Are we saved through reciting a sinner’s prayer or by asking Jesus into our heart? Is eternal life achieved by responding to an altar call, surrendering your life to Jesus, coming forward at a rally, or repenting of your sins? What about infant baptism, does that count? And then, if I was saved, how can I know if I still am? Do I have to keep the Law, not commit too many sins, go to church, and do good works to show that I’m still saved?
The multiple answers given to these questions are confusing to a person who is either “trying to get right with God” or who believes they are saved but aren’t quite sure how it happened. Such uncertainty can make Christians hesitant to witness to others as they themselves are unsure of what to say. Rather than seeking consensus from among differing opinion, let’s simply look at what the Bible says. In the following verses there is a single word that states the sole requirement on how one becomes saved.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“Then he [Philippian jailer] called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].” (Acts 16:29-31)
“Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.” (Acts 8:36-38)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Did you catch the word? It is “believe.” But believe in what? The object of your faith is of supreme importance. You must believe exclusively in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who is God, and His willing crucifixion death on your behalf. Why is this significant? Because none of us are good enough in and of ourselves to escape God’s judgment.
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” (Romans 3:10)
All of us are sinners before a perfect, holy God.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)
Someone has to pay the penalty for sin. The justice we all deserve is to pay for our sins through eternal separation from God in hell. But God, by His unmerited favor, His grace, offers us the gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus. Jesus, the perfect, sinless Son of God, came to earth in human form, fully man and fully God, to take onto Himself the sins of the world and the punishment you and I deserve.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Only through belief in Jesus can our sins be forgiven.
“In whom we have redemption through his [Jesus] blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” (Colossians 1:14)
Do not think that your sins are too great or numerous to be forgiven.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) NASB
Through faith in Him, Jesus’ righteousness is bestowed to the believer.
“For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Your sin debt — no matter what you have done – Jesus has paid it all. This is great news because there is nothing you can do to earn your way out of an eternal destiny in hell. Don’t think your supposed “good works” apart from Christ can save you. Nor are your good works in addition to Christ a factor in your salvation.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead as recounted in the Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament) shows that God was satisfied with Jesus’ death on our behalf as propitiation (appeasing God’s wrath, payment) for our sins. We don’t have to ask Jesus into our hearts, say a sinner’s prayer, go to the altar, etc., to be saved. These are the unbiblical ideas of men, not God. Perhaps you’ve done one of these things during your life or maybe several. If you have, realize it was your motivating faith that saves, not these add-on activities.
Of all the faith plus-something-else falsehoods within the church, one of the more popular errors is that you must repent of your sins to be saved. This idea can be superficially appealing by making it sound as if you are doing your part, but as explained earlier, you have no part; Jesus did it all for you. You may be thinking, doesn’t the Bible teach repentance? Yes, it does.
Various forms of the word “repent” are mentioned 45 times in the Old Testament and 60 times in the New Testament. In biblical context, repentance (a change of mind) and faith are closely related to each other, some would say even synonymous. The one, repentance, attaches to the other, faith. Yet, there is a difference between the repentance of an unsaved person to salvation and repentance after one is saved. The change of mind an unsaved person needs is to go from unbelief in Jesus as Saviour to acknowledging they need a Saviour and believe and trust exclusively in Jesus as their Saviour. Some might also confess their sins with tears at this time, which is fine, but realize it is simply the belief that saves. The point is the sinner comes to Jesus as they are, where they are in their sins.
It is after being saved that the Holy Spirit enters the new Christian and the process of being transformed begins, also known as sanctification. Repentance then becomes changing our minds about the sins that have been dominating our lives. Confession of sin to God is an element of repentance but confession is not by itself repentance. Confession is a personal acknowledgment that one has done wrong and takes responsibility for it. Repentance goes further. In this context, to repent is to change one’s mind about a sin and turn away from it. This is not something that occurs by our own strength or will but is instead accomplished by yielding ourselves to the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Our identity is in Christ, not the world.
Temporarily Saved, Conditionally Saved, or Eternally Saved?
Once saved, how does a person remain saved? We again look at John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Everlasting means forever or eternal. How long is forever? It’s forever. You can’t lose that which God has promised to be everlasting. This is again God’s grace and promise.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes [in Jesus] has eternal life.” (John 6:47)
Without a doubt, you can know that you are saved.
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
There are some who confuse justification (being justified before God by faith in Jesus) with sanctification, the process of growing and maturing in our faith. The thought that we have to do something after we’re saved to show that we are saved, like producing good works, obedience, and the like, is just another form of works-based salvation. Now don’t get me wrong, there should be a transformation in the saved person, they should do good works as the Holy Spirit leads them and they should become more obedient as their faith matures. Notice though, there is a difference between “should” and “must.” Sometimes only God knows the changes taking place in a believer; He who searches minds and hearts.
We can’t be made more deserving before or after salvation by our works because we were/are not deserving in the first place. As to our self-generated “righteous” works:
“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
To sin as a believer is lose fellowship with God, it does not entail losing salvation. When we are out of fellowship with God we lose His blessings; God does not bless the very sins which He condemns. Our restoration to fellowship comes with confessing our sins to God, which by the way, He already knows about. Nothing we do or think is hidden from Him.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
A synonym for Christian is believer. You can know you are saved by faith and that once saved you are eternally saved. Forever starts when we believe.
To God be the glory!