The future phase of salvation. Romans 2:6-9. Since Paul has been talking about Judgment Day, Paul uses this opportunity to introduce his readers to his sixth point, which concerns the future judgment. In chapter 3, Paul will be explaining that our initial salvation is by grace through faith. Works play no role in our initial salvation. However, God requires us to walk faithfully and obediently with Him once we have been saved. God does not require perfection, only faithfulness.
Our ultimate salvation will turn not only on our faith, but also our godly fruit or works. Although Paul's sixth point is hugely controversial today, it was not the least bit controversial at the time he wrote Romans. Neither the Jews nor the Gentiles were disputing this second or ultimate phase of our salvation. They both recognize that living a godly life after our initial salvation is necessary to receive the crown of life at the end.
They both understood there would be a final judgment based on our works, as well as our faith. Since this point was uncontested, Paul did not need to explain this matter in detail. Romans 2:6-9," Who will render to every man according to his works, eternal life to those who, by perseverance in good work, seek for glory, honor, and immortality. But to those who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be indignation and wrath.
Yes, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil, the Jew first, and also the Gentile, who will render to every man according to his works. Paul states very clearly that at the final judgment, we will be judged based on our works. Since Paul's statement contradicts today's popular Christianity, this passage is rarely quoted in most sermons and literature today.
In fact, because Paul has directly contradicted one of the pillars of Reformation theology, most Protestant Bible translations render Paul's words in this passage in an inconsistent manner. They typically render verse 6 in this manner. Who will render to each man according to his deeds, or something similar?
One of today's most popular Bibles, the New International Version, translates this verse," God will repay each person according to what they have done." However, here Paul uses the exact same Greek word, ergon, that those same Bibles translate elsewhere as works. To be sure, in everyday English, the words and phrases, works, deeds, and what they have done are essentially synonymous. However, theologically, the difference is enormous.
That is because Luther built his whole theological system on the framework that works play no role in our salvation. The casual reader could easily read this passage in most English Bibles and not immediately discern that here Paul is saying that works do affect our ultimate salvation, eternal life to those who by perseverance in good work.
When evangelical Protestants do recognize that here Paul is directly contradicting Luther, they often claim that Paul is merely saying that Christians will receive varying rewards beyond salvation based on their works. However, Paul is plainly not talking about rewards beyond salvation.
For he says," Eternal life to those who, by perseverance in good work, seek for glory, honor, and immortality." Paul continues, saying that the ones who do not obey the truth, but who obey unrighteousness will receive wrath, tribulation, and anguish on Judgment Day." In other words, Paul is saying that on Judgment Day, our ultimate destiny will turn on how we have lived and whom we have obeyed. He makes no apology for saying this, nor does he soften it in any way.
Paul is not afraid of tying works to our future salvation. In fact, Paul's words are so clear that in the beginning, all Christians took his words at face value. For example, Irenaeus writes," Those who believe God and follow His Word receive that salvation that flows from Him." On the other hand, those who depart from Him and despise His teachings, and by their deeds, bring dishonor on Him who made them, heap up against themselves most righteous judgment.
Lactantius writes," Labors that are endured and overcome consistently until our death cannot fail to obtain a reward, and this reward can be nothing else but immortality." Chrysostom adds," Here Paul awakens those who had drawn back during trials, and he shows that it is not right to trust in faith alone.
For that heavenly tribunal will also inquire into our works." Again, he writes," Paul takes away every excuse for those who live in wickedness." Furthermore, he shows that it is from contentiousness and carelessness that they fall into unrighteousness.
For Paul does not say," Those who are compelled by unrighteousness," nor does he say," Those who are lorded over by unrighteousness." Rather, He says," Those who obey unrighteousness." He says this so that we may learn that our turning away from God is a matter of free will. Sin does not come from necessity. Theodoret comments," We will be judged based on our works. Therefore, after our baptism, we need to patiently persevere in good works. It is not sufficient to haphazardly do righteous deeds.
Rather, the eternal blessings are reserved for those who are willing to undergo the difficulties of walking with God throughout their lives. To be sure, judgment does not come on those who struggle with sin and are occasionally overcome by it. Rather, Paul speaks of those who are contentious fighting against God and pursuing sin. Origen writes similarly, the heretics should take note that God repays each person based on His works, not based on His nature.
Second, believers should be properly instructed so they will not imagine that just because they believe, this alone will be sufficient. Rather, they must know that the righteous judgment of God repays everyone according to His works. As I have mentioned, the need for man's obedience is spoken of more in Romans than in any other New Testament book. Every early Christian writer who comments on this passage in Romans understands it in the same manner.
That is because none of them had been influenced by Augustine or Luther. Furthermore, none of them read Romans in a vacuum. They knew that what Paul wrote about works in this passage completely harmonizes with the rest of Scripture. It is not a matter of a handful of proof texts. It is the basic truth woven throughout the entire New Testament, from Matthew through Revelation.
In fact, as we will see below, in most of his letters, including Romans, Paul himself repeatedly testifies to the fact that we must live godly, faithful lives after our initial salvation. Otherwise, we will not ultimately reap eternal life. The other New Testament writers also testify to this fact. Most importantly, Jesus Himself, our final judge, declares in unmistakable language that our final salvation depends upon how we have lived our lives. All these Scripture quotations are set forth below.
It is not that we ultimately earn our salvation through our good works. Salvation remains a gift from start to finish. Nor do our good works add something to God's precious gift of salvation. Rather, good works are a demonstration of something deep inside of us. Godly works demonstrate that our faith is real, and that our initial faith is still alive and well today. Furthermore, good works manifest that we are presently walking with Christ in a living relationship with Him.
That is because without Christ's power, we will not be able to persevere in a life of godly works. Finally, good works demonstrate that we love Christ. Christ tells us," If a man loves me, he will keep my word. He who does not love me does not keep. My words." Jesus also says," If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love." In short, God's gift of salvation is a conditional gift. It is conditioned on our truly appreciating the gift given to us.
No matter how much we profess to love Jesus, if we do not walk faithfully and obediently with Him until the end of our lives, we do not genuinely love Him. As John said, this is loving God, that we keep His commandments, yet His commandments are not burdensome. However, what if we are unwilling to obey Christ because His commandments seem to be burdensome? In that case, we are only deluding ourselves if we imagine that we really appreciate His suffering and dying on the cross for us.
Our professions of love for Him are only empty words, because the subject of obedience in godly works is such a controversial teaching in today's popular Christianity, it is worth the time to firmly establish the fact that what Paul said above in Romans 2: 6-9 is no anomaly. It is the basic Christian faith. It is the faith once for all handed to the saints. Yet this is contrary to what many modern Christians have been taught.
Therefore, we are going to take an extensive excursion through the entire New Testament to firmly establish the truth of this teaching. We are then going to see that the early Christians understood salvation in the same manner. As my title to this chapter indicates," Understanding the two phases of salvation is the key to correctly understanding the entire letter to the Romans." We will begin with Paul himself and the quotation above from chapter 2 of Romans.
We will then move through the remainder of Romans in Paul's other letters. In all the quotations that follow, the italics are mine. The witness of Paul: God will render to every man according to his works. Eternal life to those who, by perseverance in doing good, seek for glory, honor, and immortality. But to those who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be indignation and wrath.
Yes, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil, the Jew first, and also the Gentile. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, how will we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in it? Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves as slaves to obey, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience, leading to righteousness.
Those who live after the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but those who live after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. For the carnal mind is at enmity with God. This is because it is not subject to the law of God. Indeed, it never can be. If you live after the flesh, you will die. But if, through the Spirit, you put to death the works of the flesh, you will live.
If God did not spare the natural branches, take heed lest He does not spare you either. Therefore, behold the goodness and severity of God. On those who fell, severity, but toward you, goodness. If you continue in His goodness, otherwise, you too will be cut off.
Now, the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Know this for sure that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words.
You, being in past times, alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before Him. If you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh, will from the flesh reap corruption.
But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season if we do not give up. Pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. The Witness of Hebrews.
I am listing the following quotations from Hebrews separately, because most modern Bible commentators question Paul's authorship of Hebrews. In contrast, nearly all the early Christians viewed Paul as the author of Hebrews. Nevertheless, regardless of the authorship, Hebrews is part of the inspired Word of God. Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey Him the author of eternal salvation.
Concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. Seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves anew, and put Him to open shame. For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it and produces a crop suitable for them, for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God.
But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and is near being cursed, whose end is to be burned. If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fierceness of fire that will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards the law of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.
How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which He was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace. We know Him who said," Vengeance belongs to me, I will repay," says the Lord. Again, the Lord will judge His people, for you need endurance so that having done the will of God, you may receive the promise, the other New Testament writers.
Just like Paul, the other New Testament writers clearly teach the necessity of living a holy life after our initial salvation if we're going to eventually inherit eternal life. Peter opened his mouth and said," Truly, I perceive that God does not show favoritism. But in every nation, he who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him." Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar.
You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works. And the Scripture was fulfilled that says," Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called a friend of God." You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good for if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome. The last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not tell the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. This is how we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. One who says," I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in Him." But God's love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps His Word.
This is how we know that we are in Him. I saw the dead, the great, and the small standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged by the things that were written in the books, according to their works. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. What Jesus says about works?
The ultimate teacher of the gospel and the final arbiter of any doctrinal uncertainty is Jesus. Not only that, but he will be our judge on Judgment Day. He knows beyond any doubt how He will judge people on that day. Knowing this, Jesus clearly teaches that our ultimate destiny will be based on how we have lived.
Do not marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Not everyone who says to me," Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Many will say to me on that day," Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonderful works in Your name? And then I will declare to them," I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. Just as the weeds were gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age, the Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all who offend, and those who practice lawlessness. And they will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly. Therefore, be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
Before Him, all the nations will be gathered, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left, then the king will tell those on his right hand:" Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me.
I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. The king will answer them. Most certainly, I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers. You did it to me. The passages above are only a sampling of the many verses in the New Testament that testify that after our initial salvation, we must run the race faithfully to the finish. We must maintain an obedient love-faith relationship with Christ to the end of our lives.
Such a relationship will produce a life marked by godly works. The footnote below lists some additional scriptures that demonstrate this fact. After being saved, we can still apostatize, fall away, lose our faith, turn to ungodliness, or abandon our love for Christ. The race is not over until the end of our lives. The early Christian understanding of the role of works. I realize that, despite these many verses, many Christians will insist that works play no role in our ultimate salvation.
Such persons will find a way to explain away the plain meaning of each of those verses. This is nothing marvelous. There is no statement in Scripture, no matter how plain, that someone cannot find a way to reinterpret. However, this commentary is not a presentation of how I personally interpret Scripture, or how some church or denomination interprets it. It is a presentation of how Christians understood Romans during the first 300 years of Christianity. It is a presentation of the historic faith.
If a person wishes to ignore this historic witness, he or she is, of course, free to do so. As I asked earlier, would it not be nice if we could ask the first century Christians in Rome to explain Paul's letter to us? To some degree, we can come close to that very thing. For in AD 96, the entire body of elders in Rome wrote a lengthy letter to the Christians in Corinth. The elder who penned this letter on behalf of all the elders was named Clement.
As a result, although this is a group letter, it is generally known today as First Clement. The letter from these elders discusses many of the same topics that Paul addresses in Romans. Furthermore, their letter was written merely 40 years after Paul wrote his epistle to their church. Since Paul's sixth point is so controversial today, it is a blessing that their letter makes many references to what it teaches. So we can know beyond any doubt how they understood Paul's teaching on this matter.
Writing to Christians who had already been saved, these first-century elders in Rome exhorted," Let us therefore earnestly strive to be found in the number of those that wait for Him, in order that we may share in His promised gifts." But how beloved will this be done? It will be done only by the following things.
If our understanding is fixed by faith towards God, if we earnestly seek the things that are pleasing and acceptable to Him, if we do the things that are in harmony with His blameless will, and if we follow the way of truth, casting away from us all unrighteousness and iniquity. These elders warned their fellow Christians," Beloved, take heed lest his many kindnesses lead to the condemnation of us all.
For so it will be unless we walk worthily of Him, and with one mind do those things that are good and well pleasing in His sight." In addition, they wrote," On account of his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved out of Sodom when all the country around it was punished by fire and brimstone. Thereby, the Lord made it clear that He does not forsake those who hope in Him." However, for those who depart from Him, He gives them up to punishment.
So the elders in Rome took Paul's words in Romans 2 very literally and very seriously. The early Christians who lived after them did likewise. The quotations that follow are only a small sampling of the hundreds of quotations that demonstrate that the early Christians uniformly understood that obedience to Christ play an essential role in the second phase of salvation. In each instance, these early Christians are simply repeating the statements made by Jesus and His apostles.
Ignatius: The beginning is faith, but the end is love. No man who confesses faith will sin. Likewise, no one who possesses love hates anyone. The tree is made manifest by its fruit. So those who profess themselves to be Christians will be recognized by their conduct. It is better for a man to be silent and be a Christian than to talk and not be one. Second Clement, therefore, brethren, by doing the will of the Father, keeping the flesh holy, and following the commandments of the Lord, we will obtain eternal life.
Hermas, only those who fear the Lord and keep his commandments have life with God. As for those who do not keep His commandments, there is no life in them. Justin Martyr, each man goes to everlasting punishment or salvation according to the value of his works.
Athenagoras," In accordance with justice, each one will receive what he has done in the body, whether it is good or bad." Clement of Alexandria," When we hear your faith has saved you, we do not understand him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatever will be saved.
For works must also follow." Clement of Alexandria," It is well pleasing to him that we should be saved, and salvation comes through both knowledge and good works." Clement of Alexandria," Whoever obtains God's truth and distinguishes Himself in good works will gain the prize of everlasting life." Others, attaching slight importance to the works that tend to salvation, do not make the necessary preparation for obtaining the object of their hope.
Tertullian, some think that God is under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy what He has promised to give. So they turn His liberality into His slavery. For do not many afterwards fall away. Is not this gift taken away from many? These no doubt are those who, after coming to the faith of repentance, build on the sands a house doomed to ruin. Tertullian, no one is a Christian, but he who perseveres all the way to the end. Tertullian.
After the deluge, the world returned to sin, and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who, after baptism, renews his sins. Hippolytus, in administering the righteous judgment of the Father to everyone, Christ assigns to each person what is just according to His works. Those who have done good will be justly assigned eternal bliss. To the lovers of wickedness, there will be given eternal punishment.
Novatian: Whoever is willing to follow Christ and to be His disciple will obtain the reward of being able to see the Father. Cyprian: The person who follows Christ is He who continues in His commandments, who walks in the way of His teaching, who follows His footsteps in His ways, and who imitates the things that Christ both did and taught. To put on the name of Christ, and yet not to go in the way of Christ, what else is this but a mockery of the divine name? It is a desertion of the way of salvation.
For he himself teaches and says that those who keep His commandments will come into life. Cyprian, to prophesy, to cast out devils, and to do great acts upon the earth, these are all certainly a sublime and an admirable thing. However, a person does not obtain the kingdom of heaven, even if he is found in all these things, unless he walks in the observance of the right and just way.
Cyprian, Jesus says," Depart from me, you workers of iniquity." So there is need of righteousness that one may deserve well of God the judge. We must obey His teachings and warnings so that our merits may receive their reward. Lactantius writes," He who follows truth and righteousness will enjoy perpetual light, having received the reward of immortality. But he who prefers vices to virtues and falsehood to truth must be carried to the setting of the sun and to darkness.
Ambrosiaster, those who seek eternal life are not merely those who believe correctly, but those who live correctly as well. Apostolic Constitutions? If anyone follows unrighteousness and does those things that are contrary to the will of God, such a person will be considered by God the same as the disobedient unbeliever. The passages quoted above are representative of what all the pre-nicene Christians taught on salvation. There is not a single exception among all the early pre-Augustinian Christians.
The only ones who taught differently were the Gnostics. They were the heretics that John called the Antichrist. In his work against the Valentinians, one of the largest Gnostic sects, Tertullian says of them," Once they have attained to a full and complete knowledge of this foolish smugness of theirs, they believe they will obtain a certain salvation, one that is on all accounts their due.
For this reason, they do not regard works as necessary for themselves." Again, I want to emphasize that in all the quotations above about works, these early Christians are talking about the future phase of salvation. None of these writers taught that we must produce godly works before we can become a branch on the vine of Christ. They taught that we are initially saved by faith without works through the grace of God.
However, they also taught that living a faithful, obedient life is not optional once we have been saved. In the previous pages, we have taken a considerable excursion into the subject of the necessity of works in the second or future phase of salvation. As I have mentioned, the reason we have dwelt on this at such length is that unless we grasp the two phases of salvation, we will never correctly understand Romans. Instead, we will end up with a Paul who repeatedly contradicts himself, harmonizing Paul with Paul.
I realize that some readers may be confused at this point and may be saying to themselves," I thought Paul teaches that we are saved apart from works." He does teach that when he is writing about the initial phase of salvation. As I have said, all the passages quoted above pertain to the second or final phase of salvation. When Paul is addressing the initial phase of salvation, he declares we are not saved by works. The following are some of the frequently quoted passages from Paul about our initial salvation.
For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something in which to glory, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness without works.
If by grace, then is it no longer by works? Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is by works, then it is no longer grace. Otherwise, work is no longer work. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal.
When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. In each of these passages, the context is our past or initial salvation. Paul does not speak the same when he is talking about the future stage of salvation.
Our understanding of the gospel would certainly be faulty and incomplete if we ignored all those verses about our initial salvation. So in this commentary, we will neither be ignoring nor hiding them. At the same time, neither will we be ignoring, nor hiding all the verses we have previously examined about our future salvation. Paul obviously meant for us to believe all of them, and he saw no contradiction in them. In fact, the early Christians saw no contradiction in all these verses either.
They often quoted the familiar passages from Paul about salvation through faith without works. However, they recognize that these verses are talking about our initial salvation. In the final analysis, all the New Testament verses harmonize perfectly when we recognize the two different phases of salvation. Our initial salvation is through faith and grace. God does not require any prior godly works from us.
However, once we have been saved and thereby become a branch on the vine, then Christ requires us to walk faithfully and obediently with Him. This is not a matter of having to earn our final salvation. It is a matter of God's testing us to see if we genuinely appreciate the tremendous gift of eternal life given us. If we are truly thankful for this gift, we will love Christ in return and obey Him. However, we should never imagine that grace is not all essential even in our final salvation.
In the end, God would have good reason to reject every one of us. That is because our obedience is always imperfect. However, in His mercy and grace, as Christians, He freely forgives our sins if we are truly repentant and if we walk with Him. Not only that, but He gives us the power so that in our free will, we can walk faithfully with Him. Without His grace and power, we would be totally lost. Clement of Alexandria writes," The Lord declares," What is impossible with men is possible with God.
This is full of great wisdom. For a man by himself, working and toiling at freedom from wrong desires achieves nothing." But if he plainly shows himself very desirous and earnest about this, he obtains this freedom by the addition of the power of God. For God conspires with willing souls. However, if they abandon their eagerness, the Spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained. For to save the unwilling is the part of one exercising compulsion. However, to save the willing is the part of one showing grace.
Nor does the kingdom of heaven belong to sleepers and sluggards, but the violent take it by force. So even our final salvation is a gift through God's grace. Grace gives us enabling power, and grace forgives our sins. Yet the gift of salvation is a conditional gift. It is a gift conditioned on our obedient, loving response to what God has done for us. This is what the historic Christian faith has taught from the beginning.