There is an increasingly popular brand of theology that centers on the idea that God has done 100% of the work for our salvation and thus we have no part to play. It comes cloaked in a reverence for the awesomeness of God’s provision yet subversively relieves us of any responsibility in terms of how we respond to that gift. It essentially argues that God’s grace is so great that it covers us regardless of how we choose to live.
These doctrines hang on passages like, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no man may boast (Eph.2:8-9)” or “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 (Rom.10:9).”
Jonathan Edwards famously said, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
John Calvin went so far as to say that God chooses who will go to heaven, that we have no ability to choose God if He doesn’t choose us, and that we have no ability to resist Him if He does. Again, this theology relieves the beneficiaries of all responsibility (while leaving the unchosen completely without hope and making the Great Commission pointless).
While the originators of such theologies may not have intended for these ideas to lead people away from the narrow path, they breed complacency in our relationship with God and apathy in our relationship to our neighbors. The appeal of these paradigms lies in the concept that nothing is really required of us and that no matter what we do, we cannot lose this awesome inheritance.
There is even a modern worship chorus that goes, “I could never mess it up, I could never mess it up, I’m loved, I’m chosen, Your arms wide open, I could never mess it up” (The Perfect Love of Jesus – LO Worship & Adohan King).
While the Hebrew writer extols the superiority of the covenant Jesus gained for us (Heb.8), he also challenges us to consider the consequences of “neglecting” this great salvation (Heb.2:1-3). To do that, we must consider the full counsel of scripture.
Paul certainly told the Romans that they needed to confess with their mouth (Rom.10:9) and Jesus warned that those who are ashamed to confess His name before men will reap eternal consequences (Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26). But simply confessing Christ isn’t an end unto itself. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord (i.e., confesses Christ’s name), will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father (Matt.7:21-23).”
Similarly, both Paul and Jesus address the importance of believing (Rom.10:9, John 3:15), but it is still a giant leap to turn those words into the popular “Just Believe” mantra. James chides, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder (James 2:19), while 1 John 2:4 unequivocally states, “Whoever says, I know Him, but fails to keep and obey His commandments is a liar.”
The scripture clearly states that we cannot earn our salvation (Eph.2:8-9), but Jesus also said that if we love Him, we will obey His commandments (John 14:15). Not as payment for what He did, but as the fruit of our trust in, and fidelity to Him. Likewise, our good works don’t gain us God’s approval, but James makes it clear that a faith that isn’t strong enough to manifest itself into works is dead (James 2:20).
To be sure, God is the One who orchestrated our salvation, Jesus is the One who fulfilled mankind’s part of the covenant, and no one would come to Him without His drawing (John 6:44). In that regard, it is right to say that I had nothing to do with facilitating my own salvation. But the cross demands a response and our failure to respond has implications.
Even the concept that we love God comes with an expectation. When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus certainly placed loving God at the center of our mission (Mark 12:30 – love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength). If He had stopped there, our passion for the Lord might be enough. But He went on to command that we love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31) and before He went to the cross, Jesus raised that bar to loving them as He loves them (John 13:34)
Once again, the full counsel of scripture tells us that if a man says that he loves God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar (1 John 4:20); and that whatever we do unto the least of these, we do unto God (Matt.25:40 & 45).
To be sure, things like believing in God, confessing Christ, being obedient to His commands, good works and loving Him are all a part of walking out our salvation. But simply grabbing a hold of one of those concepts and ignoring the rest of scripture is to our own peril.
Jesus is our example, and He laid down His life in order to reveal the Father’s heart to a lost and dying world (John 14:9). Now, He is asking us to lay down our lives to reveal Him (Col.1:27) to a world that still desperately needs to find Him. He came that we might be reconciled to God and He has left to us the “Ministry of Reconciliation (2Cor.5:18)”. There is no shortcut, it will cost everything (Matt.10:39, Rom.12).
To follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily (Matt.16:24). If we try to gain our lives, we’ll ultimately lose them (Matt.16:25). If we refuse to take up our cross, Jesus says that we are not worthy of Him (Matt.10:38).
The cross demands a response and the choices we make reveal our hearts.
Choices to make:
(Deut.30:19) Life and death; blessings and curses
(Josh.24:15) Whom you will serve
(Matt.6:24) God and money
(Matt.7:13) The narrow gate and the broad gate
(Gal.5:16) The Spirit and the flesh
(James 4:6) Friendship with the world and relationship with God
(1Cor.3:19) The wisdom of men or the wisdom of God
Things to do:
(2Cor.4:18) Don’t focus on what is seen
(Prov.4:23) Guard your heart
(Heb.12:2) Fix your eyes on Jesus
(John 15:4-5) Abide in the vine
(1Thes.5:16-18) Pray without ceasing and in all things give thanks
(John13:34) Love others as He loves them
(1John 2:27) Live by the Spirit
God does not demand perfection, but He yearns for sincerity (2Chro.16:9).
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Bjcorbin's Blog 
Neglecting Our Salvation
Posted in Commentaries, tagged apathy, Calvin, choices, chosen, complacency, confessing Christ, consequences, contribute, covenant, cross, faith, full counsel of scripture, Hebrew, Jesus, just believe, mantra, neglecting, neighbor, obedience, obey, reconciliation, salvation, scripture, shortcut, theology, works on September 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »
There is an increasingly popular brand of theology that centers on the idea that God has done 100% of the work for our salvation and thus we have no part to play. It comes cloaked in a reverence for the awesomeness of God’s provision yet subversively relieves us of any responsibility in terms of how we respond to that gift. It essentially argues that God’s grace is so great that it covers us regardless of how we choose to live.
These doctrines hang on passages like, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no man may boast (Eph.2:8-9)” or “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 (Rom.10:9).”
Jonathan Edwards famously said, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
John Calvin went so far as to say that God chooses who will go to heaven, that we have no ability to choose God if He doesn’t choose us, and that we have no ability to resist Him if He does. Again, this theology relieves the beneficiaries of all responsibility (while leaving the unchosen completely without hope and making the Great Commission pointless).
While the originators of such theologies may not have intended for these ideas to lead people away from the narrow path, they breed complacency in our relationship with God and apathy in our relationship to our neighbors. The appeal of these paradigms lies in the concept that nothing is really required of us and that no matter what we do, we cannot lose this awesome inheritance.
There is even a modern worship chorus that goes, “I could never mess it up, I could never mess it up, I’m loved, I’m chosen, Your arms wide open, I could never mess it up” (The Perfect Love of Jesus – LO Worship & Adohan King).
While the Hebrew writer extols the superiority of the covenant Jesus gained for us (Heb.8), he also challenges us to consider the consequences of “neglecting” this great salvation (Heb.2:1-3). To do that, we must consider the full counsel of scripture.
Paul certainly told the Romans that they needed to confess with their mouth (Rom.10:9) and Jesus warned that those who are ashamed to confess His name before men will reap eternal consequences (Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26). But simply confessing Christ isn’t an end unto itself. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord (i.e., confesses Christ’s name), will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father (Matt.7:21-23).”
Similarly, both Paul and Jesus address the importance of believing (Rom.10:9, John 3:15), but it is still a giant leap to turn those words into the popular “Just Believe” mantra. James chides, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder (James 2:19), while 1 John 2:4 unequivocally states, “Whoever says, I know Him, but fails to keep and obey His commandments is a liar.”
The scripture clearly states that we cannot earn our salvation (Eph.2:8-9), but Jesus also said that if we love Him, we will obey His commandments (John 14:15). Not as payment for what He did, but as the fruit of our trust in, and fidelity to Him. Likewise, our good works don’t gain us God’s approval, but James makes it clear that a faith that isn’t strong enough to manifest itself into works is dead (James 2:20).
To be sure, God is the One who orchestrated our salvation, Jesus is the One who fulfilled mankind’s part of the covenant, and no one would come to Him without His drawing (John 6:44). In that regard, it is right to say that I had nothing to do with facilitating my own salvation. But the cross demands a response and our failure to respond has implications.
Even the concept that we love God comes with an expectation. When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus certainly placed loving God at the center of our mission (Mark 12:30 – love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength). If He had stopped there, our passion for the Lord might be enough. But He went on to command that we love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31) and before He went to the cross, Jesus raised that bar to loving them as He loves them (John 13:34)
Once again, the full counsel of scripture tells us that if a man says that he loves God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar (1 John 4:20); and that whatever we do unto the least of these, we do unto God (Matt.25:40 & 45).
To be sure, things like believing in God, confessing Christ, being obedient to His commands, good works and loving Him are all a part of walking out our salvation. But simply grabbing a hold of one of those concepts and ignoring the rest of scripture is to our own peril.
Jesus is our example, and He laid down His life in order to reveal the Father’s heart to a lost and dying world (John 14:9). Now, He is asking us to lay down our lives to reveal Him (Col.1:27) to a world that still desperately needs to find Him. He came that we might be reconciled to God and He has left to us the “Ministry of Reconciliation (2Cor.5:18)”. There is no shortcut, it will cost everything (Matt.10:39, Rom.12).
To follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily (Matt.16:24). If we try to gain our lives, we’ll ultimately lose them (Matt.16:25). If we refuse to take up our cross, Jesus says that we are not worthy of Him (Matt.10:38).
The cross demands a response and the choices we make reveal our hearts.
Choices to make:
(Deut.30:19) Life and death; blessings and curses
(Josh.24:15) Whom you will serve
(Matt.6:24) God and money
(Matt.7:13) The narrow gate and the broad gate
(Gal.5:16) The Spirit and the flesh
(James 4:6) Friendship with the world and relationship with God
(1Cor.3:19) The wisdom of men or the wisdom of God
Things to do:
(2Cor.4:18) Don’t focus on what is seen
(Prov.4:23) Guard your heart
(Heb.12:2) Fix your eyes on Jesus
(John 15:4-5) Abide in the vine
(1Thes.5:16-18) Pray without ceasing and in all things give thanks
(John13:34) Love others as He loves them
(1John 2:27) Live by the Spirit
God does not demand perfection, but He yearns for sincerity (2Chro.16:9).
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