"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" (Eph. 2:8, 9, NKJV). Summarize in your own words the meaning of this text. Ask yourself this question too: Why must salvation be by faith and not by works? Why can works not save us? See Gal. 3:21.

This passage explains the mode by which we are saved. The salvation of
man if made possible by the grace of God. Grace is simply receiving
something that you do not deserve. Grace is the unmerited favor of
God, the kindness of God extended toward us not because of anything
that we have done.

We do not deserve to be saved on our own, we deserve death. Because
each person who sins is worthy to receiving this punishment. (Ezk 18:20)
Therefore we must have faith in one who knew no sin. "Surely our griefs He
Himself bore, And our sorrows He Carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him
stricken of God, and afflicted.But He was pierced through for our
transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our
well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed."(Is 53:5)

We have access to the Grace of God through faith in what Christ
has done for us in offering himself as a substitute for our sins.

He was treated as we deserved,that we might be treated as He deserved.
He was condemned for our sins in which He had no share .He suffered
the death which was ours,that we might receive the life that was His.
(DOA 4,5)

If it were possible for our works to save us then there would have
been no reason for Jesus to die for our sins. The bible declares
that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)
Our righteousness will never be good enough therefore we need
the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Dwell on the paragraph above. What answer do you have to those questions? After all, what have any of us done to deserve eternal life? Who among us is so worthy that it's understandable why Jesus would die for that person? How does your answer help you better understand just how grateful we should be for salvation? More important, how well do your works reveal that gratitude?

We do not deserve eternal life it is a gift which is freely given to us
through Jesus Christ. And of course the appropriate response to such
a gift should be gratitude manifested in our daily lives. We are not
only to be saved by faith, be we must also live by faith.

Prayer: Father thank you for the grace which is given us in Jesus Christ. We do not deserve such a great gift and such a great love. May our hearts explode with joy, and love and gratitude , loving service for this gift. Thank you in Jesus name amen.