The Author of Salvation / Charles Stanley

The Author of Salvation

None of us can take credit for our salvation—the Lord did it all.

Romans 5:1-2

When you talk about your salvation, how many times does the word “I” come up? For example, you might say, “When I came to Christ ...” or “When I asked Jesus into my heart ...” Those phrases are a natural part of storytelling, but too many of them could give the false impression that salvation includes human effort. People may be led to believe that you are claiming redemption is a type of “meeting in the middle” in which both you and God played equal parts. In other words, it might sound as if He did His job and you did your job, with the result being your salvation.

But this isn’t true! God did not leave His saving work unfinished, and He did not stop halfway. Jesus was not standing at some distant point, waiting for you to catch up to Him. Rather, He was at your side, moment by moment, patiently waiting for you to accept His gift of eternal life.

Salvation is God’s work, God’s desire, and God’s initiative. He made eternal life available to every one of us and ensured nothing more was needed. When you tell others about the Father, be sure to keep the focus where it should be: on Christ, the architect, instigator, workman, and deliverer of your redemption.