Salvific Responsibility

 Who is responsible for your salvation?

You and your good deeds? Your parents? Pastor? That little religious booklet you found in the gas station bathroom?

The short and complete answer is Jesus Christ. God Himself entered into His creation to live and die. There is nothing you did for your salvation. Just accept His work and live in this newfound freedom from sin and death.

Even if you know this to be true, I'm sure that you (like many others, including myself) still struggle with taking responsibility for salvation. If you have ministered or witnessed to others, you probably have worried about saying and doing the right things. You probably also hoped that your time and efforts were well-received. If that person doesn't come to Christ, would you recount in your mind the things you could have done better?

 As a parent, I wasn't able to raise my children full-time. During the time that I did get to spend with them as they were growing up I tried to demonstrate and verbalize good and godly things. It brought me great joy to learn that some of the advice I've given my kiddos was received and utilized. Imagine the sorrow and guilt I felt upon hearing that one of my children does not even believe in God. (There are some very important foundational things that helped lead to this that I will probably unpack in another post)

As if I'm the one responsible for my children's hearts and salvation!

As a parent, I'm responsible for planting the seeds and raising my children by example (however imperfect that looks) and I'm supposed to trust God for how that plays out in their lives. This is the same for any Christian who is ministering to others. You can do and say all the right things (if that were even possible) and yet, you may not see the person you're ministering to take their salvation to heart. While it's okay to consider things you could have done better or differently, don't think that you are completely responsible for the outcome.

Notice I said "completely?"

We do bear some responsibility for those in our care. But the changing of hearts is all God.

I hope there is some comfort in being reminded of this. You have work to do, but thank the Lord that all you have to do is be obedient. You're not responsible for the salvation being completed.