It Just Happens

     There is a scene near the beginning of the movie Back to the Future.  The McFly family is sitting around the dinner table, and mother Lorraine is expressing deep concern about Marty's girlfriend Jennifer calling him at home.  Lorraine exclaims how girls who call boys are just looking for trouble, and then goes on to tell her children how she never called boys or sat in parked cars with boys (which we learn later in the movie isn't the truth).  Older sister Linda asks, "Well how will I ever meet anybody?" to which Lorraine pats her hand and says, "Well, it will just happen!"  This unintentional approach proves to be false in the movie, and it is false in real life too.  Yet some people apply that same false logic to their lives, including their salvation.  They act as if it will "just happen" and we don't have any part in it, or take any action, or make any decisions.  

      What is your testimony of coming to Christ?  Some testimonies are very dramatic--people hitting rock-bottom from a life in crime, coming to Christ and being radically transformed, writing books, and starting their own ministries to help people who are caught in the same sins they were.  Other testimonies are not nearly that interesting, but are just as vital.  My salvation story was pretty basic.  I was five years old.  After disobeying my mom in a particular instance, I recognized I was a sinner, and was completely lost without Christ.  I knew He had died for me.  I knew that I needed to be "born again" so this was what I chose to do.  The Holy Spirit was convicting me of my sin and need for salvation, and I responded to His prompting.  Romans 10:13 says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  That's what I did.  I called upon Jesus for my salvation.

1987, shortly after I became a Christian

     Some people appear to make commitments to Jesus, only to deny that decision later.  So what happened?  Was it a fake decision?  Were they not taught well enough to have really trusted in Christ for their salvation?  Or was it real, and they are just straying right now, and God will eventually bring them back?  I would suspect that every person in this situation is different, but to be honest, I can't know that.  Neither can you.  That is a little above our pay grade!  

     Because of these people who didn't seem to stick to their salvation decisions, some have become very wary of witnessing at all.  I recently heard a pastor's wife speak derogatorily about "decision-based" salvation.  By this, she meant telling someone to pray a particular prayer and then telling them they're saved as a result of this prayer.  While I would agree that saying a prayer isn't what saves us (it's faith in Christ), and that we should really make sure the person understands what they are doing before trying to give them assurance, I am confused by the problem she has with the idea that salvation is a decision we make.  Like Lorraine McFly, she seems to think it "just happens."  Does salvation "just happen" in our lives without anything on our part?  

     In our ministry, my husband and I often run into people who are terrified about leading others to Christ, in case they might give the person "false assurance."  This concern seems to run ramped nowadays, and has Christians paralyzed with fear about obeying the Great Commission.  People are concerned about making salvation too easy--a "get out of hell free" card.  As a result of these concerns, many I meet are needlessly complicating it.  

     Let's make something clear.  Nothing "just happens."  God is sovereign in orchestrating events.  We respond to those events, which, in turn, causes events.  It is one of the mysteries of how He works.  We are not powerful enough to thwart His plans for history (after all, this is real life, not Back to the Future!  HA! HA!), and there are times we need to rest in His Lordship as He works things out.  Other times, He leads us to take obedient action.  Let's take a look at what is involved in salvation--from God's side and ours.

     God's side first.  We are told in Ephesians 1:14, ...He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world... This teaching appears in other scripture passages as well.  Romans 8:28-30 states: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and to these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.  This is my favorite passage in all of scripture.  It is rich with teaching about our God, and how He calls believers to Himself.  His plan includes our initial acceptance of Him (justification), our growth in Christ over time (sanctification), and our future perfection in His presence (glorification).  First John 4:19 says, We love Him because He first loved us.  God initiated our redemption and relationship with Him.  Jesus told His disciples in John 15:16, You did not choose me, but I chose you.  Again, we are reminded that God started it--we did not.  We responded to Him.  This verse goes on to tell us that Christ didn't just chose us for salvation, but also for His plans for us to bear fruit for His kingdom.  I hasten to add to this that we are finite, and are not able to fully grasp God, or how He works.  His Sovereignty (kingship) is beyond our thinking.  We don't completely understand, but it is enough that God's understanding is perfect (...God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. First John 3:20; ...there is no searching of His understanding. Isaiah 40:28).

    Our side:  If God is Sovereign, and He initiates our relationship, do we do anything?  According to scripture, yes!  There are several verses we call Condition-Promise verses.  These are verses which contain the conditions we must meet in order to be saved, and then the promise that is ours if we meet these conditions.  Acts 16:31 is a verse I use a lot (for its succinctness) ...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...  The condition is that we are to believe on the Lord Jesus, and if we do, the promise is that we will be saved.  We are to place our faith in the finished work of Christ in order to be saved.  Jesus paid the price, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of our need, so this means that God orchestrated it, but now, we still make the choice to take that for our salvation.  

     There are different views that Christians have about our part in this.  Some Christians believe in the doctrine of Irresistible Grace, which means that we must respond favorably to the gospel when the Holy Spirit prompts.  Others believe we have the ability to accept or resist the Holy Spirit.  It is not my purpose to wade through that right now, but those on both sides of that argument would agree that we do receive salvation by grace through faith.  Other verses that talk about our responsibility are John 1:12 (the condition is to receive and believe, and the promise is that we will become children of God), Romans 10:9-10 (the condition is to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, and the promise is to be saved), and Romans 10:13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  All of these Condition-Promise verses are really telling us the same thing (but using different words and imagery).  I even say Ephesians 3:17 is a Condition-Promise verse, in that it says, So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  The condition is at the end of the phrase, and it is to have faith, and if we have that faith, the promise is that Christ will dwell in our hearts.  Along with Revelation 3:20 (behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in...), I believe this is where the phrase "Ask Jesus into your heart" comes from.  Throughout the 20th century, that phrase was used synonymously with getting saved or becoming a Christian.  Suddenly, though, "invite Jesus into your heart" has fallen out of favor.  I still think it is a valid phrase, so long as it is understood.  We need to accept what Jesus did for us, taking it for our very own by faith, and calling on Him.  We are trusting in Him alone, not in our own deeds, not in our religious affiliation, not in the faith of our parents.  We are taking Christ's offer of salvation for ourselves.  Those who reject Christ and the salvation He offers us have only themselves to blame.  We are responsible to receive what He did for us.

     I have heard some express concern in saying we play any role in our salvation.  They say, "No, salvation is all Christ and not us."  Well, I actually agree with that.  We can do nothing in and of ourselves to contribute to our salvation.  Christ did it all.  Even the faith to believe is a gift from God and the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing... Ephesians 2:8; No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. John 6:44).  So in every important way, we have nothing to do with our salvation.  But we still have to receive it!  If you were drowning in the ocean, and someone threw a life preserver to you, and you grabbed hold of it, and were pulled to safety, would you claim you had saved your own life, by grabbing the life preserver?  No!  You would profusely thank the one who threw it to you!  You still had to take it, but that doesn't put the credit onto you.  You just received the life-giving offer thrown to you!  All the credit goes to the one who threw it, and in our salvation, all the glory goes to Jesus.  

     Now, about this "false assurance" that I have been hearing about.  We certainly don't want to give people false assurance.  But the thing is, it isn't even our job to give real assurance.  That, too, is above our pay grade.  In our ministry, we let assurance rest on the Word of God.  After someone professes faith in Christ, we go back to the same Condition-Promise verse we had used to lead them to that point.  If I used Acts 16:31, I would then ask the person the question, "If you meant that, what did Jesus just do for you?"  Hopefully, they would say, "He saved me."  I would then ask, "How do you know?"  The first time I ever did this form of evangelism, the person said, "Because you promised," to which I (im)maturely said, "But what if I'm lying?" and the person looked horrified.  I then took five minutes explaining how I wasn't lying, but what if I was?  Of course, the right answer would be to take them back to scripture.  I would go back to Acts 16:31 and say, "This verse we read a minute ago says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  If you did that and meant it, what does this verse say that Jesus did for you?"  The answer, according to the verse, is that He saved the person, and they can see that.  I am not telling them they are saved, I am letting scripture tell them, and I always have the important caveat, "If you did that, and meant it" because I can't see their heart.  Also, though, it is the Holy Spirit's job to give them assurance.  Romans 8:16 says, The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.  Additionally, it is the person's own job to make sure they are saved.  Second Peter 1:10 says, ...give diligence to make your calling and election sure...  It is the job of the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the person himself to make assurance.  It is not the job of the evangelist.  We can't be so paranoid about false assurance that we don't even witness at all.  And we can't pull a Lorraine McFly and just act as if salvation is so vague it "just happens" and just refuse to touch it.  We are called to salvation, and once saved, we are called to share the gospel.  Jesus commanded the disciples to preach the gospel to the whole of creation (Mark 16:15).  That wasn't just a command for the first disciples.  It's for all of us, and is reiterated throughout the New Testament (First Corinthians 9:16, Second Timothy 4:5, First Peter 3:15).  

     Salvation doesn't "just happen."  God initiated it from before the foundation of the world, and we receive it by faith.