Notice that I didn't use the title, "It Takes Work to become Saved." These are two very different ideas. In other words, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we can ever earn God's favor, or that we can even willingly seek after God apart from His working in us (John 6:29, 44; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).

What I am saying is that one way we can know if we have truly been given spiritual life is that we put serious effort into repenting from our sins (Luke 13:3) and obeying what God has commanded in His word (see my article, "The Doctrine of Assurance"). One of these commandments tells us to make seeking the kingdom of God a top priority (Matthew 6:33), which involves learning about Jesus (Matthew 11:29). Furthermore, those who claim to serve the God who is revealed in Scripture must be diligent in thei effort to understand and believe the word of God (II Timothy 2:15). This, of course, includes what it has to say about human nature (see my article, "The Depravity of Mankind"). Not only must we be diligent in knowing truth, but knowing it must be a way of life, just as it was for the early church (Acts 2:42).

Even if someone does put serious effort into knowing God through His word, it is not guaranteed that such a person will have perfect understanding in this life. In fact, our understanding will be incomplete during our sojourn on earth (I Corinthians 13:12). We do have a wonderful promise in Scripture, however, that those who diligently seek after God will find him (Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 8:17). For these reasons, I can respect someone who diligently seeks to understand the truth of Scripture even if the person has a different understanding of wat it says than I on a given issue. Of course, if someone genuinely loves the truth, they ought to be willing to interact with others who hold a different view as a means of testing their own understanding, which Scripture commands all believers to do (II Timothy 2:15; 3:16; 4:2; I Peter 3:15). It also warns us of the consequences of neglecting sound doctrine (II Timothy 4:3-4). Those who do have a love of the truth, however, are to associate and cooperate with others who likewise have a love of the truth (Hebrews 10:24-25; I John 2:19; II John 10-11).

Allow me to make one final point. It should be noted that in a real sense we ultimately need to be saved by a work. It happens to be God's work, as He is the one who works faith in us, such that we are credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ when we truly believe the gospel (again see my article, "The Depravity of Mankind").

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