What actually saves you? Ask this question to enough people, and you’ll likely notice a few answers popping up frequently. Concepts such as repentance, faith, and obedience all regularly appear in discussions of the theology of salvation, otherwise known as soteriology.
Does faith save us? Does repentance save us? Does obedience save us? The answers to these questions really matters, because they inform how we share the hope of the gospel with others. While all these are necessary elements of soteriology (i.e., all of them are present in salvation), the details are important, because faith doesn’t save us, repentance doesn’t save us, and obedience doesn’t save us—Jesus saves us.
If faith saves, then the strength of our faith would be the ultimate source of our salvation. But our faith is often weak, and the strength of our faith often ebbs and flows with the seasons of our lives. The truth is the strength of your faith doesn’t matter, because your salvation isn’t grounded in the strength of your faith, but in the object of your faith. Even the weakest faith in the strongest Saviour is enough to save to the uttermost. How much faith is enough? Scripture is very clear on this point—any faith is enough when its object is the Lord Jesus Christ.
If repentance saves, then we would all find ourselves in the maddening position Martin Luther found himself in when he realized that he couldn’t stop repenting, because he needed to repent of his repentance! While we certainly aim to turn from our sins and follow Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we always do so imperfectly. In this life, we are both saints and sinners. The old man continually wages war against the new man until the day that Jesus takes us home. Repentance is crucially important, but we can never repent well enough to earn or maintain our salvation.
Finally, if obedience saves, then we would need to ask the question—how much is enough? And who gets to decide? God’s law is actually very clear on this point—perfect obedience is the only standard. Unless we can achieve the perfect standard of God’s law, we require a righteousness outside of ourselves. That righteousness is found only as we are united to our perfect Saviour whose perfect obedience is given to us as a free gift.
But perhaps most remarkable of all? Our faith, repentance, and obedience are gracious gifts from God. In our natural state, we cannot choose any of these things for ourselves; dry bones can’t simply get up and walk. From beginning to end, our salvation is a free gift of grace from God who brings us from death to life—who calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light—and who grants us faith, repentance, and obedience by his mercy and grace. May we all rejoice in the mercy and grace of our God who freely grants us the gift of our salvation!
All the best,
Luke
