I was having lunch with a friend last week, having the most wonderful conversation about all sorts of topics. At one point, the topic turned to salvation - specifically, what is our part in it? Rebecca had a terrific illustration to share and I want to pass it along to you.
First, think on the story of Lazarus. He and his sisters (Mary and Martha) were dear friends of Jesus. The story can be found in its entirety in John 11, verses 1-45. We shall just focus on the last part but to refresh your memory - here is a summary of what happened to this point:
Lazarus was sick. So sick, in fact, that the sisters sent word to Jesus to come. Scripture is clear to tell us that Jesus loved these siblings and yet, He didn’t come immediately. He stayed where He was. In the meantime, Lazarus died. No one told Him that but He knew because He told His disciples so. By the time He arrived in Lazarus’s village, His friend had been in the tomb for four days. No doubt he was dead. The sisters were understandably sad and, truth be told, maybe even disappointed in Jesus for not coming sooner. Each sister independently states that her brother wouldn’t have died if He had been there! Their pain moves Jesus deeply and Scripture tells us He wept. His love for them was obvious. Let’s let the Word tell us the rest: (John 11:38-45)
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,
Lazarus was dead. Dead people can’t do anything. He was helplessly, hopelessly dead.
Jesus calls to him in his deadness. He gives him life.
Lazarus has a choice. In the instant he is given life, technically he could have stayed in the stinking grave. He could have said, thanks but no thanks - I prefer to be dead. So, yes, I suppose he has a choice that is really no choice at all. He is raised from death to life and he responds to that call instantaneously.
That is a true story. And, dear friends, it is a beautiful picture of salvation. We were dead - DEAD - in our sins (Ephesians 2:1). Dead people can’t do anything! They can’t save themselves. They can’t make decisions. They can’t do good works. They can’t impress God. Just as Lazarus was dead in that grave, when we were without Christ, we were dead. DEAD.
Then, Jesus calls us. Not when we decided to come to Him but rather when He decides to come to us. Just like He did with Lazarus. He calls us and imparts life. Our only “role” is to walk out of the grave! Maybe technically we have a “choice” but is it any more of a choice than Lazarus had when he was brought back to life? We were dead. He called us and made us alive. Of course we walked out of that grave!
I hope you, too, have walked out of the grave. That you who once were dead have now been made alive, that you have been called from darkness into His marvelous light. But if you haven’t, then please don’t deceive yourself that you can “make this decision” when you’re ready. You can’t. He is the one doing the choosing. If you have heard His voice, don’t delay. The day you hear that call is the day of salvation.