Was Zacchaeus Saved by Grace Through Faith?

Luke 19:1-10: “And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans (tax collectors), and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Does Jesus actually require sinners to forsake their sins in order to be in His grace? Is holding onto sin consistent with being a true son of Abraham who walks in the same faith as he did? Could it be that Zacchaeus was actually saved by grace through faith? Is there another grace for those who don’t choose to forsake their sins and do right in God’s eyes like Zacchaeus did?

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

This is one of the most well known Bible quotes. Virtually all evangelicals know it. The conclusion that many preachers make from these verses is that salvation in Christ does not require deeds in any way.

Let’s analyze how Ephesians chapter two verses 8 and 9 apply in relation to Zacchaeus.

Would there have been any hope for Zacchaeus if Jesus did not die for Him? No. Was there any way in which Zacchaeus could have worked to purchase atonement for his sins? No. Did Zacchaeus in any way earn his chance to get right with God? No.

Do these realities mean, like many teach, that Zacchaeus was not required to forsake his sins and do whatever Jesus says? No. Zacchaeus still needed to forsake his sins and keep Jesus’ commandments. Would doing so mean that Zacchaeus was seeking to earn his salvation? Absolutely not.

Zacchaeus understood well that to exercise acceptable faith and be right with Jesus he had to repent of the dishonesty, thefts, and covetousness that he had been living in. He had to make a decision to forsake these things because they are out of line with Jesus’ Lordship. He is an authority figure. His true grace doesn’t oppose His authority. Jesus already had a rightful claim over Zacchaeus’ life (as he does with everyone). Choosing to practically recognize and live in line with this rightful claim is not paying a price to earn grace since it is not making God one’s debtor. This is the lesson in another commonly twisted Bible passage.

Romans 4:1-5: “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Choosing to practically recognize and live in line with Jesus’ Lordship is actually the essence of the faith of Abraham. Zacchaeus doing this was the cause of Jesus saying concerning him in Luke 19:8 “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”

Zaccheus had been ungodly yet, like Abraham, he was no longer ungodly when he turned to the Lord. The opportunity to turn to the Lord and be accepted was there for Zaccheus when he was ungodly. This was not something Zacchaeus had worked for nor earned in any way. Therefore, he really was saved by grace through faith.

Zacchaeus had no reasonable grounds to boast about being in God’s grace. The requirements involved in exercising faith and obtaining grace didn’t mean Zacchaeus’ salvation was not a gift even though there were things he had to do to exercise faith in order to comply with the terms of grace. Note the very verse before Romans 4:1-5.

Romans 3:31: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

Now consider another commonly twisted Bible verse.

Isaiah 64:6: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

This verse is actually a lamentation of the wicked state of Israel. It is spoken in regard to how there were virtually no righteous people there in Isaiah’s time. This did not have to be the case. It is similar to when Elijah lamented before God that he was left alone of the faithful and was told that there were 7,000 in Israel who had stayed faithful and not bowed their knees to the false god Baal.

Zaccheus’ offerings at the Temple would have been rejected and considered as filthy rags, along with anything else he did to try to please God, while he regarded sin. That would not be the case after he really surrendered to the Lord and walked accordingly.

Those who try to use Isaiah 64:6 to attempt to claim the inevitably of living in sin and uncleanness are essentially claiming that Zacchaeus’ works would have been the same in God’s eyes as he served Jesus faithfully as they would have been had he remained unrepentant. Look at what they are communicating to people.

Those who twist Isaiah 64:6 to teach inevitable sin do not regard the context of the verse. They don’t even know the surrounding verses unless they are just deliberately trying to hide them. Isaiah 64:6 communicates something much different when it is simply read with the verse before it and verse after it.

Isaiah 64:5-7: “Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.”

Those that stir themselves up to take hold of the Lord and walk in His righteous ways are those who obtain His grace- since they are the ones who are exercising faith in Him which He regards as acceptable. They are not as an unclean thing nor are their righteousnesses as filthy rags in His eyes. They do not fade as a leaf nor do their iniquities take them away like the wind.

Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Along the same lines, Revelation 21:27 says (concerning the New Jerusalem): “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Zacchaeus rightly understood that to properly receive Jesus and become a true spiritual son of Abraham who was no longer lost he needed to make restitution to those whom he had defrauded and to give half of his goods to the poor. He had to tear his heart from the love of money, amend the injustices he had committed to the best of his ability, and do the good which he had neglected to do for so long. It is evident that if Zacchaeus turned back to sin afterwards, he’d be denying Jesus and he’d no longer be a partaker of God’s grace.

None of this changed the slightest bit after the cross. The Apostle Paul testified the following before King Agrippa.

Acts 26:19-20: “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet (or, fitting) for repentance.”

There is no way for anyone to be a spiritual son of Abraham who exercises a living faith in the true God without turning from their sins and submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ like Zacchaeus. There is no alternative grace for those who don’t do so and those who turn away from doing so.

At a typical evangelical church all the regulars would know Ephesians 2:8-9. Yet the same people probably are not familiar with Ephesians 5:5-7. They should be.

Ephesians 5:5-7: “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.”

These verses do not contradict Ephesians 2:8-9. They rather complement Ephesians 2:8-9.