Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”
When Abram obeyed God and left Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 11:31-12:1), didn’t his obedience contribute to his salvation? How can we say that his salvation was 100 percent the work of God?
That sounds reasonable, but the promises were not made before he heard God call him out of Ur. It was like Revelation 18 describing our last days: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. ... Come out of her, My people” (vss. 1-4). Abram’s “coming out” of Ur (ancient Babylon) only put him in a place to hear what God was saying, but did not contribute to his salvation. Further, God made no “bargain” with him, “cut no deal” with him, negotiated no “agreement” with him.
There was nothing of the Old Covenant woven into the New Covenant promises God made to Abram. The New Covenant promises were not a lure to bribe him or entice him into leaving Ur. Abram’s faith was purely a heart appreciation of God’s promises which revealed the truth of His character of love (compare John 8:56). In eternity, Abraham will never claim that his faithful obedience merited his salvation in the least (compare Eph. 2:8, 9).
When we confess our sins and repent, are we not doing something important? Why must we say that our salvation is 100 percent the work of God?
Confession of sin and repentance are just another way of saying exactly what Abram did when we read, “He believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen 15:6). Faith does not give us an iota of merit. We receive it 100 percent, yes; but thank God also for the grace He gives you to enable you to exercise it!
We cannot even claim that our faith saves us, for we read, “By graceyou have been saved throughfaith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, notof works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 4:8, 9). No one will ever claim in eternity, “Yes, Jesus saved me; but don’t forget, I confessed and repented of my sins. I helped save myself.” We will all enter heaven 100 percent in debt to the Lamb of God.
The sooner we realize that truth the happier we will be.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 22,2003.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."
