Personal evangelists used to be taught to ask, “If Jesus were standing before you today to ask you why He should let you into heaven, what would you say?” After a moment of thought, most people responded with some good deed or good quality they possessed. “I was a scout leader”, “I am a faithful member of my church”, etc. Paul would be aghast at these answers. Romans tells us that performance religion has been replaced by the gospel of grace.
If you can answer the question, “Why should Jesus admit you into heaven?” by any answer that begins with “Because I…”you are dangerously, sinfully wrong. We are heaven-bound because God picked us in advance, forgave our sins, came into our hearts through His life changing Spirit, and put us on the path to His glory. It’s all about God’s grace; not our performance.
Paradoxically, that doesn’t mean that there is nothing we have to do. Right on the heels of Paul’s teaching about God’s gracious election comes the need for our response: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart a person believes and is made righteous, and with the mouth he confesses and is saved.” We take hold of God’s grace when we accept it with thanks. We make Jesus lord when we tell ourselves – and anyone listening – that He is lord. Paul tells us that we aren’t just mouthing good words; we are making a heartfelt proclamation. I say that Jesus is lord because I experience His resurrection power in my heart.
To recap, God does the choosing without any qualifications or performance on our part. Then He calls on us to respond by calling Jesus lord and cherishing the change He is making in our hearts.
The final twist in this corkscrew is that we can only make the appropriate response because God is enabling us to do so. “By grace you are saved through faith”. Our faith takes hold of God’s grace. “BUT that is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, so no one may boast.” Even our “yes” to God’s gracious invitation is inspired and actuated by His power.
Everything comes from God. Nothing really comes from us.