May the 4th Be With You: A Star Wars Day Reflection on Salvation, Freedom, and Amazing Grace

“Congratulations. You Are Being Rescued. Please Do Not Resist.”

May the Fourth is widely known as Star Wars Day. And as a lifelong fan of the franchise—with a love/hate relationship that many of you know well—I can’t resist taking this opportunity to reflect on one of the saga’s most memorable moments and the powerful theological truth it helps illustrate.

In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, there’s a scene where the droid K-2SO and a group of rebels go to rescue Jyn Erso. But Jyn doesn’t realize they’re there to help. Instead, she fights back—swinging a shovel at the very people trying to save her. Amid the chaos, K-2 grabs Jyn, slams her to the ground (seemingly knocking the wind out of her), and delivers one of the best deadpan lines in the entire series:

“Congratulations. You are being rescued. Please do not resist.”

It’s funny because it’s so blunt, mechanical, and impersonal. The rescue mission, at least from K-2’s perspective, leaves no room for negotiation. Resistance is irrelevant. You’re being saved whether you like it or not.

But as the story unfolds, we quickly see that this rescue was not irresistible after all. Shortly after K-2’s not-so-gentle intervention, Jyn gets her hands on a blaster. K-2, of course, disapproves and reports this to Cassian Andor. Cassian decides to let her keep it, prompting K-2 to protest with his classic sarcasm:

“I find that answer vague and unconvincing.”

Here’s the point: Jyn could have resisted at that moment. She could have turned the blaster on her would-be rescuers and aborted the mission. But she didn’t. Instead, she freely chose to stay. And as time went on, her continued free choice not to resist led to her transformation. Eventually, she became fully aligned with Andor, K-2, and the Rebellion. The mission wasn’t forced upon her. She did not initially embrace it—but she didn’t resist.

Eventually, she was transformed and found herself willing to die for the cause of the Rebellion.

Resistible Amazing Grace

This scene offers a striking contrast to certain theological models of salvation that portray God’s grace as irresistible—that is, as grace that forcibly overrides human will to ensure compliance and salvation. According to this view, if God selects you, you will be saved whether you want to be or not.

But is this the best way to understand the love of God and the nature of salvation?

Consider instead what theologian Kenneth Keathley calls the Ambulatory Model of Salvation in his book Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach. Imagine a person who wakes up in the back of an ambulance driving at high speeds down the freeway. If the patient simply does nothing—if he does not resist, fight, or assault the paramedics—he will eventually arrive at the hospital and be saved. However, he can resist. He can choose to reject the process, rip the IV from his arm, punch the paramedics, and throw himself from the back of the speeding ambulance into oncoming traffic—to his doom.

If the patient would have done nothing, he would have been saved. Instead, he did something, and perished.

This aligns beautifully with what Kirk MacGregor describes as "Monergistic Molinism"—published in Perichoresis, Volume 16, Issue 2 (2018)—a model of salvation where God alone provides the means of rescue (hence, monergism), but where the human person retains genuine libertarian freedom to either resist . . . or do nothing.<1>

It also resonates with my own TRUMP acronym for salvation, where the “R” stands for Resistible Amazing Grace. Grace is truly amazing—not because it forces itself upon the unwilling, but because it provides everything needed for salvation while honoring the dignity of the person created in God’s image. The offer is real. The grace is sufficient. The love is perfect. But it is not coercive, determined, or forced upon anyone.

Love Without Divorce

Here’s the beauty of this model: if a person continues to freely choose not to resist God’s grace, they will eventually be transformed. Over time, they will come to genuinely love the One who first loved them. And since God’s love is perfect—He will never seek “divorce” from the relationship—and the human person, who was eventually transformed by grace, will likewise never want to walk away or seek divorce from the Maximally Great Being.

This results in what I call a maximized kind of love—a relationship that is neither forced nor fragile, but free, full, and forever.

As Jesus Himself declares,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20, ESV).

Notice, Jesus doesn’t kick down the door. He knocks. He invites. And He waits for a free, genuine response.

Conclusion

So on this Star Wars Day, let’s remember that true rescue—whether in a galaxy far, far away or here on planet earth—respects the freedom of the rescued. God’s grace is amazing not because it overwhelms or overrides, but because it invites, empowers, and transforms those who simply do nothing and let the God of love continue to work in their hearts and minds.

“Congratulations. You are being rescued. Please do not resist.”

But remember: the choice to resist—or to do nothing—is up to you.

May the Fourth—and grace freely received—be with you.

Stay reasonable (Isaiah 1:18),

Dr. Tim Stratton

Notes

<1> In this sense, not only is libertarian freedom compatible with monergism—it also underscores that no one can work their way to God. After all, you can’t just hop aboard the Millennium Falcon—or any other starship—and fly to where God is located, not even in galaxies far, far away. No, God alone does all the work to metaphysically transport a person into His presence. But here’s the key: He simply chooses to transport those who have not resisted His flirtatious advances—those who, by freely doing nothing to fight His grace, now find themselves in a true love relationship with their Creator.