"Why is salvation conditional?"

In my experience in various ministerial roles, I have come across a false belief that Romans 8.38-39 tells us that salvation is unconditional because God always loves us; this interpretation (known as a sort of proof-texting) ignores other such statements as John 3.16-18. Thus salvation itself is conditional, though God’s love is not. He deeply loves us, likes us, and desires us in our worst moments, whether we are Christians or not. “Then how come hell exists?” Because a God of love cannot be separated from a God of justice; God’s justice commands that those who do not embrace His gift of salvation be given what they deserve for the (sinful) lives they have lived.

So now we must explore why salvation is conditional. It is simple: it is conditional because mankind has free will. Even in the fallen state, mankind has free will—our wills are not totally incapacitated or depraved. Thus all people who hear the word of the gospel have a choice of the will to either embrace Christ or to reject him. God set the universe up this way, where we have a choice to run to Him or to run away from Him. He will not force us in either direction, for this goes against His character of love, and so the choice of salvation is up to us as individuals. The great question Joshua asked the Israelites is now asked to all people who have heard the word of the gospel: “Whom will you follow?” Will we follow Christ and receive salvation, or will we follow pseudo-gods and reject salvation? It is entirely up to us. This point cannot be stressed enough.

“If salvation is conditional, then it’s not free!” some will object. In answer to this objection, I say, “No, salvation is free… and God has given us a map to receive the free gift. He has told us how to receive it.” And thus we have the conditions for salvation. Look at it this way: someone has a million dollars in a safe-deposit box waiting for you at the bank. It’s all yours! But you have to drive to the bank, show your I.D., get the key, and unlock the safe to get the money. Does this make the one million dollars any less free? No way! It’s a free gift, but it must be received. This is a crude analogy, so I offer up a better one. Let’s say that a parent is holding out a new toy to his son. The son reaches out and grabs the toy. Is the gift free? Yes. But the son still had to reach out and grab it; these were the conditions for his free gift. “But that’s legalism!” some will exclaim. No, it’s not. And while a full discourse on the meaning of legalism and its non-rule in salvation cannot be given here, suffice it to say that nowhere in the New Testament are the four conditions of salvation viewed by Christians as works (with the exception of the “hot topic” baptism). So, as the saying goes, “a gift offered is not necessarily a gift received.” God offers the free gift of salvation, but not all will receive it. Not everyone will go to the bank for their one million dollars, and not every son will reach out to take the free toy. God calls sinners to Him, but sinners have a choice to heed the call. If we receive the gift as God has told us to, we will get it! But if we do not receive the gift as He has called us to, we will not.

The conditions for receiving the gift of salvation have, in some ways, changed between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant (though, as Paul makes clear in his letter to the Romans, the basic precepts remain the same). When examining the New Testament’s statements of the conditions of salvation (faith, repentance, confession, and baptism), one must come to face the fact that this is how God has made it. If someone does not like one of the conditions for receiving salvation, he or she has no say in it. “Who can bargain with God and win?” Certainly Job found that the answer was, “No one.” “Who can wrestle with God and win?” Certainly Jacob learned Job’s lesson, too! No matter how much we cry and whine about something we do not like about how God has set up salvation to be received, it doesn’t change a thing. In God’s sovereignty, in His wisdom, He has decided to give His free gift of salvation—through Christ and Christ alone—to all people dependent upon them meeting the conditions He has set forth in His wisdom. The rest of this survey will examine the different conditions for salvation (beginning with faith and continuing through repentance, confession, and baptism).