Ephesians 2:8-10 says that salvation is by grace and through faith. What are grace and faith, and how do they relate to "good works"?

Ephesians 2:8-10 states, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

       God's grace is His divine favor, His merciful kindness toward us. Faith may be defined simply as trusting belief in God and His promises. Salvation, then, is available to us only because of God's merciful kindness. We obtain it by trusting in God and the provisions He has made for us. This trusting belief, or faith, always manifests itself through the actions of the person possessing it (see Hebrews 11). That's what Paul means when he says that God's people are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Are people who have never heard of Jesus going to the lake of fire? What about small children? It doesn't seem God would punish people who never knew to repent. Please help.

Concerning the name of Jesus Christ, the New Testament informs us that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Jesus says, "He who believes in Him [Christ] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). Paul asks, "And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14). This indicates that a person must first hear the gospel, the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, before he can be saved.

       Yet, we are also told that God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4), and that Jesus Christ "gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (verse 6). He is the "Savior of all men" (4:10), the "Savior of the world" (John 4:42). He was not sent "to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (3:17). God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

       If God desires that all be saved, but salvation is possible only through the name of Jesus Christ, doesn't it make sense to conclude that God will, in His own time, see to it that all have an opportunity to hear the gospel, turn to Him in repentance, and accept Jesus Christ as Savior?

       God's Word reveals that many will receive salvation during the Millennium (Jeremiah 23:58; 31:31-34; 33:14-16; cf. Revelation 20:46; 5:9,10). First, the scattered peoples of Israel and Judah will be brought to their own land, where they will learn of Christ the King, and become a model nation for all the other nations of the world. From that beginning, the truth of God will go out into all the earth. The nations will seek to learn of Him, and inquire of His ways (Isaiah 2:24). The knowledge of God will fill the earth.

       But what about those who lived and died but never had an opportunity for salvation? Listen to John's description of the post-millennial resurrection, or Great White Throne Judgment:

       "Then [after the Millennium] I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books" (Revelation 20:11,12).

       Now, considering the scriptural teaching that God desires all to be saved, what will happen in this post-millennial judgment period if those who had never heard the name of Jesus Christ learn the truth regarding salvation? (Surely the process of judgment requires that those being judged hear and understand the truth.) A clue is provided in the text above. Read it again, and notice that the Book of Life is open during this period. Those who had not previously known the way of salvationall who had never had a full opportunity to come to repentance and accept Jesus Christ as Saviorwill have a chance to repent. And when they do repent, surely God will write their names in the Book of Life.

       Scripture indicates that only the terribly wickedthose who willfully reject God's offer of salvation will be cast into the lake of fire.

       At present, the dead are unconscious, completely oblivious to the passage of time. At the Second Coming, the dead in Christ will awaken to eternal life and rise to meet the returning Lord. After the Millennium, the rest of the dead will awaken to a mortal existence and be judged. But judgment is not synonymous with condemnation. Peter writes, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17). This shows that the process of judgment can and does produce the positive results of repentance and conviction. There is no reason to think, then, that God will not give those who had never had a full opportunity for salvation a chance to receive it during the Great White Throne Judgment period.

Isn't it true that God can give His Holy Spirit to a person who has not been baptized?

It is true that God can give His Holy Spirit to a person though that person has not been baptized. However, that fact is aside from the real question. The real question is: Should a repentant believer be baptized? The clear scriptural answer is a most decided yes. Jesus commanded His disciples, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). Later, on the Day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter said, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

       Scriptural example shows that even in a rare instance in which someone receives the Holy Spirit without first being baptized, baptism should still be administered (Acts 10:44-48).

The apostle Paul said that salvation comes by grace through faith, "and that not of yourselves," while James said that "a man is justified by works, and not faith alone." Did James and Paul disagree on this subject? Is a person saved by grace through faith alone? Or is salvation the product of faith combined with works?

James wrote, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:21-24).

       Yet, the apostle Paul said, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness'" (Romans 4:2,3).

       Notice that Paul and James quoted the very same scripture to support their arguments, which, at first glance, seem to be contradictory.

       James wrote only the one epistle, but Paul wrote several, and was consistent in his teaching that justification comes by way of faith alone. He insisted that "God reckons righteousness apart from works" (verse 6), and stated unequivocally, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9). He sharply rebuked certain false teachers among the Galatians for teaching that justification comes through a means other than faith.

       The solution to the seeming conflict between Paul and James lies in understanding the meaning of justification, and the way both writers used this term.

       When Paul spoke of being justified by faith alone, he used the term to denote one's legal standing before God. In other words, to be "justified" is to be forgiven of sins and declared righteous before God. No quantity of good works can produce this state of justification. It is granted to sinners, not on the condition that they first produce an impressive record of righteous deeds, but on the basis of faith alone! That's what Paul meant when he said that Abraham's belief (faith) was counted as righteousness.

       However, the term justification is not restricted to one narrow definition or nuance of meaning. Not only can the term mean "to be made righteous," it can also mean "to show to be righteous, or just." James had this meaning in mind when he wrote of justification.

       James wrote, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?" (James 2:14).

       The answer is obvious: No, a faith that produces no works is not saving faith. James's point was that if faith is genuineif it's the kind of faith through which a person is savedthen it will produce evidence of its existence. He didn't mean that a person can be made right with God only after he has performed sufficient works. He meant that if a person has been made righteous before Godnot on the basis of his own merits, but by grace through genuine faiththen his faith will be reflected in his behavior.

       Paul spoke of the faith that God sees, while James spoke of the faith that man sees. God knows whether we have real faithsaving faithfor He looks upon the heart. But man cannot look upon the heart; therefore, the only way men can "see" faith is by the works it produces.

       James continued, "If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith, if it does not have works, is dead" (2:15-17).

       James meant simply that if faith produces no works, then it's not faith at allthat is, it's not the kind of faith that pleases God. Merely saying that one has faith is not evidence of real faith, for real faith manifests itself in the way a person conducts his life.

       Continue: "But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (verse 18).

       Notice that James was speaking of what men are able to see. Men, unlike God, can see faith only by the works it produces.

       James pointed out that there is a belief that produces no works, no positive response to God, and that such belief is of little value. He wrote, "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believeand tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (verses 19,20).

       Belief in the existence of God is a good belief, but such belief is not necessarily evidence of true faith. It may be a form of faith, but if it produces no works, it is uselessit's not the kind of faith that saves. James pointed out that even the demons "believe," but their belief is not the kind of belief that results in good works or a change in behavior.

       To make his point clear, James illustrated the nature of true faith by pointing to the action producing faith of Abraham.

       "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (verses 21-24).

       For James, "faith only" meant fruitless faith, or faith that produces nothing, and "works" were inseparable from the trusting spirit (faith) that motivates them.

       James was not saying that Abraham achieved righteousness by his works; he was saying that Abraham was shown to be righteous by his works. In other words, evidence of real faith was seen in Abraham's obedience to God. Had Abraham refused to obey God's command to offer Isaac, then we may well conclude that Abraham's faith was not the faith that is reckoned as righteousness.

       His "faith was working together with his works"that is, his faith was producing works. The internal quality of faith was made evident by the things Abraham did.

       James said that "by works faith was made perfect." The Greek word translated "made perfect" is teleioo, which means "to bring to an end by completing or perfecting," and is used "of accomplishing" and "of bringing to completeness" (W.E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 846). Christ said that His "power is made perfect [teleioo] in weakness," which means that His power is shown most perfectly when human weakness is present (see 2 Corinthians 12:9).

       Abraham's faith was shown most perfectly, or made clearly evident, by the works it produced. His works were the end result, the accomplishment, of his faith.

       James said that "the Scripture was fulfilled," and then quoted Genesis 15:6, the very same verse Paul quoted in showing that justification is granted through faith alone. By reading Genesis 15 and subsequent chapters, you will notice that Abraham's belief (faith) was "accounted to him for righteousness" years before he was called upon to offer Isaac! James obviously meant that the faith God had seen in Abraham's heart many years earlier was demonstrated in Abraham's obedience. Again, his obedience was the end-result, or accomplishment, of his faith.

       James then cited another example of faith. He wrote, "Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?" (verse 25).

       Rahab believed that God was with the people of Israel, that Israel's God was the true God, and she acted according to her belief. Again, faith (belief) produced action (works). Thus, the record of Rahab's worksher act of receiving the messengers and of sending them out another wayshows us that Rahab had a real belief in God and in the promises He had made to Israel. Rahab was "justified" in that she was shown to be right, or to have a right attitude and perspective, by the things she did. Her outward actions demonstrated her inward faith.

       James went on to explain, "For just as the body without the spirit [breath, or life principle] is dead, so also faith without works is dead." In other words, if faith does not produce works, it is not the kind of faith that pleases Godit is dead, useless.

       By no means did James say that one can achieve a right standing before God by doing good works. He said that faith, if it is the kind of faith that pleases God, will produce works, thus making its presence evident to those of us who, unlike God, cannot look into a person's heart.

       That's precisely what Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-10: "For by grace you have been saved [justified: forgiven, declared righteous] through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

       Good works cannot produce salvation, but they always accompany salvation.

       Clearly, there is no disagreement between James's and Paul's teachings on faith, works, and justification. It's simply a matter of understanding what each meant when using these terms.

In 2 Peter 3:9, we are told that God is "not willing that any should perish." Is this referring to God's irresistible will or to His loving (but non-coercive) desire? Christian scholars seem unable to agree upon the meaning of this passage. Also, does this verse (and the surrounding text) imply that all opportunities for salvation will end at the return of Christ?

Theologians have argued over the meaning of 2 Peter 3:9 for hundreds of years. Some (often called hyper-Calvinists) hold that God's "longsuffering toward us" refers to His toleration of the "vessels of wrath" as He reveals His glory through the "vessels of mercy" (cf. Romans 9:22,23). The vessels of wrath (according to this school of thought) are those not predestined to be saved. Though they displease God, He patiently tolerates them until the full number of the predestined have come to repentance. Other theologians (known as Armenians) hold that God's seeming "slowness" is due to His giving man every opportunity to repent. He could intervene now, but He knows that He would have to destroy some who would have repented had they been given a little more time.

       Both positions are problematic. To rid the passage of any suggestion that human will and choice are involved in salvation, hyper-Calvinists must define "us" (verse 9) as mankind in general, and restrict "all" to those predestined to salvation. "The Lordis not willing" becomes a testimony to the sovereign will rather than a simple statement expressing God's desire. Armenians must assume that more time will result in a greater percentage coming to repentance. Unfortunately, this idea conflicts with the recurring theme of moral degeneracy as a characteristic of the end time (as in 1 Timothy 4, for example).

       The problem can be resolved by understanding that the "us" (rendered "you" in some translations) refers to Christians. Peter addresses his letter to "those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:1), not to the unconverted, non-Christian world. Peter is telling his readers to avoid falling into the attitude of those who "willfully forget" (3:5) who say, "Where is the promise of His coming?" (verse 4). The Neronian persecutions were going on at that time, and were proving to be a fiery trial for many Christians. (Peter was probably referring to the Neronian persecutions in his first epistle, when he wrote, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God" [1 Peter 4:17].) Some Christians, perhaps fearful of death and weary of suffering and persecution, began saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?" and claiming that their fathers' long history of suffering continues unchanged. Obviously, Peter is speaking of Christians, as only they would speak of the promise of Christ's coming and the dawning of a glorious new age.

       In effect, Peter is saying: "The Lord is not slow concerning His promise to return, establish His Kingdom, and bring an end to the tribulation some of you are having to endure. Some of you are discouraged and think the Lord is unnecessarily slow in fulfilling His promise. But rather than thinking of Him as slow, you should think of Him as being patient with you, for He has called you and does not desire that you perish, but that you repent of anything that would separate you from Him. He knows that some of you have succumbed to worldly influences and are not as careful as you once were in living holy lives. But know this: When the Day of the Lord comes, it will come suddenly, unexpectedly. The elements will melt with fervent heat; the old order will be completely overthrown. Knowing this should cause you to examine yourself and see to it that you are living a godly life."

       Peter was speaking to and about those who had already repented and accepted Christ after having been given an opportunity for salvation; therefore the passage does not confine all opportunities for salvation to this age.

In Exodus 20:5, God says, "For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Why must the children be punished for the sins of their parents? This seems awfully unjust.

At first glance, the passage does seem to suggest that innocent children are punished for the sins of their fathers. But notice that the passage you quoted does not say "innocent children." Rather, it says that God punishes those who hate Him, but shows mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments. God punishes the children for the sins of their parents only when the children follow their parents' sinful ways.

       There was a time during the tragic history of Israel that the people believed their trials and tribulations were due to the sins of their forefathers. But, through the prophet Ezekiel, God told the people they were in error.

       God said, "Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?' Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. The soul [the individual] who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him" (Ezekiel 18:19-21).

       If the children of the third and fourth generations (Exodus 20:4) turn from the sinful ways they learned from their parents, and begin to love God and keep His commandments, God will be merciful to them. Anytime an evil person turns to God in wholehearted repentance, God will mercifully pardon himno matter how sinful his parents may have been.

Does Hebrews 6:46 teach that a Christian who falls away is lost forever?

Hebrews 6:46 states, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame."

       The terms used in this passage show that the writer was not speaking of the occasional slip due to momentary weakness or the temporary emergence of an old habit. To "crucify again" Jesus Christ and "put Him to an open shame" involves a deliberate and quite radical departure from the Christian faith.

       Yes, the passage does teach that repentance is impossible for a certain class of people. But these two terms, repentance and impossible, provide the key to understanding how the unpardonable sin differs from other sins.

       If an individual, after coming to true conversion and experiencing the joy of salvation, falls into temptation and commits sin, but then "comes to his senses" and repents of his wrongdoing, he has not committed the unpardonable sinfor he has demonstrated in his own life that for him repentance was not impossible.

       If you think you have committed the unpardonable sin, are worried about it, and have prayed for God's mercy, you need not fear that the door of salvation has been slammed shut for you. The very fact that you are concerned about it and have sought God's mercy demonstrates a repentant attitude and therefore shows that you never "fell away" to the point that repentance was impossible.