Section 6: Salvation – Part 1
Week 3: Conversion – Turning to Christ in Faith
Day 1: Saving Faith Requires Hearing the Gospel
Rom. 10:1-15
One night, when I was still a practicing attorney, I woke up with a sudden fear that there was a case that urgently needed attention. But I had no idea what case, much less what I needed to do on it. Not a good feeling. I racked my brain, but I couldn’t come up with anything. When I got to the office, I poured over my calendar and to do lists looking for a clue. I even went through all my files hoping a name might trigger my memory. Eventually I decided I must have been having a dream about forgetting to do something important and that feeling of dread hung on into the waking hours. But what if it hadn’t been just a feeling? What if there really was something I needed to do? I would have been in big trouble. You can’t do something if you have no idea what you’re supposed to do.
Salvation is similar. Sin has a placed us under God’s eternal judgment and if we don’t do something we’re going to have to pay an eternal penalty. We need to turn to Christ in faith in order to be saved, but we can’t do that unless we know who he is and what he’s done for us. That’s why spreading the gospel is so important. It contains the good news of Christ and no one can be saved without it.
That’s exactly Paul’s point in Romans 10:14:
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Reflection Questions:
What does this tell us about God’s plan for salvation? What does it tell us about our role in that plan? Are there ways you need to be more intentional in fulfilling this role?
Challenge:
Meditate on Romans 10:14.
2 Comments
Steve
“Sin has a placed us under God’s eternal judgment and if WE don’t do something we’re going to have to pay an eternal penalty. We need to turn to Christ in faith in order to be saved”.
Now see this is why I get confused. People who strongly believe in election then make statements like this which to me make it seem like the ball is in our court to do something.
Phil Schomber Author
Steve,
Maybe this will help. A Calvinist view on election and salvation doesn’t equate to believing God forces a person to turn to Christ against their will in robotic fashion. God works within us and our circumstances in such a way that we want to turn to Christ when we hear the Gospel. Because we are the one taking that step of faith, it’s appropriate to say, “We turn from sin to Christ.” And because that’s what we want to do, it’s appropriate to say that we turn to Christ freely. However, we would not have wanted to turn to Christ if God hadn’t first sparked that desire by working within us and our circumstances.