How
can it be so simple? I have been
wrestling with this notion, particularly today.
It's not difficult to understand the argument Jesus proposes in answer
to the question, "Why would anyone not be saved if salvation in a
unilateral act of God?" Nicodemus
must have been considering this question.
After all, his mind could not grasp the idea of salvation being a gift
unrelated to his good works. Jesus has
just demolished any claim he has on his own salvation. "Being saved is too
easy!" he must have thought to himself.
It's too inclusive; to permissive.
Cheap grace!
So
Jesus answers the unspoken question hanging in the air like an unidentified and
unwelcomed odor. "You want to know
why people will be lost when their salvation is provided? Let me tell you. It's simple." Jesus is, in essence, saying, "People
who miss out on the salvation God provides do so because they prefer to do it
their way. And any way other than the
way provided by God leads to death."
I
lose out because I prefer to do it my way?
How sad! I miss out because I
choose to act like a petulant child and stubbornly cling to what seems right to
me, or what I've always done, or what I like better, or what feels comfortable
to me. It's a humbling experience to be
told I have nothing to contribute. Being
saved is a humiliating experience. But
if I am drowning in high seas and I am thrown a life-preserver to cling to I
should hang on to the life-saver. But I
have a choice to swim my way back to the rescue vessel or even to the distant
shore. I will undoubtedly die. I have to admit my inability to save myself
and accept the effort of another to save me.
The spiritual truth, however, is even more unavoidable. Salvation does not depend on my contribution. It depends on God. I must simply surrender;
an act that apparently is not as simple to me as it ought to be. I have more in common with Nicodemus than I
want to admit.
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