Is salvation faith plus nothing or does it require human effort?
God saves on the basis of faith plus nothing, with no human energy and no human merit. A person is placed into Christ Jesus by faith, not by walking in the flesh or by walking in the Spirit. Adding human effort makes the promise of no condemnation depend on human performance, contradicting Scripture.
Les explains that salvation is faith plus nothing—no human energy, no human merit. He points to the phrase “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” noting that the earliest manuscripts and Bible scholars say it does not belong in verse 1; it belongs in verse 4. If left in verse 1, it would suggest people get into Christ Jesus by not walking in the flesh but by walking in the Spirit, which is not how anyone enters the Body of Christ. Walking after the Spirit fits verse 4, after salvation, where the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us because God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned old Adam in the flesh.