The Gospel is such a befuddling concept that it could never have been made up. No one would teach such a concept to start a religion if it weren’t true.

Think of how non-common sensical it is. If I were starting a religion and I wanted everyone to behave a certain way, I would never tell them that it is not through their effort they are saved. I WOULD tell them they have to earn it. I would make sure that they abide by rules and regulations and convey to them that they won’t know whether they will be accepted by God until the very end, so that they will never let up on rule following.

Or, if I wanted to be more popular and feel good about myself, then I would tell people that they are all saved regardless of their beliefs and lifestyles. That, in the end, they will all end up in the same place called heaven. And since we will all end up in the same place, let’s be humane to one another!

But the gospel is neither. It is baffling because it says that salvation is not achieved by human effort, however, human effort is an evidence that salvation has been achieved. So, rather than taking an active role in our salvation, we take a passive role.

“He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel you heard…” Col 1:22-24

It is not even that God gets the ball rolling and then we keep it moving. It’s not that God starts our salvation and we finish it. It’s that God starts it and finishes it, but our effort to stay in it is how God finishes it. Does it make sense? A human mind would’ve never invented this….

Just marvel at how glorious and unworldly God is in how He saves us!

PH