Was Noah “saved by grace through faith”?

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CNKW3

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This idea of....”saved by grace through faith” is probably the most misunderstood teaching in the NT.
The fact is.....all people from Adam to now are saved the exact same way, “by grace through faith.” This is not some Pauline doctrine that didn’t exist before Christ. When we look at Noah we will see that what I’m saying is true.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
.....Noah received grace from God. What did grace do? Did it save him right then and there? No. Grace did what grace always does, it instructs.
Titus 2:11,12 tells us that grace has appeared to ALL men TEACHING us.
What did grace do for Noah? It gave him the way of salvation through building a boat. What does grace do for us today? It gives us the way of salvation through the preaching of the gospel (believe, repent, confess, be baptized for remission of sins)

Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
......Noah was obedient to the instruction given. As ludicrous and crazy as it must have sounded, Noah did it. And, what does the Bible call this? FAITH!

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
......So, God through grace provided the way and Noah by faith was obedient and therefore ultimately was “saved by grace through faith”! A person is NEVER “saved by grace through faith” through mental acceptance alone. NEVER! You can’t just lay on your bed, shed some tears, say a prayer, and walk out a child of God, accepted by him unto salvation. Why? Because grace NEVER instructed anybody to do that for salvation.
 

Stranger

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So, was Noah saved when he started building the boat, or when he finished building the boat?

Stranger
 
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Helen

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So, was Noah saved when he started building the boat, or when he finished building the boat?

Stranger

Good point. :)

I would say the moment he gathered the first tree and made the first plank.
2 Cor 8:12 "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not."

The moment Noah believed.


Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
 

bbyrd009

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Ernest T. Bass

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This idea of....”saved by grace through faith” is probably the most misunderstood teaching in the NT.
The fact is.....all people from Adam to now are saved the exact same way, “by grace through faith.” This is not some Pauline doctrine that didn’t exist before Christ. When we look at Noah we will see that what I’m saying is true.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
.....Noah received grace from God. What did grace do? Did it save him right then and there? No. Grace did what grace always does, it instructs.
Titus 2:11,12 tells us that grace has appeared to ALL men TEACHING us.
What did grace do for Noah? It gave him the way of salvation through building a boat. What does grace do for us today? It gives us the way of salvation through the preaching of the gospel (believe, repent, confess, be baptized for remission of sins)

Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
......Noah was obedient to the instruction given. As ludicrous and crazy as it must have sounded, Noah did it. And, what does the Bible call this? FAITH!

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
......So, God through grace provided the way and Noah by faith was obedient and therefore ultimately was “saved by grace through faith”! A person is NEVER “saved by grace through faith” through mental acceptance alone. NEVER! You can’t just lay on your bed, shed some tears, say a prayer, and walk out a child of God, accepted by him unto salvation. Why? Because grace NEVER instructed anybody to do that for salvation.


Good post.

Also of note, Noah's obedient faith (not faith only) in building the boat did not earn him God's grace. God's grace required the work of building the boat hence the work in building the boat was a necessary condition God placed upon His free gift of grace.
 

Ernest T. Bass

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So, was Noah saved when he started building the boat, or when he finished building the boat?

Stranger
God commanded Noah to build a boat to certain specs and not until Noah completed the boat to those specs did he fulfill God's command. Leaving the boat partially built would have been disobedience to God's command and would not have saved him or his house from the flood. As CNKW3 noted, salvation requires one to believe, repent, confess, be baptized for remission of sins. Just 'belief only' is incomplete, belief is just part of what God has said therefore belief by itself will not save. All the belief only in the world will not save an impenitent person just as an incomplete boat would not save Noah and his house.
 

CNKW3

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Good point. :)

I would say the moment he gathered the first tree and made the first plank.
2 Cor 8:12 "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not."

The moment Noah believed.


Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
So, he was saved from the flood the moment he plucked a twig? A plank does not a boat make.
 

CNKW3

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No offense but I have to disagree, the first does not say anything about men teaching us in my opinion,
Titus 2:12 Lexicon: instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
But rather Grace? The left arrow can be hit in the link for the Lex on 11
It is the grace of God that has supplied instruction in the way of salvation. That instruction has come from the Spirit through men. We have this treasure in earthen vessels.
 

Ernest T. Bass

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God commanded Noah to build a boat to certain specs and not until Noah completed the boat to those specs did he fulfill God's command. Leaving the boat partially built would have been disobedience to God's command and would not have saved him or his house from the flood. As CNKW3 noted, salvation requires one to believe, repent, confess, be baptized for remission of sins. Just 'belief only' is incomplete, belief is just part of what God has said therefore belief by itself will not save. All the belief only in the world will not save an impenitent person just as an incomplete boat would not save Noah and his house.
I will add that the salvation of Noah's house was not completed just when the boat was totally built, they had to also obediently board the boat. No salvation outside the boat.
 

bbyrd009

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It is the grace of God that has supplied instruction in the way of salvation. That instruction has come from the Spirit through men. We have this treasure in earthen vessels.
OK, by all means go with that then if you like,But then I got to ask, what was I just now doing LOL
 

Enoch111

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......So, God through grace provided the way and Noah by faith was obedient and therefore ultimately was “saved by grace through faith”!
That is completely false. It is not Noah's obedience which guaranteed his salvation, but the grace of God to Noah BEFORE he obeyed God. Noah believe God and was therefore deemed righteous. The evidence of his genuine faith is that (a) he preached to those around him and warned them of the wrath to come (hence he is called a preacher of righteousness in 2 Peter 2:5) and (b) he built that Ark exactly as God showed him, and then filled it with all those creatures according to God's directives. It is interesting that nothing is mentioned about the faith of his family, yet eight souls were saved within the Ark.

No one is "ultimately" justified. Justification is a one-time act of God purely on the basis of His grace and the finished work of Christ. Sanctification (obedience) follows. And those who are justified are ULTIMATELY glorified (Rom 8:29,30).

How is is that professing Christians are so confused about the grace of God? It is called *amazing grace* because it is beyond human comprehension. No human being would ever do what God does in His grace and mercy.
 
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Grailhunter

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This idea of....”saved by grace through faith” is probably the most misunderstood teaching in the NT.
The fact is.....all people from Adam to now are saved the exact same way, “by grace through faith.” This is not some Pauline doctrine that didn’t exist before Christ. When we look at Noah we will see that what I’m saying is true.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
.....Noah received grace from God. What did grace do? Did it save him right then and there? No. Grace did what grace always does, it instructs.
Titus 2:11,12 tells us that grace has appeared to ALL men TEACHING us.
What did grace do for Noah? It gave him the way of salvation through building a boat. What does grace do for us today? It gives us the way of salvation through the preaching of the gospel (believe, repent, confess, be baptized for remission of sins)

Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
......Noah was obedient to the instruction given. As ludicrous and crazy as it must have sounded, Noah did it. And, what does the Bible call this? FAITH!

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
......So, God through grace provided the way and Noah by faith was obedient and therefore ultimately was “saved by grace through faith”! A person is NEVER “saved by grace through faith” through mental acceptance alone. NEVER! You can’t just lay on your bed, shed some tears, say a prayer, and walk out a child of God, accepted by him unto salvation. Why? Because grace NEVER instructed anybody to do that for salvation.

You could not be more wrong! Even if you used both hands and tried to be wrong!
 

FHII

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Also of note, Noah's obedient faith (not faith only) in building the boat did not earn him God's grace. God's grace required the work of building the boat hence the work in building the boat was a necessary condition God placed upon His free gift of grace.
The problem with that is that Noah found Grace in the eyes of God before he was even given the command to build the ark.

Every once in a while the Bible has thoughts thown in that aren't in chronological order. The book of John at times is like this, especially in the first half of chapter 1. But I don't think this is the case here.

Reviewing Genesis 6 and Hebrews 11, it appears to me that he found Grace in a wicked generation and was found perfect in that generation. He then had faith to build the ark. He already had faith and thus, received Grace and the commission.
 

FHII

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Overall, I do like the OP, but I do have some reserves and feedback.

A person is NEVER “saved by grace through faith” through mental acceptance alone. NEVER! You can’t just lay on your bed, shed some tears, say a prayer, and walk out a child of God, accepted by him unto salvation. Why? Because grace NEVER instructed anybody to do that for salvation.
I actually believe this is almost true, but it comes dangerously close to adding works to salvation. As I mentioned in another post, Noah already had Grace and by the faith he already had prepared the ark. Yes, we are to keep the faith and obey God when he blessed us with tasks due to that faith.

So I agree with that principle.

The fact is.....all people from Adam to now are saved the exact same way, “by grace through faith.” This is not some Pauline doctrine that didn’t exist before Christ. When we look at Noah we will see that what I’m saying is true.

The problem is that there WAS something different. Noah at the time he was alive and the time he died (despite having Grace through faith) was not at the same level as anyone in Paul's time or our time. He might be now, but not then.

Read that carefully, and I apologize because I am sure there is a better way to word it. Noah had Grace, but not the fulfilling Grace Paul preached about and we now enjoy even more abundantly than even in Paul's day.

Today... I do believe we are on the same level, Noah included. I have many Bible verses that back that up, but I will get to the big verse:

You mentioned Hebrews 11. Great, but what is concluding in that chapter?

Hebrews 11:39-40 KJV
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: [40] God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Noah obtained a good report through faith, but he didn't receive the promise. Noah without "us" wasn't made perfect.

Now the "us" I believe in a spiritual sense is the last generation (which I believe we are), but literally, it's talking about the era of the apostles and the New Testament.

In essence, Noah was made perfect when Christ died and Paul revealed that gift. He was perfect for his time, as the Bible says, but not in 32-34 AD, 65 AD OR 2019 AD.

But in terms of the overall point of the OP, I like it. Grace through faith is an amazing gift. We must increase our faith daily and walk in it. Not by obeying the Law, like I believe many think we should. But by trusting God and understanding his plan.
 

Grailhunter

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Why do you guys keep doing this? There is no salvation in the Old Testament. It does not matter if you are Noah or Esau, everyone is gathered with their fathers in Sheol. God did not promise heaven as a reward in the Old Testament nor did He threaten people with hell in Old Testament. The only "saved" that Noah got from his faith, was that his family was saved.
 
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CNKW3

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That is completely false. It is not Noah's obedience which guaranteed his salvation, but the grace of God to Noah BEFORE he obeyed God. Noah believe God and was therefore deemed righteous. The evidence of his genuine faith is that (a) he preached to those around him and warned them of the wrath to come (hence he is called a preacher of righteousness in 2 Peter 2:5) and (b) he built that Ark exactly are God showed him, and then filled it with all those creatures according to God's directives. It is interesting that nothing is mentioned about the faith of his family, yet eight souls were saved within the Ark.

No one is "ultimately" justified. Justification is a one-time act of God purely on the basis of His grace and the finished work of Christ. Sanctification (obedience) follows. And those who are justified are ULTIMATELY glorified (Rom 8:29,30).

How is is that professing Christians are so confused about the grace of God? It is called *amazing grace* because it is beyond human comprehension. No human being would ever do what God does in His grace and mercy.
First of all...where does the Bible say....”amazing grace”? Grace might be amazing but it’s not as amazing as you make it out to be.

Second....let’s look at the following passage....
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
When did Noah become “heir of righteousness”? AFTER he prepared the ark. The text explicitly says....”by the which he became”. He did not become an heir before obedience.

It is just like baptism.....
Galatians 3:27-29 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
When does the believer become an heir? AFTER obedience in being baptized into Christ.
Now, show me where you become an heir BEFORE obedience. Where are all the examples?
 

Enoch111

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Why do you guys keep doing this? There is no salvation in the Old Testament.
Just goes to show that your should be here learning the truth, not trying to expound on Scripture. So why do you *other guys* keep blundering around?
 

Enoch111

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First of all...where does the Bible say....”amazing grace”?
This is hilarious!

It shows that you have absolutely no idea of the grace of God, which is astounding, amazing, awesome, marvelous, stupendous, incomprehensible, incredible, unbelievable, inexhaustible, wonderful, and can only be grasped by those who have experienced it.