mindless creatures seeking to satisfy their base hunger for human flesh. To me, this is the perfect illustration of what we are before we became followers of Christ: mindless and dead corpses seeking to consume the flesh of the world.

Before you or I ever came to faith in Jesus Christ, we were walking in spiritual deadness. We existed physically, but our souls were lifeless toward God. We were enslaved to sin, blind to its power, and unaware of our condition. We were, as Paul describes, the living dead—moving, functioning, and breathing, but not truly alive.

This aligns with what we have already established in this Fundamentals series. Humanity, though created in the image of God, is fallen. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death.

If sin earns death, and all have sinned, then the conclusion is unavoidable: apart from Christ, humanity begins life spiritually dead.

Paul continues:
“We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires…”

Before Christ, we were shaped by the world’s values. We followed our own desires. We defined right and wrong according to what pleased us. Paul clarifies that this way of life is influenced by the “ruler of the power of the air,” Satan himself.

If you reflect honestly on your life before Christ, you can probably see this reality. Many of us lived for ourselves. We had little concern for God’s will. Our moral boundaries shifted based on selfish desires and the pleasures of the flesh. We did what felt right in our own eyes.

Paul reminds us that all of us were once there. We were all dead in our sins and lived according to our selfish desires.

If the story ended there, it would be hopeless. There would be no purpose in telling it. But Scripture is filled with moments where everything changes.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us…”
Two words shift the entire narrative: But God.

Because of God’s great love and mercy, He intervened and did not leave us to our demise. Instead, in his grace and mercy, He…“Made us alive with Christ!” Even while we were still shackled in sin.

This is the gospel. Dead people do not fix themselves. Dead people are made alive by God.
God forgives us, and He transforms us. We are brought to life; we are united with Christ. Our identity changes. Our position changes. Our hope changes. Our future changes.

This connects directly with what we have already taught in this Fundamentals series about life. True life is not found in individualism or self-expression. True life is found in a restored relationship with God.

When we are fully alive in Christ, everything is reshaped: our purpose, our obedience, our relationships, and our hope. God is not obligated to save us. He saves us because He is gracious and merciful.

Paul now summarizes the core of Christianity:

“For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is receiving what we do not deserve. Faith is trusting fully in Christ and His finished work. Salvation is not achieved; it is received.

This dismantles the idea that church attendance, giving, service, or moral behavior earns salvation and God's favor. Nevertheless, those things matter, but they do not save.

If salvation were based on works, pride would replace humility, and the cross would become unnecessary. But salvation is a gift, freely given, and fully enough.

Paul concludes:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”

Good works matter, but they follow salvation, not precede it. They are the fruit of new life. Obedience flows from gratitude, not fear of damnation.

This fits perfectly within the Fundamentals of Christianity. Grace produces transformation. Faith results in obedience. New life bears fruit.

Conclusion
So, as we conclude, I leave you with a fundamental question:

Are you fully alive in Christ, or are you still dead in your trespasses?

God’s grace is greater than your sin. His mercy is deeper than your failure. Through Jesus Christ, life is offered, real life, abundant life, eternal life.

The old ways no longer define you. The darkness no longer owns you. In Christ, death has been defeated, sin has been broken, and God’s grace has the final word.
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Life will still bring hardship, but nothing can overcome what Christ has already conquered. Jesus has defeated death, and because of Him, you can truly live.
 

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