The Bible tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.” But what exactly does that mean? The dictionary tells us that faith is trust in something or someone. You are trusting a bridge when you drive over it. You are trusting a bank when you put your money in it.

Imagine what it would be like to fall off a ship and be drowning in the North Atlantic. Someone sees you and calls the Coast Guard and they send a rescue helicopter. You can hear the beating sound get closer and closer until the helicopter is directly overhead. As you frantically tread water you see a line drop out of the side of it and a diver is lowered to within a few feet of you. He reaches down to you and says, “Grab my hand.” Do you hesitate and wonder if he's got the proper diving credentials? Do you worry whether the helicopter is air worthy or the pilot is qualified to conduct ocean rescues? You don't know these things but there is no time to find out. You have to make an instant judgment. If you believe and trust the diver, then you reach up and you grab his hand and are lifted to safety.

That’s what faith is. Faith is grabbing the hand of God. Faith is taking him at his word. Faith is trusting him. And it’s the only way to be saved. The New Testament says, “It is by grace that you have been saved, through faith.”