If the end goal is salvation, what then is the means by which it occurs?

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
-Romans 10:13

OK, then, all an unbeliever has to do is simply call on the Lord, right? This is true, however, there’s a caveat.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
-Romans 8:7

The human flesh not only lacks the inclination to submit to God, but it also lacks the power. It is, by its very nature, incapable of pleasing God. Yet the Bible teaches us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes a command to believe. This places us at an impasse in the sense that, according to Holy Scripture, man cannot provide the means to the end (aka he cannot produce a faith that saves). Jesus addressed this same paradox with His disciples.

Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
-Luke 18:26-27

Jesus taught that not only does God provide the end (salvation), He also provides the means to that end (faith).

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
-Ephesians 2:8-10

Paul also points out that God is even responsible for sending those with the Gospel! God uses believers like you and me as the instruments (the means) to accomplish His will in salvation.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
-Romans 10:14-17

Again, God not only saves us, but He also provides every means of doing so. We can lay claim to nothing at all for we were dead in our sins, utterly incapable of obeying God’s command to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
-Titus 3:3-7

This brings me to my second point. After salvation, God’s end goal is that believers are sanctified in time. But what about the means to this end? Do we have a personal responsibility in the process? Yes.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
-Philippians 2:12-13

God’s sovereign will is that believers are sanctified (that’s His end goal). “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3a). However, the Bible also states that our sanctification is a function of our obedience.

But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
-Jeremiah 7:23-24

So, all we have to do is obey, right? This is true, but it’s not quite that straightforward, is it? Here’s what Paul had to say about the obedience which results in sanctification.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
-Roman 7:18

Once again, we find ourselves at a logical impasse. We have identified God’s end goal, namely sanctification of believers, and the command given to obey His Word as the means to that end; however, we are incapable of doing so on our own. There’s hope, though!

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
-1 Corinthians 15:10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
-2 Corinthians 12:9

Aaaaahhhh! Thank God our sanctification doesn’t rest on our own shoulders. As was the case with salvation, it turns out that God provides both the ends and the means!

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
-1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.
-Hebrews 2:10-11

Are you seeing a pattern yet?

If not, there’s one more example worthy of our attention. Prayer. The end goal of prayer is that God will act consistent with the petitioner’s will. Notice that I did not say that God’s will is contingent upon man’s prayer. The paradox is that God ordains all things to pass just as He wills and yet we are commanded to pray that He acts in a way consistent with our own will.

The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
-Proverbs 15:29

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
- James 5:16

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
-1 Peter 3:12

God desires to bless His children; however, according to Holy Scripture, He desires that His children pray for said blessings, lest they not receive them. Jesus said:

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
-Luke 11:9

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
-James 4:3

God truly does hear our prayers! This is a beautiful truth that we must embrace.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
-John 14:12-14

To pray for something in Christ’s name is tantamount to aligning your will with His, with God’s. In other words (read this next part slowly), God answers prayers in keeping with His own sovereign will. What this means, practically speaking, is that as He sanctifies you and gives you more faith, you increasingly pray for things that align with His sovereign will. In a similar way, He uses you as an instrument of righteousness in salvation and sanctification as the means to His glorious end through faith and obedience, respectively. He uses you to “accomplish much” (James 5:16) through prayer.

Furthermore, since we are imperfect prayers, He helps us even with that!

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
-Matthew 26:41

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
-Romans 8:26-27

Incredible, isn’t He? Even in prayer, God provides the means to His own end. We simply have the privilege to be used to His glory; hence, our encouragement to pray persistently (read the Parable of the Persistent Widow for additional encouragement – Luke 18:1-8).

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 4:6-7

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
-Psalm 34:15-19

Given the length of this blog, may I submit that the Spirit has a lot to say about this topic? I think so. Why? Because, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:11). God deserves all the glory because He is the source of all good.

God not only ordains the ends in His plan for salvation, sanctification, and action; He also ordains the means through faith, obedience, and prayer!

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
-Isaiah 55:10-11

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
-Colossians 3:16-17

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins