Counsels on Christian Worldview

Counsel #3 — Earning Salvation?

Picture: Counsel #3 — Earning Salvation? CCW 56.1

Ephesians 2:3 says we begin life as children of wrath. We are dead in sin and our own trespasses without righteousness. This state means that nothing we do can ever contribute to salvation. Like charitably trying to toss a penny at a billionaire, the best we can do to save ourselves doesn’t impress but rather insults what God has said He will do. The only role we have in the equation of salvation is to accept it. If even 1% of our effort counted, we would have a reason to boast.^[79] CCW 56.2

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9 NKJV CCW 56.3

“When men learn they cannot earn righteousness by their own merit… there will not be so much of self and so little of Jesus. Souls and bodies are defiled and polluted by sin, the heart is estranged from God, yet many are struggling in their own finite strength to win salvation by good works. Jesus, they think, will do some of the saving; they must do the rest. They need to see by faith the righteousness of Christ as their only hope for time and for eternity.” Ellen White in Letters and Manuscripts, Volume 6, Ms 36, 1890, par. 23 CCW 56.4

Reflect: How does the understanding that salvation is a gift impact your view of self-effort? CCW 56.5