One misunderstanding about Christian salvation is that you are saved by faith. Faith is involved but the key thing to remember is that you are saved by grace. Grace means that something undeserved is given as a gift. It is true that we must have faith but it is not the strength of our faith that saves us. It is the power of the grace of God.
There is nothing that a human being can do on their own power to gain salvation. The debt of sin is too much for our feeble efforts. God grants it to us as a gift. If you are of the Reformed tradition you believe that this grace is only extended to those who are elect. If you are Arminian you believe that God’s power is available to save any who respond in faith. Either way it is the grace that does the saving not our ability to believe.
Let me give a crude illustration. Sitting in the parking lot is an eighteen wheeler, loaded to the gills and you need to get it over Donner Pass. We talk as if you are moving it, but the truck does not move because you are powerful. You may turn the key, release the break and press the accelerator, but it is the engine in the truck and the fuel in the tank that makes the miracle of modern transportation happen. It is the highways built by others that provide a path. All you could do on your own was sit and wish.
Salvation is like that. God’s power is ready to move the load. You may think you are the driver, but you are nothing without Him. As Alistair Begg said on a pod-cast,
“We are not saved by belief. We are saved by a savior in whom we believe.”Accept the gift if you are not already on board. Turn the key of faith and let the engine of grace move the load of sin.
homo unius libri
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