I'm no theologian, but...

Beth has a question for Beth:

Anita - I didn't want to post to Beth because I don't know her well and don't want her to take offense but I have a Q about her post.


My understanding is that God is always present and always "there" and that He has given us freewill. He never "steps away" from us but unfortunately we can choose not to follow Him. Thus, while our Salvation has nothing to do with us and is entirely due to His grace, we still have to make the choice to come back into relationship with Him for it to occur.


I understand what she's saying about the gift of faith but my impression has been that the progression isn't gift-realization-relationship but realization-gift-relationship.


Does that make sense?

Beth - this is a really good question and I'm sure that Beth wouldn't be offended at all!

What you have described is a fairly common understanding of the "coming-to-faith" process. This understanding of the salvation process is known as "synergism" - that is, God's grace + man's choice = salvation. Both participate in the process; both "do" something.

To be fair, there is some language in Scripture that seems to imply that a choice is involved. Some of the ones that come to mind are:

"Choose this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..." Rev. 3:20

"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

While it's true that God gave us free will at Creation, our will has been in bondage to sin ever since the fall. What's more, Scripture clearly indicates that man can't choose to come to God:

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you." John 15:16

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12

In fact, the Scriptures describe our natural condition as being spiritually dead, an enemy of God.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins," Ephesians 2:1

Just as a corpse cannot restore itself to physical life, unregenerate man cannot restore himself to spiritual life. Rather, we must be regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. We contribute nothing; God does it all. This view is known as "mongergism" and Scripture describes this passive reception of faith and salvation in a number of places:

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." John 6:63

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:5-8


So if the Scriptures teach that we don't - in fact can't - come to him by our own strength or will, how do we reconcile that with the Scriptures that seem to imply that a choice is involved? If you look at the verses that I used as examples, it sure sounds like there's a choice, doesn't it?

Steve Newell (a Christian apologist) says: "So if we cannot make a decision, then why do we see people "making a decision" for Christ in the Bible? What gives life in God’s word? In Romans 10:14-15, Paul writes that it is the hearing of Gospel that gives one the ability to call on the name of the Lord. Through the book of Acts, people’s ability to respond to the Gospel is always preceded by the proclamation of the Gospel. What they take for "making decision" is actually their responding to what God has already done. In Peter's proclamation of the Gospel to Cornelius' household, the Holy Spirit came down on those who heard the message (Acts 10:44)Later, the Apostles stated that it was God who gave the Gentiles that ability to repent (Acts 11:18). Even our ability to repent is a gift of God."

Look at those "Choice" verses again: If you look at them in context you'll notice that they aren't written to unbelievers, but to believers. The first two are exhortations to believers to choose to remain faithful/return to faithfulness; the last is not a "formula" for salvation, but a description of what (by the power of the Spirit) has already occurred.

Trust me Beth, I know this one is a toughie. My husband struggled with this for years. He told me how, when when he was younger, he "walked the aisle" dozens of times to "dedicate" and "rededicate" his life to Christ because he was never sure that he was really saved. I could never understand this. I asked him: Didn't he believe God's promise? His response: He trusted God's part, but he didn't trust his own part - he could never be sure about his decision, whether is was sincere enough.


I think that's just heartbreaking, but I get where he's coming from and I understand how he could be so terrified. Because the reality is, as sinful human beings, we never ARE sincere enough - and we never will be. Not on this side of heaven anyways.


Thankfully, God has not made our salvation provisional. It's not "grace + my works". It's not "grace + my choice". It's grace + nothing. That's the only equation that works, because the moment you introduce a human element, the equation becomes tainted. Only God has the power to save us and we must not usurp that power for ourselves. To do so is to reject the completed work of Christ on the Cross.


"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8


It may sound as if I am judging the faith of "decision makers" as false. I'm not. The understanding of how they came to faith may be imperfect, but the faith itself- given as a gift of God - is not.


"I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." Romans 12:3


I know that in my husband's case, the realization that his salvation was a 100% God-done thing was literally life-changing. I guess that's part of why I get so passionate about it. I hope that helps you understand where Beth and I are comig from when we say No Choice!