The Choice is Yours

"Christ gave His life so that we would have the opportunity to choose life." I don't know if that's word for word what is commonly believed, but it's basically the idea. God wants people to freely choose Him. People lack the capacity to save themselves. So He sent His Son to die for us so that we can now choose Him. Of course, the most common belief is that we choose Him -- place our faith in Him -- and then we're born again. Regeneration follows faith.

The cornerstone of this very common perspective is human free will. Remember, God wants people to freely choose Him. Most people accept without challenge that God doesn't want robots. And it goes without saying that if humans don't have the capacity to make choices, they can't be held responsible for their choices, good or bad. But there is a problem with this concept that has been termed "decisional regeneration".

Let me illustrate the problem with an everyday example. It is said that God has done 99.9% of what is required to save us and that we need to do the last 0.1% -- choose Him. Consider a parallel. Who is responsible for turning on the lights in your home? You don't generate the power. You don't run the wires from the generator to your house. You don't run the wires in your home or make the lights. But when it comes down to it, you are responsible for turning on the lights in your home. It's not a great effort. Throw a switch. That's it. Still, without your effort, as minimal as it is, no light would occur in the dark room. The power company isn't responsible. The electrician isn't responsible. The light manufacturer isn't responsible. You are. In the end, you determine whether there will be light in your house.

This is the problem with decisional regeneration. Lay as much as you want at the foot of Christ. Say that He has done the lion's share of the work. Argue that He has done almost all of what is required to provide salvation for us. In the end, if it is our decision that determines whether or not we are saved, it is we who are responsible. And that is the end of grace. It is your responsibility and the direct result of your decision and that is meritorious. In the end, God only made something possible, but you made it real ... something God couldn't or wouldn't do.

You see, if the popular perspective is true, we humans have become huge. We have acted while dead to accomplish something that God didn't. We have managed something really, really miraculous. That's something to be proud of, and the fact that someone else generated the power, ran the wires,and invented the light doesn't negate the fact that we are the final reason we are saved. I, as you might guess, have a problem with that.