Grace Alone Saves

"How did you evade the sin that condemns?"
Asked of me God's angel-keeper of the book.
"Not I," said I; "grace of a thousand hymns
Erased my guilt, when I the cross forsook!"
"What fruit offered; what works? that pays your toll?"
Came more persistent questions in response.
"None of mine; His grace lifted here my soul
When flesh failed and ended my life's ensconce*!"
"Who speaks for you, that has the right to plead?"
"Not I, but He, God's Son, Who brought us grace
When we were dying, all of Adam's seed!"
Ask me not what I did, or brought, or paid;
Grace alone saves a sinner who is strayed!

*ensconce = reign

If any man is saved from condemnation to hell, it is by the unmerited favor of God, called "grace". When his life is ended, the soul of every man lives on eternally. If he has accepted Jesus as Lord during life, his soul goes to heaven; if he has not, he is already condemned eternally to hell.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through him [Jesus]---and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8) [Brackets added]

You cannot earn your way into heaven, nor can you buy salvation. All religions except Christianity provide salvation by works, or good deeds, wherein the god has a balance scale, good deeds weighed against evil. Not Christianity though; a man can pile up good deeds to the sky, without a single offsetting evil act, and yet he is condemned if during life he has not accepted Jesus as Lord of his life. If he has, his salvation is given him by the grace of God. Those who believe that "any religion can save you" are deluded and they will find it out when it is too late.

Salvation is called "being redeemed" because the first man, Adam, sinned; this is called "original sin" and is passed on to every person born. You are born condemned; which to most of us seems a bit unfair; but God the Father sent His Son Jesus into the world; He is also God. By dying on the cross, He gave us a free pass out of condemnation into everlasting life. This "free pass" is grace, and grace made up for the unfairness of original sin. The only condition is that you HAVE to accept Jesus and live by His teachings, which are to love everybody. The world Jesus teaches is a good one in which there is no violence, evil, hunger---it's the kind of world you would want to live in anyway.