You Didn't Save Yourself

Ultimately, of course, the topic we’re looking at is salvation, and salvation must concern each one of us. How does God save? What does it really mean to say that we have been saved by grace through faith? And why does Paul himself, in his positive presentation of the truth of salvation, include two denials and a fear clause indicating what will happen if his denials are not scrupulously observed? It is vital to understand the mind of the Spirit on this matter, and my goal is to answer these questions by looking at three fully-formed interpretations of the text and then comparing them with each other and the text to see which one is genuinely correct. We will end by seeing that salvation is so genuinely a gift of God from first to last that not one Christian can contribute to his own salvation in any meaningful way. Salvation is so thoroughly God’s work that you cannot even meaningfully contribute to it. You can only receive it as what it is — a gift.