By Jason A. Van Bemmel
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.[b] 4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. - Eph 2:1-7
The second half of the above passage from Ephesians 2 is as bright and hope-filled as the first half is dark and filled with despair. The difference comes in two words, "But God," that introduce the great work of God in Christ to save us from our death and condemnation and give us life and glory instead.
Jesus makes all the difference. It is hard to imagine any Christian disagreeing with that statement. "Know Jesus, Know Peace. No Jesus, No Peace." Our bumper-sticker theology teaches us that much at least. Yet do we really believe that Jesus and Jesus alone is enough to fully and completely save us from our sin, or do we still hold onto the very natural human desire to contribute something to our own salvation? To begin examining our hearts and answering that question honestly, let's take a look at exactly what the Bible says about what Jesus accomplished for us in His life, death, resurrection and resurrection:
1. Forgiveness. This seems like a natural starting point, since almost all Christians know one thing for sure: "Jesus died for my sins." At the Last Supper, Jesus said, "this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." 3 Yet, we should not overlook the profound gift that Jesus poured out in shedding His blood for our forgiveness. Sin is the essence of our problem. It is for sin that we stand condemned before God, and it is forgiveness of that sin that is the essence of our redemption: "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." 4
2. Redemption. Forgiveness of sins is the essence of our redemption, yet redemption is more than forgiveness. To be redeemed is to be "bought back" or "reclaimed by God." It is what happens to a slave who is set free, or a captive prisoner of war who is returned home to his own country. Sin enslaved us and Satan captured us into his dark kingdom, but Jesus redeemed us back to God. "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 5 "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." 6
3. Righteousness. Not only do we need to be forgiven of our sins in order to be acceptable to God, but we also need a real, positive righteousness, a perfect fulfillment of God's Law. The negatives, or demerits, must be cleared from our record, and we must also have perfect positives, or sufficient merit. Christ's death accomplished our forgiveness, and His sinless life achieved a perfect righteousness for us. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that Christ "became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." This is what the Bible means when it talks about "the righteousness of faith," or "the righteousness that comes through faith," or "righteousness through faith in Christ." Essentially, the Bible presents us with two ways of gaining righteousness: the works of the law and faith in Christ. By the works of the law, we seek to earn or establish our own righteousness. By faith in Christ, we give up on any attempt to earn our own righteousness and we rest in the righteousness of Christ: "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe." 7
4. Peace with God. We learned earlier that our sin brings us into enmity with God—it makes us God's enemies. The good news is that Christ brings us peace with God by Himself becoming our peace. "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 8 Jesus became our peace by taking the covenant curse upon Himself. Our sin brought us under all of the curses of God's covenant law, and thus put us out of covenant and into a state of enmity with God. Jesus "has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." 9
5. The Gift of the Holy Spirit. That verse leads us nicely to our next point, which is that Jesus' work also secured the gift of the Holy Spirit for the people of God. Having earned a perfect righteousness for us (a substitute righteousness) and having paid for our sins by taking the curse of the Law upon Himself (a substitute sacrifice), Christ obtained for us the promise of God, namely, the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. This promise was poured out on the early church at Pentecost and is the spiritual birthright of every believer, our seal of eternal redemption. "In [Christ] also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance." 10
6. Regeneration (Being Born Again). Closely related to the gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of regeneration, or of being "born again." When Jesus speaks of being "born again" in the famous John 3 passage, He speaks of it as being "born of the Spirit." In Titus 3, we read, "The kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." 11 Interestingly, many Christians speak of "being born again through faith in Jesus," as though regeneration were something which God does in us in response to our faith in Christ. The Bible does not use this language at all. It speaks of being "justified by faith" in Christ but nowhere does it speak of being "born again by faith." We are "born of the Spirit" and "born again … through the word of God," but not "born again through faith." In a future booklet, when we examine the process of salvation more carefully, we will see why this is an important distinction.
7. Eternal Treasures/ Our Eternal Inheritance (Glorification). Finally, Christ secured for us an eternal inheritance in heaven, a treasure that will not fade away and that thieves cannot steal and that moths cannot destroy. 1 Peter 1:3-4 speaks of this as our "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven" which we have "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
So, What Do We Contribute?
Most Christians would probably say "nothing" when asked this question about salvation. Yet, when they are pressed a little further, they would reveal their belief that they do in fact, contribute something, namely faith. We can be tempted to think of faith as the thing which we give to God in exchange for which He gives us salvation in Christ. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Far from being a gift from us to God, the Bible instead speaks of faith as a gift that God gives to us: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." 12 Some people have disputed the exact meaning of this passage. They question whether "it is the gift of God" refers directly to faith or more generally to our salvation. I believe it refers directly to faith, but even if it refers more generally to our salvation, certainly the faith through which we are saved is included in the package.
This is not the only place where faith is treated as a gift that God gives to us. The disciples cried out to Jesus, "Increase our faith!" 13 Paul says that "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" and that we should exercise our spiritual gifts in proportion to this faith. 14 In other words, God has not even given all Christians the same amount of faith.
So, faith is a gift that God gives to us that then enables us to believe in Christ and be saved. It is not something we give to God or something we even have in and of ourselves. If we think about it, this makes sense in the light of what we have already examined under the "total depravity" section. If the Bible is accurate in its description of our sinful condition, it would be impossible for something as precious and beautiful as saving faith to arise from our own sinful hearts. The only way we can believe is if God gives us the ability.
So, what do we contribute? Only our sin. Only our need. Everything else comes from Jesus by the goodness of God.
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. –Romans 11:36