God created us without us, but He will not save us without us” Why?

This is a famous quote by St. Augustine. This can be understood using a little analogy. Think about your own birth. You were given life through your parents not because you asked for it. Similarly when God created us, He did so not because we asked Him to. So this means that God created us without us.

Now that you are born, grown big, and become an adult, you have your own likes, dislikes, preferences and most especially you have the freedom to choose. The freedom to choose is a gift God gives us – it is called the gift of ‘Free Will’. If today the very parents through whom you freely received your life, demands something from you that you don’t like, no matter however good the demand is, you will resist it tooth and nail. But your parents will not torture you into submission because they respect your freedom of choice or the free will.

Similarly however good ‘salvation’ is for us, God does not force it upon us but only propose to us by revealing how good and necessary it is for our own good. It is upto us to freely accept the offer. That would mean God cannot save us or have us accept the salvation if we do not cooperate. That’s why St Augustine said ‘God who created us without us cannot save us without us’. Hope it helps.