The Salvation Requirement Debate
Seeking Truth in a Confusing World of Deception, Lies and Ignorance
The Afterlife
When it comes to belief of an afterlife or not or any other "religious" beliefs in the world, the list is almost unending.
When you are dead you are dead, there is nothing after this life.
You will come back as something else, an insect, animal, or if you are lucky, another human (reincarnation).
You are your own god or you are a god.
Your dead ancestors are watching over you.
There are lots of gods (polytheism).
The earth is your mother and your god (Gaia).
God is in everything, the rocks, the trees, etc. (pantheism)
Mary is your savior.
All ways lead to God (Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, Catholicism, all denominations and all beliefs)
One verse in the bible sums up an answer to all those:
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
There is only one way to heaven where God the Father is and that is through Jesus. Jesus is the way to get to heaven, by trusting in him to get you there. He is the truth. Whatever he says is true and he is the truth. Satan on the other hand is a liar and the father of lies. Jesus is the life 1. If you have not accept him, you do not have eternal life, you have "eternal death" in hell.
Authority
What is the authority for what you believe? Is it yourself? If you are your own authority, you decide what to believe and what is real and what isn't. There is just one small problem with that, you can decide to believe something is false but it doesn't mean the there are no consequences for that wrong belief. You don't know everything and so you as your authority is a really bad idea!
Are other people your authority? Other pastors, "theologians", what they say in church, on videos, what they write? That is another bad idea all by itself. We have to learn from other people because they have knowledge and experience we don't have but the problem is there are all kinds of beliefs out there, people that will purposely or ignorantly tell you things that aren't true. So the solution is what the Bible says the Berean people did. They listened to the person teaching them but then they checked it out with the Bible.
Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
You might also trust in other "religious" books such as the Islam's Quran, The Mormon's Book of Mormon, the Buddhist's buddhavacana (word of Buddha), the Dharma-Shasta's of the Hindus, or any number of other books but they are all written by humans with the same problem as any books written by people.
The Bible was PENNED by men but what to write was given to them by God Himself. If you believe the Bible is just written by what men thought, it is useless as an authority. The Bible is supernatural. In other words, it is not just a natural book written by people.
2 Peter 1:19-20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
How can you be certain the Bible is not just written by mortal men? A good way is to look at all the prophesies that are in the Bible and see how many have already come true exactly. Not just general prophesies like you get from quack fortune tellers or in fortune cookies, but very specific prophesies that could not possibly be coincidences. There are scores of prophesies just about the birth of Jesus and a lot more about his life that have all come true. But the best way is to start studying the Bible for yourself and the Holy Spirit will convince you if you are saved.
If you don't accept the Bible as your authority, there is no way to learn what is true and what is not.
What is Salvation?
When you ask a person who knows nothing about the Bible if they have been saved, usually their first thought is saved from some disaster and they might say something like, "well, yes. When I was little I fell into a swimming pool but my mother jumped in and saved me." When we talk about Biblical salvation we are talking about something like that disaster but far worse. The salvation we are talking about here is being saved from spending an eternity in hell in pain, misery, and despair.
The Salvation Debate
You would think that what is required to be saved and know you are going to heaven would be the one thing that would be clear and not debatable among Christian denominations. It surely should be because it is clear enough in the Bible but as long as Satan has a free reign on earth and people are human and have their own agenda, there will be disagreements and confusion.
The biggest problem is that people cannot get it through their head that God's gift of eternal life is FREE! It just seems to be human nature to not be able to accept that. People think "you MUST have to DO something" to get eternal life. That isn't just the normal un-informed lay person's belief but pastors and religious leaders of all kinds too. In the extreme, there are religions that flat out say you have to work for your salvation. You have to go out knocking on doors, you have to obey the ten commandments, you have to obey ALL the old testament commandments, you have to be baptized, and so on. But even those that believe salvation is by faith can't help themselves from sneaking in something you have to DO in addition to having faith, all the while denying that they believe in faith PLUS works. Works is the term used for what you "have to DO" to get saved. One way they sneak in works is when they claim that if a person isn't doing some kind of works AFTER they are saved, then they weren't saved to start with. What does the Bible say?
Eph 2:8-9 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.
You are saved through faith. That faith is that what Jesus did on the cross is what saves you. There is NOTHING you CAN do to be saved! Anything you do to be saved is works. It isn't faith AND something, not faith AND works, it is by FAITH. If a person could get saved by works, then they could brag about what they did to get saved and that is pride. God set up salvation so a person must depend 100% on what Jesus did on the cross so that no one can brag about how good they are and how that makes them saved. More on this below but first let's look at two common arguments and believers in each tend to ridicule the other. These two opposing arguments are "easy believism" and "lordship salvation."
Easy Believism
"Believism" isn't even a true word. The phrase was invented by the "lordship salvation" group as a derogatory label for the opposing belief. Even the definition of that invented phrase is debated by the two sides. According to the "lordship salvation" group, the "easy believism" group believes that all that is required to be saved is an intellectual consent that Jesus died on the cross for sinners and that anyone that prays the "sinner's prayer" is saved. The "sinner's prayer" would be something like this: "Dear Lord, I know I am a sinner and am sorry for all my sins. I accept you as my savior, amen." The "lordship salvation" group say that is too easy, that a person can just say those words and then they can go out and live "like the devil" and continue in sin and they are still saved.
Lordship Salvation
The other side of the salvation debate is that you have to accept Jesus as your personal savior AND as your Lord in order to be saved. Along with this is the idea that the person must stop sinning to be saved. Since this is pretty illogical and is totally impossible, they change it and say that the person must be WILLING to stop sinning along with their accepting Jesus as their savior. It is wrong either way.
THE TRUTH ABOUT SALVATION
Neither of the above are totally true nor explain fully what salvation is. "Easy Believism" would be the closest but not as the "Lordship Salvation" group define it.
Here is the simplest example in the Bible about salvation: It is where Paul and Silas were in Jail and there was an earthquake and all the doors sprung open. The Philippian Jailer was about to commit suicide because he assumed all the inmates had escaped (it was very dark inside) but Paul cried out and said "Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." The Philippian Jailer was so relieved and amazed that he then said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" and Paul and Silas answered,
Acts 16:31. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
One person getting saved does not automatically mean the other family members are saved but in this case God must have let Paul and Silas know that, the jailer would go home and lead his family to the Lord also. So again, what is required? That a person "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" and then that becomes the real question, what does "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ mean?" Here are some more verses about salvation:
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Rom 10:9-10 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Rom 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"
The debate can get very technical with lots of different Bible verses and different definitions for words and phrases but just think about a situation where you might have a life threatening situation and you "called on" someone to save you from that. The understanding then becomes very simple. You have determined that you can't save your self and will die without help. You "call on" someone that you trust is able to save you. You put your life in their hands. If you just believed in your mind that person COULD save you but you never picked up your cell phone to dial the number and call them, you would die. You call them, you trust them, you depend on them to save you. That is what you do when you "call on" Jesus to save you from an eternity in Hell and to take you to heaven when your time on earth is done. It isn't any more complicated than that.
So what about the "Lordship" part? To start with, Jesus IS lord2. That means He is the boss, he is in control. This is true whether a person acknowledges it or not. If you have believed in Him, you believe in who he is but a person usually would not understand everything about Jesus. That is why a saved person needs to start studying the Bible—to learn all about Jesus, who he is, what he does, what he is to you. Saying that a person has to accept Jesus as Lord to be saved is opening up a whole can of worms that leads to a whole bunch of prerequisites that a person would have to know to be saved. God made salvation so simple that a child can understand it. You don't need to be a Bible scholar to be saved. You just have accept that you are a sinner by nature and can't get to heaven by anything you do and accept what Jesus did on the cross as all that is required to save you.
Repent
This is another area of confusion and false claims. The claim is that you must repent of all your sins or in other words, be sorry for all your sins. If repenting meant being sorry for your sins that is a problem. Even to many pastors, it just seems logical that you should be sorry for your sins in order to get saved but it really isn't logical. What if you are sorry for your sins at the moment you get saved but the next day you commit a sin on purpose and you aren't sorry. That would mean you were saved the day before but not the day after. Not only that but we don't even know what all sins we have committed. The Bible says, if you know you should do something and you don't, that is a sin3. The whole reason to get saved is so your sins are taken care.
It is like a person who terribly hurt or offending another person and said they were sorry. It didn't change what they did. Then the person says, "I SAID I was SORRY!" Being sorry doesn't change sins that were committed. It doesn't change the penalty, either. If you break a law such as exceeding the speed limit in your car and you are caught on radar and pulled over, you can say you are sorry all day long and it won't get you out of that traffic ticket whether you meant it or not. Are you sorry you were speeding? Really? Or are you just sorry you got caught?
Just how sorry is sorry enough to be saved if that was a requirement? What if you were sorry at the time but after thinking about it, you weren't sorry?
Another reason people believe you have to repent to be saved is they read a lot about repentance all through the old testament and some New Testament books. But just as there are several gospels, there also different types of repentance. Don't confuse what Jesus required of the Jews in order to enter the kingdom with what is required of you today.
The word repent and salvation or forms of those words are only found one time in the Bible in the same verse and that is 2 Cor 7:10 and it has nothing to do with personal salvation. He was writing to a church of saved people. He had previously written a scathing letter to rebuke the church about the sexual sins going on that were not being dealt with. He was feeling bad about having chastised them so severely but Titus brought a letter back from them about their sorrow and repentance for allowing that to go on unchecked and so Paul was relieved and he didn't have to "repent" of having sent that letter because it had led to action in the church. The church was in jeopardy of falling apart because of what had been going on but the church had now been saved by repenting of the lack of action in regard to those ongoing sins. It was their Godly sorrow that led to their repentance. Repentance means to change direction, to do an about face and go another direction and that church had.
You will hear pastor's and other's say that repentance means turning around and going a different direction, turn away from your life of sin, to turn around and go a direction away from your life of sin. It is true that you need to turn away from something and go a different direction.
Hebrews makes it clear what we must repent of to be saved. It isn't to be sorry for our sins. It is to repent of trusting in dead works to save us. All works are dead and useless when it comes to salvation. If you have been trusting in being good or being more good than bad, or in doing good things to make up for your sins, then you need to turn from trusting in that, in yourself, to trusting in Jesus Christ. If you have never believed anything or even thought about what it takes to go to heaven, then you need to turn from your unbelief to trusting in Jesus.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works...
That is the very foundation of salvation, repenting from depending on works to atone for your sin and get you to heaven. That is totally useless. That is the only repenting regarding salvation that is required.
There is no question that you should repent or be sorry for your sins and if you don't you could lose your fellowship with the Lord and lose the blessings of that relationship until you do. God may even punish you for your sins. That happened a lot in the Old Testament. Israel turned from God and God punished them by bringing other nations to defeat them in battle and many other examples. But being sorry for your sins is not a requirement for salvation. You only need to trust that what Jesus did on the cross has paid for your sins and gives you a destination in heaven where nothing you ever did could. That is all! Believing that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again (came back to life) the third day is part of that trust because that is what paid for your sins.
Baptism
Some church denominations claim that you must be baptized to be saved. This is just one more thing that people claim you must DO to be saved when you don't DO anything, you just TRUST in Jesus. Like many other works situations, it is something that comes AFTER you are saved and not something you DO to be saved. This is another whole subject that will be dealt with elsewhere.
Other works claimed necessary for salvation
The list goes on and on about things people claim you have to DO to be saved, many are things that come after salvation, many are good things to do but not required or commanded. Here is a partial list of some of those false requirements for being saved and for staying saved.
Repent of your sins (be sorry for them).
Turn from your sins.
Be willing to turn from your sins.
Accept Jesus as your Lord.
Obey the ten commandments.
Obey all the laws of the old testament.
Be baptized.
Give 10% (Tithe) or other amount to the church
Take communion.
Join a specific church.
Use a specific Bible version or translation.
Go on a mission.
Witness to people.
Be active in your church--get involved in their ministries.
Here are the main causes of all the false claims of what is required for salvation:
- Taking verses that apply to a different time period or to the Jews. Jesus offered the Jews their promised kingdom on earth when he was here on earth and there were different requirements for the kingdom to have started then and different requirements for the Jews to enter into the kingdom.
- Twisting the meaning of verses to fit their belief instead of lining their belief up with what the scriptures say.
- Applying God's plan for us AFTER we are saved to a requirement TO BE saved.
- Using Bible versions that have changed the words and meanings to accommodate different beliefs.
- Wanting to control your life instead of teaching you to depend on Jesus for that.
If you are not saved, you need to go back to the web page The Ultimate Truth, read through it again, and accept Jesus Christ as your savior.
1. John 8:44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
2. 1 Ti 6:15, Rev 17:14, Rev 19:16
3. Jas_4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.