THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO SALVATION

What do you think is the greatest obstacle to a person becoming a born-again Christian? If I were to ask a hundred church members that question, I would probably get a hundred different answers, varying from "apathy" to "sin" (Sorry, I can't think of a word which begins with "Z"). As with most topics these days, it is difficult to get a consensus. So, rather than take each possible answer, as if I could come up with a hundred different reasons, I will just answer the question myself. The greatest obstacle to people becoming genuine Christians is the concept of grace. There are thousands of religions in this world, and every single one of them refuse to accept the idea that salvation is a gift. Even many denominations of Christianity hinder the salvation of their members over the concept of grace.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for grace, "chen," is translated "grace" thirty-eight times, and "favor" twenty-six times. In the New Testament, the Greek word "charis" is translated "grace" one hundred twenty-nine times, and "favor" six times. We are helped in understanding the term by the Greek using the root "charis" in the word "charisma" which is always translated "gift", and the word "charitoo" which appears once, and is translated "to make accepted." As a result, the word "grace," as it is used in the Bible, should be defined as "unmerited favor."

There's the rub. Human nature finds it extremely difficult to accept the idea that man cannot deserve to be saved. We naturally desire a list of do's and don'ts in order to be "qualified" to have eternal life. The inability of man to accept the idea that we cannot earn, nor will we ever deserve salvation, is the direct result of basic human pride. We need to feel worthy, but Jesus said we must become "child-like" in order to be saved. God's grace humbles us, and man hates that.

The Bible's teaching of salvation by grace and not by merit or works, is not only a stumbling block to man's acceptance of God's free offer, it also hinders those who have accepted Christ by faith from resting in the Lord. The false teaching that one can lose what one never deserved in the first place, is the biggest obstacle to Christian maturity. Paul continually had to deal with Christians who were being persuaded by false teachers that a Christian must avoid unacceptable behaviors, and must somehow work to maintain their relationship with God. While the entire Book of Galatians addresses that problem, he wrote in 3:3, "This only would I learn of you, 'Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?'"

I would ask you the same question: "Having accepted the free gift of salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ, what makes you think that you are now more deserving of it than you were on the day you first believed?" We didn't deserve salvation then, and we still don't. In fact, you and I never will! Praise God for loving the unlovely, for saving the unworthy, and for keeping the imperfect until we are formed into the image of His Son (1 Jn. 3:2)!