Two sides of salvation - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

He said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
Mark 3:5

Two sides of salvation
The grace of God and the responsibility of man are two principles that have their full significance in the salvation of a sinner. On the one hand, man is responsible to turn from his wrong way and believe in the Saviour, Jesus Christ. On the other hand, God acts in grace when He leads people to the realisation of their guilt and absolves them from punishment.

The miracle the Saviour worked on the man with the withered hand illustrates how these two principles coexist.

The Lord commanded him, “Stretch out your hand.” Trusting in Jesus Christ who could heal him, the man was to stretch out his hand. It was not a question of whether he had the ability, but whether he believed and obeyed. Through the gospel, God calls people to repent and accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour (Acts 16:31; 17:30). Those who respond to this call will be saved. This is the side of human responsibility.

The man could not heal his withered hand himself. There had to be a miracle worked by the Son of God to restore the hand. In the same way, it is true that without God’s gracious working, no one is saved. He leads lost sinners to repentance and gives them new life (Ephesians 2:5, 8). This is the side of divine grace.

Today’s reading: Genesis 4:1-16 · 1 Peter 2:1-8