The God of Salvation

Today's Reading: Romans 10
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This chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans is a fantastically informative passage regarding Salvation. It answers many of the challenging questions about righteousness, what must be done to be saved, the process of evangelism, and informs about those who never get to hear.

First of all, people need to call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Can we earn Salvation? Absolutely not... however, we do have a part to play as God works out his Salvation in us.

When I was a young boy I went to a water park in the Wisconsin Dells. I was so excited to see all the amazing water slides and see the rush of the water. It was a boy's dream come true. There was this one pool area where they had floating pads you could walk across. I was having so much fun that I failed to pay attention to where I placed my foot and I fell into the pool. As I tried to swim toward the pads, I realized the current from the water slides on the other side of the pads was too strong for me to swim against. I didn't think of going the other way, I just kept pushing against the current. Eventually, I tired out and I started to sink...trouble indeed! When I finally ran out of strength, I looked up to see a life guard standing on the pads near where I was failing to swim against the current. He reached down and extended his long flotation device in my direction. All I had to do was grab on to the flotation device. As I grabbed on, he pulled me against the current and onto the pads. I had been saved.

When that life guard reached out to me, he saved me. I didn't save myself, but I did have the choice to grab on or keep struggling. My choice to accept the help of the lifeguard did not mean I saved myself. . . If the lifeguard had not been there I would have drown, so I did not save myself, but I did have the choice to accept the saving.

Likewise, God requires us to call upon him for our Salvation. He has already purchased our freedom, and extends Salvation to us freely like my lifeguard's flotation device, but we must choose to grab on.

Because there is a choice involved in Salvation, God has called us to be the ambassadors of his Word. Therefore, we have the responsibility to tell people about our spiritual Lifeguard. Paul writes that faith comes from hearing this word. Thus, people need to hear about the help that is available instead of just drowning. God commissioned us to be his voice.

Although we have a responsibility to share our faith with others, God still works sovereignty to save people. Paul's closing words in this chapter remind us that God can miraculously reveal himself to anyone in any way. This means even if we are not able to reach them, God can.