GOSPEL NUGGET #197

Objections To The Gospel 

#5 "You guys keep on saying that a sinner doesn't have to do anything to be saved, that all one has to do is to trust in Christ. But isn't believing and trusting in Christ doing something?" 

Answer

When we say that you don't have to do anything to be saved, we mean this: "You don't have to do anything TO EARN salvation. But you must do something TO RECEIVE salvation. You receive it freely by faith."

Illustration

A disabled beggar fixed his eyes on the loaves of bread that was displayed in a bakery. His stomach all the more churned imagining the bread in his mouth. 

The heart of the baker who was also the owner of the bakery melted with compassion for the beggar. And so he stuffed a bag filled with bread and offered it freely to the man. 

The beggar looked down in shame and humiliation saying: "I am sorry. I don't have any money at all to buy those bread. I can't even earn them by working for them. I am invalid. My arms and legs are practically useless, I could only move an arm barely." 

The Christian baker replied: "You don't have to do anything TO EARN these bread, but you must do something for it to be yours. You must receive it freely from my hand." 

P.S. The illustration of course is not a point by point analogy of salvation. For in salvation, a sinner is totally and completely paralyzed. Even the faith to receive salvation is offered by God.