Can a man save himself? Depends.
Can a man save himself to any degree and in any sense of the word? This certainly is one of the longest running debates of sinners and saints, scholars and ain’t. The currency of the debate is always the same, although it can be transacted in tuppence or pounds sterling. The box seats version typically involves a series of salvos over free will and total depravity, with lots of proof texts flying through the air . The cheap seats version is shorter but has more local color: “I’m not perfect, but I’m good at heart, and I do my best . . . ” (the rest of the argument is unstated but clearly implied, and it goes like this) “. . . and if that isn’t good enough for your God, then your God isn’t good enough for me.”
God has a different approach, one which is typically overlooked, perhaps because it kills the argument and spoils the fun. God’s contribution is more like the minimum height chart for a carnival ride.
“Can I ride?”
“Sure, if the top of your noggin is over this mark.”
“Can I save myself?”
“Sure, if you can do these few simple things . . . (Job 40.9-14).”
The Can a man save himself? Depends. by Alan Burrow, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
That was good. Really good.