Responsibility

Some people say that we do indeed have to work, but it is God who works within us. To understand this, we need to look at the original language. The phrase “work out your salvation” uses the word katergazesthe, which means “finish it” or “carry it through to completion.” Meanwhile, the phrase “God who works” uses the word energeō, which means that God supplies energy or power. Thus, God provides the energy, but human beings must do the work. If we do not act, that energy does not operate. There must be a response on the human side. Therefore, the life of Jesus, which is the foundation of our salvation, must also become our life. Believers are not only reconciled in status, but must also strive to be reconciled in real, everyday life, so that they truly live in peace with God.

It is like two people who were once enemies and have since reconciled: after reconciliation, there must be a change in attitude for it to become truly real. Thus, if a married couple quarrels, is prayed for by a pastor, but do not change their attitudes, the conflict will recur. Two months later, they quarrel again and are prayed for again; one month later, they quarrel again; eventually, they divorce. Why? Because there is no change in attitude, harmony is never established. We must change. God does not need to change Himself. That is why Scripture says, “Come out from among them and touch nothing unclean, and I will receive you as My sons and daughters.” And also, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Many Christians think they have already been reconciled and then live their lives normally like everyone else, without sufficient struggle to attain harmonious peace with God. Yet, to truly be at peace with God, believers must live the kind of life that Jesus lived. That is why the Word of God says that we are “saved by His life.” By His death we are reconciled, and by His life we are saved. What does this mean? If Jesus had not lived a perfect, godly, and obedient life before the Father, He could not have become the source of salvation. He could not have transformed us, shaped us, or become the model of life according to God’s original design.

Because Jesus attained the life that accords with God’s design, He became the firstborn among many brothers. He became the pioneer, the One who opened the way, and then we follow Him. Before this, no one was able to obey the Father fully and live in godliness according to the standard of humanity as originally designed by God. The first Adam failed to become the source of salvation. Scripture says that because of Adam’s sin, all humanity lives under the shadow of death. Now, through one obedient Person—Jesus—humanity receives grace. What is grace? Grace is not cheap grace or grace without responsibility. Grace is indeed free, but wearing it requires responsibility and struggle.

The Word of God says that Jesus became “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.” Thus, salvation is not automatic. Do not think that becoming a Christian automatically means living in harmonious peace with God. Such an understanding is mistaken. The phrase “those who obey Him” indicates obedience to Jesus, which means imitating His life. Only those who truly imitate Jesus’s life genuinely experience reconciliation with God.

In fact, there are three kinds of Christians. First, Christians who leave everything behind truly deny themselves and put on the life of Jesus. They can say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” These are justified Christians. Second, Christians who do not dare to go all out. They may not necessarily go to hell, but they only become members of society in the world to come. Third, wicked Christians. These will go to hell.

All three confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. However, the first live all-out according to the measure taught by the Lord Jesus, obey Him, and fully surrender to the One in whom they believe. The second resembles the people of Israel: obeying the law, praising and worshiping God, yet not all-out. They may enter the world to come as members of society. The third belongs to the category of the wicked. And in reality, not a few Christians fall into this category.