Must We do Anything to be Saved?
Throughout the Old and New Testament, the Scriptures consistently affirm that individuals have a role to play in the salvation process. Some religious groups contend that a person has no role to play in their salvation and that, apart from God preforming a miraculous operation upon a person, no one would be saved. On this view then, man does not contribute even the smallest amount of effort toward his salvation and therefore bears no responsibility. The Bible however, stands in stark contrast in its repeated affirmations of God demanding a response from individuals for the purpose of receiving the remission of sins and Him taking into account the obedience of those He has commanded. God speaks concerning His own expectations of every person that hears His commands: that He will not save anyone apart from their obedience and that all who choose to obey will be saved.
The Old Testament
While the occurrences are so plentiful and cannot possibly be presented here, the following passages are sufficient to demonstrate that God takes into account the actions of man as they relate to salvation.
When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land . . . As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, “You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.”
But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. (2 Chronicles 7:13-20)
Here we read of God setting up an agreement between Himself and His people. This agreement however, was conditional upon the actions of the nation of Israel. God is saying to the people “if you sin, I discipline you. But if you turn again to me, I’ll receive you back.” According to God, on who’s side of the court does the ball lie: mankind’s or God’s? God is saying that the ball was in Israel’s court! This is to say that God had set in place an objective grounds by which He would judge Israel, weather evil or good. And then based on where Israel found themselves in relation to God’s objective standard, God would dispense either His blessings or His wrath. God’s decrees in this passage then, were contingent on the actions of the people of Israel. God structured His relationship with them such that He would take into account the free choices of the people in regard to their destruction or salvation.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
(Isaiah 1:16-20)
The people to whom the prophet Isaiah spoke were exceedingly wicked in the eyes of the Lord. In the first half of the first chapter, God gives us a brief sketch of Israel’s depraved state. They are said to have forgotten God, to be laden with iniquity, they were a brood of evildoers, a people who have forsaken God, a putrefying and open sore, and were those whose hands were full of blood (1:2-15). If a person contributes nothing to their own salvation, then it follows that Israel would be in need of some sufficiently saving measure from God wholly apart from anything they did. If Israel is in a state of condemnation and there is nothing that they can do to contribute to their reconciliation to God, then Israel’s salvation depends completely on God saving them apart from their contribution. But God identifies that, contrary to Israel being unable to contribute to their reconciliation, He explains that the opposite is true! The Lord, who was desiring that Israel should be saved, identifies the cause of their persistent separation from Him: the absence of repentance and obedience from the people.
The Lord exhorts them, “wash yourselves, make yourselves clean” (vs. 16). God even pleads with the sinful nation, “Come now, let us reason together . . . though [your sins] are red like crimson, they shall be as white as wool.” In this passage, it is easy to identify the party who is unwilling and the Party who is willing: God is willing to save Israel, but Israel is unwilling. The question arises, What would the outcome be if Israel was also willing? “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.” God leaves no doubt, He placed the responsibility of being saved on the people of Israel. He had done all that was needed for the people’s salvation, but God ultimately required a response from Israel.
The Lord exhorts them, “wash yourselves, make yourselves clean” (vs. 16). God even pleads with the sinful nation, “Come now, let us reason together . . . though [your sins] are red like crimson, they shall be as white as wool.” In this passage, it is easy to identify the party who is unwilling and the Party who is willing: God is willing to save Israel, but Israel is unwilling. The question arises, What would the outcome be if Israel was also willing? “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.” God leaves no doubt, He placed the responsibility of being saved on the people of Israel. He had done all that was needed for the people’s salvation, but God ultimately required a response from Israel.
“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,
“Return to Me;
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
Then you shall not be moved.
“O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?”
“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
“Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”’” (Jeramiah 4:1, 14, 18:7-11)
Here again we find the willingness of God to save a nation on condition of their obedience. The Lord commanded “wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved” (4:14). If it is the wickedness of their hearts that has placed them in a state of condemnation, and if they can contribute nothing no their salvation, then salvation can only come by God cleansing their hearts from wickedness. But why, if God knows that Israel can do nothing to obtain salvation, would God command that they wash their hearts in order to be saved? God once more affirms His own willingness to save Israel if only they would turn back to Him. But it is imperative that we recognize God’s repeated affirmations of both mankind’s ability and responsibility to meet the conditions of God’s gracious offer of salvation for the purpose of obtaining that free gift. If God did not take into account anything in man for the purpose of saving them from sin, then no conditions for man to meet could ever be set in place in order to obtain salvation. But conditions have been set in place in order to obtain salvation. Therefore, God takes into account something in man for the purpose of saving them from sin.
But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die . . . because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? . . . and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? . . . because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive . . . Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies . . . Therefore turn and live! (Ezekiel 18:21-32)
Perhaps no other passage of the Old Testament so forcefully demonstrates God’s fervent desire for mankind to turn to Him “and live” than Ezekiel 18. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. This is to say that it is God’s intent for every person to be saved. No exception. But if God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and would rather have them to be saved, why are all people not saved? The answer is given in the text; it is because there is something in each individual that God takes account of in regards to salvation. Therefore, knowing that each individual bears responsibility for their salvation, God pleads with the wicked: “‘For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn and live!’”
The New Testament
It is not only in the Old Testament that we see man’s ability and responsibility to God for salvation, but also in the New Testament as well. Though the New Testament has fewer examples of God taking into account the thoughts and actions of individuals regarding salvation, the examples that we do find are sufficient both to conclude our study and to fully demonstrate the point.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37)
Jesus here issues a profound statement of sorrow and longing. Jesus, the Creator of all the universe, stands over Jerusalem weeping at their state of condemnation. He likens Himself to a mother hen, diligently seeking her baby chicks so that she may protect them under her wings. In the illustration then, Jerusalem represents baby chicks who, though their mother pursues them, are unwilling to yield to her desire. If salvation and reconciliation depend on God alone and mankind has no part in it, then this passage would not be a description of God’s compassion but of His inadequacy! If God does not take into account anything related to the ones He wishes to save, then Jesus is admitting to everyone who reads this passage that, though He desired to saved Jerusalem, He was not powerful enough. However, if God has designed salvation so that mankind must respond to God’s grace, then Jesus’s power to save is not brought into question, but rather the willingness of those whom He wanted to reconcile. Matthew 23:37 then, is a powerful demonstration of man’s role in salvation.
Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. (Revelation 2:20-22)
The contention that this study set out to prove is that there is something in each individual of which God takes account regarding salvation. If no other passage in the Bible spoke on the subject, this passage would perhaps be adequate to prove the point. Either God extends a genuine offer in these verses or He is merely toying with the idea that people can repent and be saved when it is not even possible that they can repent. Is this the God of the Bible, who would offer salvation on condition of repentance when He knows full well that those to whom He offered it cannot receive it? Surely this passage demonstrates that God takes into account the thoughts and actions of each individual in regard to their salvation.
And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. (Luke 7:29-30)
God’s willingness to save sinners and His instance of man’s response to His grace is powerfully illustrated in this verse. Luke makes it abundantly clear that God desired the Pharisees to have their sins remitted in the baptism of John. But it is made equally clear that the Pharisees rejected this will and therefore remained in sin. If it was God’s will to forgive them of their sins and there is nothing in man which God takes into account, then their sins would have been forgiven. Since their sins were not forgiven in virtue of them rejecting God’s will, the conclusion is impressed upon us that God has made it necessary for individuals to respond appropriately to His will for salvation.
A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’”
And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
But the father said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they began to be merry. (Luke 15:11-24)
One of the most famous parables of Jesus, the story of the Prodigal Son is a wonderful illustration of our relationship to our Heavenly Father, especially when applied to salvation. It is said in John 1:12-13 that “as many as received [Christ], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.” Pairing this passage with the parable in Luke 15, the relationship between God and man for salvation becomes clear. It is said that the son “came to himself . . . arose and went to his father”. If the son had never arisen, he would have never been brought back into the house; he would have never been saved. Therefore, the son had a crucial part to play in his own reconciliation. But of who’s will was the son brought back into the house? Was it by the will of the son, of the servants, or of the older brother? Hardly! It was only by the will of the Father that the son was brought back into the house! But the son had to arise and go to his father in order to be received. For “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.”
Conclusion
To conclude, the Scriptures contain repeated affirmations of man’s ability and duty to respond to God’s offer of salvation; there is something in each individual which God takes account of regarding their salvation. Therefore, Jesus declares that “not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord.’ Shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” and again, “. . . [Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Matt. 7:21, Heb. 5:9). Likewise, destruction is not declared on the wicked arbitrarily, but is rather based on their rejection of God’s gracious offer of salvation, for He will be “taking vengeance on those who . . . do not obey the Gospel” (2 Thess. 1:8). It is then declared that God has given the Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him”, as Peter says, “you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of all the brethren” (Acts 5:32, 1 Pet. 1:22). God takes into account the intents and actions of men regarding salvation. He has conditioned His gift of salvation on our obedience to His commandments and our obedience is in order to obtain His gracious gift.