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Man is responsible for his salvation. I say this in contrast to the Calvinistic idea that
proclaims all responsibility belongs to God as He arbitrarily chooses who will or will not
be saved. Now, before we go any further, let me clarify that man is not totally responsible
in the sense that he has to devise a plan to save himself, or work in such a way as to place
God in such a debt that Heaven "owes" him entrance. I say that man is responsible in the sense
that he must freely and faithfully comply with God's conditions of pardon in order to receive
the gracious benefits that God offers through man's Savior, Jesus.
While Calvinism proclaims that man is so depraved that he cannot do anything toward his salvation, the Bible demands that man must do certain things to obtain salvation! In Acts 2, Peter indicted the crowd that stood before him of murdering the Messiah. Upon hearing the overwhelming evidence, verse 37 says of the audience, "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" If Calvinism is true, Peter not only missed a perfect opportunity to teach thousands of souls that they couldn't "do" anything, but he also proceeded to proclaim error by telling the convicted crowd that there was indeed something they had to do! Consider his response: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Of course, Peter was not misleading the multitude that day — Calvinism is false, for salvation from sin does indeed require certain actions on the part of the lost. In fact, Acts 2:40 goes on to say, "And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." According to Calvinism, since man is totally depraved, God has to work directly on the heart of the sinner in order to produce even faith in the individual. The adherents of this system teach that without a direct calling of God, man cannot come to Him for salvation. A popular text used by those who proclaim this doctrine is John 6:44 wherein Jesus says, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." But notice the very next verse: "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." The terms, "taught," "heard," and "learned" are key to understanding how the Father draws man. He does so by means of the Gospel, not a direct operation of the Holy Spirit. "Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 2:14). God calls man out of sin — He draws men to Himself and to the Saviour — by His Word. This is precisely how the Holy Spirit works on the hearts of men. Paul describes God's Word as "the sword of the Spirit" (Eph. 6:17) — that instrument by which He calls and convicts sinners. God doesn't work directly on the heart of the sinner to produce faith; He uses His Word — the sword of the Spirit — wielded by the hands of faithful men to accomplish such (cf. Rom. 10:17). Once a person permits God's Word to produce faith in his heart, other actions must follow. Though faith is essential to salvation (cf. Jn. 8:24), it alone is not enough. James 2:19-20 says, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" A few verses later, James writes, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." Remember again what Peter told those who believed the gospel message he was preaching on Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." If we were to place this information beside Mark 16:16, we would have confirmation that faith, repentance, and baptism are all actions required on man's part for his salvation. Not only that, once a person is in a saved condition, he must continue to "walk in the light" that the blood of Christ might continually cleanse him from his sins (cf. 1 Jn. 1:7). God created us as accountable beings with the ultimate ability to obey Him if we so choose. By means of His Word, He pleads with us to come to Him in His appointed way. Though He desires for all men to be saved (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4), He will force no one. When all is said and done, we decide. Man is indeed responsible for his salvation. |