Articles
Noah Found Grace
People disagree about what saves us. Is it God’s grace? Is it our faith? Is it faithful obedience to God’s instructions? To all these questions, I would simply answer yes. And I believe the example of Noah is a good one for us to learn from.
In Genesis 6:3 we read of a time when God said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years” (NKJV). I understand this to mean that God decided that He would destroy mankind in 120 years. God explains why in Genesis 6:5, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God was sorry He had made man, and “He was grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:6).
However, as God planned to destroy mankind (Genesis 6:7), He extended His favor to one man. That man was Noah. Genesis 6:8 reads, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” This was indeed a blessing for Noah, but what did it mean? I think the writer of Hebrews sheds light upon that question. Hebrews 11:7 tells us that it was not only God’s grace but also Noah’s faith that saved him as we read, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
Now we see that God extended His grace to Noah by warning him “of things not yet seen yet.” God told Noah that He planned to flood the world and destroy all mankind. This was the warning of things “not yet seen.” The flood had not yet occurred. It was 120 years away, although there is no indication that God told Noah how long it would be, God knew when He would bring the flood, but Noah only knew it was coming – not when it was coming.
God told Noah that “the end of all flesh has come before Me” (Genesis 6:13), and He told Noah what to do to be saved. Genesis 6:14 says, “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch.” God told Noah what kind of wood it should be; what size it should be; how many doors and windows it should have; and how many stories it should have. God told Noah he was to bring animals onto the ark with specific instructions as to how many of each kind and of each gender. And Genesis 7:5 says, “And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him.”
Now think back to Hebrews 11:7. This idea that Noah did all that God commanded is expressed in the scripture as it tells us that Noah “moved with godly fear” and “prepared an ark for the saving of his household.” So, God’s grace was shown in that He warned Noah about the flood that was coming. Noah’s faith is shown in that he believed God, and Noah’s faith was fulfilled in the works he did as he obeyed the Lord’s instructions.
So, we see the grace of God combined with the faith of man which led man to obey the commandments of God that were intended to save him in the example of Noah. Is that not what God has done for us today? God has determined a day when the world will be destroyed. Peter tells us this in 2 Peter 3:7, “But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Peter says too that God is waiting because He is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). So, God has extended His grace to us in a warning just as He warned Noah.
And God has told us what to do to be saved. He sent His Son to die on the cross accepting the punishment that we deserve for our sins (1 Peter 2:22). Having sent His Son, God calls on us to believe in Him. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
His Son Jesus said we must repent and be baptized in Mark 16:15-16 telling His apostles, “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” We see confession of one’s belief is called for as it was when Philip taught the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. When they came to water the eunuch sought to be baptized, and Philip said “If you believe with all your heart, you may” (8:37).
And those who accepted this teaching on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:37 asked what they should do. They were told to also repent as we read in Acts 2:38, “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.”
They turned from their sins asking for forgiveness. They were baptized, and their sins were forgiven. Then in Acts 2:41-42 we learn that those who received the teachings “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” It seems reasonable to do as Noah did – all that God has commanded. We should believe the warning of things that we have not yet seen. Believing we should put our faith in God’s Son who died for us. We should repent of our sins; confess our belief in Jesus; be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins; and live steadfastly in the doctrine set forth by the apostles in the New Testament.
God saved Noah and his family, because they believed and obeyed Him. The waters of the flood lifted the ark up and washed sin off the face of the earth. God will save us too if we believe and obey Him.
We can be buried in the waters of baptism, and God will wash away our sins. This is what Peter was talking about in 1 Peter 3:20-21when he wrote of Noah and the ark “in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The flood was a type of salvation that foreshadowed baptism. Baptism is not a type but rather the process in which God saves men today who heed His warning in the gospel and choose to believe and obey.
