I grew up with the concept that “accept” is almost a bad word when it comes to God’s grace (i.e., decision theology). So I’m struggling to make sense of 2 Corinthians 6:1, “As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive [i.e., accept] God’s grace in vain.” This passage makes it sound like we do have the freedom to “accept” Christ into our hearts. How should I interpret this passage?

The Bible teaches that we cannot cooperate with God when it comes to our conversion and justification. The Bible clearly states, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Dead people cannot accept God. They cannot accept anything! If I were lying in a casket at my funeral and you came through the visitation line, I could not accept anything from you. Even if you waved a $100 bill over me and said, “All you have to do is grab it, Dave, and it’s all yours!” That would be preposterous . . . and mean! Dead people cannot accept anything. A miracle would need to happen!

A miracle is exactly what God has done for us. Paul goes on to write, “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4,5). Grace depends on something in God, not something in us. That’s why Paul continues, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9). Now that God has made us spiritually alive, we can cooperate with him in accomplishing the “good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

Distinguishing between justification and sanctification

It’s important to distinguish between sanctification calls to action and justification passages. In other words, when you see the Bible ascribe “receiving” or “accepting” to the individual, you have to ask, “To whom is the passage addressed?”

For example, Joshua was addressing individuals who already had the miracle of faith worked in their hearts when he said, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). Jesus was speaking to the church (i.e., believers) in Laodicea when he said, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20). Similarly, Paul is speaking to believers in 2 Corinthians 6:1: “As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” As believers who have been brought from death to life, we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to do God-pleasing things. We now have the new self of faith that loves God, his Word, and his will.

To say it another way, there is no cooperation in justification, including subjective justification, by which God works faith in my heart. But there is cooperation in sanctification.

The image of God and us

When Adam and Eve were created, they were created able not to sin. They had free will. Their reason, emotions, and will were perfectly in line with what God wanted. They were “like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

After the fall into sin, people were then not able not to sin. They lost that holiness. Their reason, emotions, and will were naturally selfish and not in line with God.

Being conceived and born dead in sin, we have lost that ability to cooperate with God in pleasing him (Hebrews 11:6). This is why saying that you were saved because you “made your decision” or “accepted Christ” or “made him your Lord and Savior” or “chose him” is not correct. Dead people can’t do any of that. It takes a miracle, which is 100 percent God’s work, to bring you and me to faith. To take credit for coming to faith is to rob God of his glory and make people partially responsible for salvation. Faith becomes the one little work I have to do. And if it’s by works, then it’s no longer by grace (Galatians 2:16).

When God placed the new self of faith into us, he gave us the ability to cooperate with him in our lives of thanks. The new self only loves what God loves. However, we cannot do this perfectly because until we get to heaven, we still have the old self (i.e., our sinful nature) that wars against God’s will.

What it means to cooperate

Then how can we cooperate with God? How can we accept God’s grace? Only after God has worked the miracle of faith (i.e., subjective justification) can we cooperate with God in good works, including appropriating (or accepting) God’s grace in our lives. God still gets the credit as our lives of sanctification are powered by the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through the means of grace. We could not do anything good without him. But the new self of faith cooperates with God in producing good works that God prepared in advance for us to do.

The Formula of Concord explains it well:

As soon as the Holy Spirit has begun his work of rebirth and renewal in us through the Word and the holy sacraments, it is certain that on the basis of his power we can and should be cooperating with him, though still in great weakness. . . . The converted do good to the extent that God rules, leads, and guides them with his Holy Spirit. If God withdrew his gracious hand from such people, they could not for one moment remain obedient to God. If this passage were to be understood as if the converted person cooperates alongside the Holy Spirit, in the way two horses draw a wagon together, this interpretation could not be tolerated without damaging the divine truth. (Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration II:65,66)

In other words, when we speak of cooperation, we still attribute that ability to the Holy Spirit.

Only after God has worked the miracle of faith, can we cooperate with God in good works, including appropriating (or accepting) God’s grace in our lives.

Our cooperation is like a baby learning to stand, gripping his dad’s two pointer fingers, as he throws his little legs into the air like he’s walking. If the father removed his fingers, the baby would fall. The temptation is for us to take too much credit for our acts of faith. Think of a three-year-old “helping” you make cookies. The only thing that child can do is shakily put the flour in the mixing bowl with your careful guiding hand (even then, the flour will probably spill all over). You do all the rest, and yet, when company comes over, that three-year-old grabs the plate of cookies and proudly exclaims, “Look what I made!” In our good works, God gives us the desire, the opportunity, and the ability, and yet still lets us cooperate in those works of thanks that he prepared in advance for us to do. It is wise to give credit where credit is due!

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Author: David Scharf
Volume 112, Number 08
Issue: August 2025