So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” — Romans 9:16
There are few statements outside Scripture that pierce the pride of the human heart like Jonathan Edwards’ words: “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” We instinctively want to bring something to God—some part of our goodness, our effort, our sincerity, our choice, our resolve. But Edwards reminds us of what the Bible insists from cover to cover: salvation is not a cooperation with God; it is a rescue by God. Not a partnership. Not a negotiation. Not God doing His part and us finishing the rest.
It is a rescue. One-sided, undeserved, and initiated entirely by the mercy of God.
1. The Only Thing We Bring Is Need
Edwards’ quote confronts us with a sobering truth: the only ingredient we supply in our salvation is the rebellion that required Christ’s blood in the first place. Paul tells us in his letters to the Ephesians, Corinthians, and Romans that our hearts were dead, our wills were enslaved, our eyes were blind, and our desires bent elsewhere. When God looked upon us, He didn’t see potential – He saw desperate need. He didn’t see moral effort – He saw moral ruin. Salvation is not God rewarding the worthy. It is God resurrecting the unworthy.
2. Mercy Moves First
Romans 9 reminds us that God’s mercy is not a reaction to our movement toward Him. It is the cause of it. If you have repented, believed, and embraced Christ, it is only because God first cracked open your heart to see Him as beautiful. The faith that now feels so deeply yours was first given to you (Phil. 1:29). The repentance you offered with tears was, itself, granted by God (2 Tim. 2:25). And the love you now feel for Christ flows from the love He placed in you by His Spirit (Rom. 5:5).
You chose Christ – but only after He gave you a new heart that could finally see Him.
3. Grace That Removes All Boasting
This reality doesn’t make our faith less real, it just makes it all the more miraculous! If any part of salvation depended on our initiative (our goodness, our wisdom, our ability), boasting would always linger. But God designs salvation in such a way that the only boasting left is boasting in Him alone (1 Cor. 1:29–31). God saves in a manner that silences human pride and magnifies divine mercy.
No one enters heaven saying, “I made a better choice.”
Everyone enters heaven saying, “God had mercy on me.”
4. Assurance Rooted in God, Not Self
When the weight of salvation rests entirely on God, our assurance stops bouncing with our emotions. Instead of searching inside ourselves for a reason to be confident, we look upward to a God whose purposes never change, whose mercy never fails, and whose promises never break. The God who began the work is the God who finishes it (Phil. 1:6). He does not save halfway. He completes what He starts.
Prayer
Father, thank You for a salvation that depends wholly on Your mercy and not on my strength. Thank You for opening my eyes, softening my heart, and giving me the desire to run to Christ. Keep me humble, grateful, and anchored in the grace that came before every step I ever took toward You. Let my life be a testimony not to my worthiness, but to Your unending mercy. Amen.
Former Blackout Artist 