SalvationSample

The great rescue

Is getting right with God all to do with what He does? Or is it also to do with what we might do?

The truth may be illustrated like this. Imagine a swimmer floundering in a fast-flowing river. She can’t keep afloat and will surely drown. A man appears on the riverbank and throws the swimmer a lifebelt. The swimmer gladly takes hold of it and is pulled to the safety of shore by the man on the bank. The swimmer is any one of us. We can’t rescue ourselves no matter how hard we try. Unless help comes, we are lost. The one on the riverbank is Jesus. He offers us the one and only opportunity to get to safety. But for that to happen, we need to take hold of the lifebelt offered.

So it is with salvation.

God has taken the initiative, which we call grace. If He hadn’t, we would be lost. Jesus offers us rescue: salvation begins with Him and does not exist without Him. But we are involved. If the swimmer doesn’t grab the lifebelt she is doomed. Grabbing hold of the lifebelt may be what we term faith.

God has acted first, but His offer of salvation is meaningless unless we accept our need of it. We can’t save ourselves, but we can act so as to let ourselves be saved.

Written by DAVID REAY