You Cannot Negotiate Salvation!
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
We, humans, are negotiators. Since the time of the cave people, we have negotiated everything from peace, to trade, to marriage. Tribes and kingdoms negotiate for leadership. As economic growth developed, we arranged for enslaved people, tools, and other means of advancement. Unfortunately, many of our negotiations were selfish and unethical, focusing on self-aggrandizement at the expense of other individuals and groups. I believe this is one of the main reasons we humans struggle to relate to an all-loving deity.
Dr. Miroslav Volf, in his dynamic book, Against the Tide, points out we cannot bargain with God, “Because God hanging on the cross for the salvation of the world is not a negotiating God. On the cross, God is not setting up the terms of a contract that humanity needs to fulfill. God isn't saying: "I died for you, now you've got to do what I tell you to do:" Instead, God is giving God's own self so that humanity may have life, and life abundant. God is not a negotiator. God is a giver.” Accepting a giving God is uncomfortable for most of us. We understand providing trade for services rendered. We struggle with a gift, especially one as valuable as eternal life. How do we respond to this type of offering?
Through our belief in Christ, many of us respond by acting indebted. Jesus didn’t hang on the cross so we would feel guilty and obligated. Jesus wanted to set us free to live meaningful lives the way God originally intended. Sadly, we humans, especially Americans, are so steeped in the negotiation culture that we cannot simply accept the gift freely given. A negotiation provides both parties an equal benefit, or one party is more clever, and negotiates more than what is fair. Either way, both parties must attempt to give in return. Our baffling Messiah, Jesus, doesn’t negotiate but gives without expectation of payment.
Today, pray for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to the gift of life eternal without feeling duty-bound. Once you can accept the most valuable gift imaginable, you are free to love others without obligation. Christ doesn’t demand similar sacrificial offerings from us. Still, he believes that a gift lovingly offered will soften our hearts and give us a loving, giving an example we will want to emulate. “As Christ loved us, so we are to love one another.” So don’t turn God into a divine negotiator but a selfless gift-giver. Then others will be willing to follow the divine One’s selfless example.
