“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God (vs. 8-9). Those are beautiful words: “Noah found grace…” First, “grace” indicates that Noah was not a perfect man; otherwise he would not have needed grace. Second, we see the compassion and mercy of God. All sin is punishable. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). But God was willing to extend grace and that grace would ultimately be a result of the sacrificial offering of Jesus on the cross. “But,” someone says, “At this point Jesus had not yet died on the cross.” That is true, but in the mind of God that sacrifice had already been made: “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8 NKJV, NIV). Hebrew 9:15 and Rom. 3:25 add to this that Jesus’ death took care of the sins committed under the first covenant. Therefore, no one who has ever lived has had a chance to be saved except through Jesus Christ.
But we also notice that God’s grace was not extended to Noah unconditionally. Noah’s life was in contrast to the world around him whose thoughts were evil continually. Instead, Noah was righteous; he walked with God. Though he was not perfect, his life reflected God and was therefore blameless. Later in 6:22 we note that Noah “did all that God commanded him.”
Now let’s consider a few questions. Was Noah saved by grace? Indeed he was. We just read that in 6:8. Well, was Noah saved by faith? Absolutely. We read in Hebrews 11:9, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” So, Noah was saved by grace and faith. What about obedience? Did Noah have to obey God in order to be saved or could he just rely on grace and faith? Ridiculous question isn’t it? In fact, Noah’s faith moved him with fear so that he obeyed God and constructed an ark. What if he had refused to construct the ark? Would he have been saved? No, he would have drowned with the rest of the world.
Let’s add another question: Is constructing an ark work? Indeed it is. It was not the kind of work that earned Noah his salvation, but it was work nonetheless; it was work that God had commanded and it was necessary for his salvation. Noah was still saved by grace and faith, but without obedience (building an ark), Noah would not have been saved. That is exactly the principle James teaches in James 2:14-26. “Faith without works is dead,” James said. The works James is speaking of is obedience to the Lord, but not perfect obedience. James was not talking about works in the sense of doing anything by which man earns his salvation or is good enough to deserve salvation. No matter how much we obey, we are still sinners and therefore do not deserve to be saved. The idea of being saved by one’s own works (goodness and/or connection to the physical lineage of Abraham, is denied by Paul in Romans 3-4.
So how are we saved today? Exactly the same way. No one has ever been saved any differently. God has extended grace through His Son, Jesus. When we respond in obedient faith, He forgives us of our sins. In the New Testament, obedience includes confessing Jesus as the Son of God (Rom. 10:9-10), repenting of sins and being baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:37-38). The very idea that we could be saved without obeying these commands, and all other commands God has given, would be like saying Noah could be saved without building an ark.