Salvation Is Partly Up To Us

Tonight, for Family Scripture study, we read about how Jesus Christ saves mankind from the Fall, yet, it's important to note that that's partly up to us.

The Fall of Adam and Eve has two parts: Physical and Spiritual. Physically, the Fall means that mankind became mortal. With very few exceptions, every human being will eventually die, if they haven't already. However, every human being will also be resurrected (or at least transformed or translated or whatever), if they haven't already. Resurrection is a free gift from Jesus Christ, made possible when He Himself broke the bands of death and became "the first fruits of them that slept." That part's taken care of.

The part that's up to us is the Spiritual aspect of the Fall. Spiritually, the Fall means that we are separated from God, and that separation grows or shrinks based on our wickedness or righteousness. As we make bad choices, we drift farther away from God, spiritually, but as we repent and make good choices, we draw closer enough. Ultimately, if we are righteous enough and repent enough, we can finally return to live with God again. However, this is almost entirely up to us. We can get some help from God and Jesus, but we also get some hindrance and temptation from the devil. In the end, it's up to us what we do and where we end up. It's possible for us to be saved from the spiritual aspect of the Fall, but it's entirely up to us.

So, to say that Christ saves mankind from the Fall is mostly true. He saves us from the Physical Fall, and He makes it possible for us to be saved from the Spiritual Fall, but it's ultimately up to each of us to determine whether we'll be Spiritually saved or not. Not all people will choose to be saved, so even though Jesus made it possible for them to be saved, He won't necessarily save them. We are already guaranteed to be saved from the Physical Fall, and we can also be saved from the Spiritual Fall, but that part it mostly up to us.