Frequently Asked Questions About the Church of Christ and Other Topics
SALVATION
Question: "I want to be saved. What do I have to do?"
People with sensitive hearts have been asking that very same question for centuries (Acts 2:38; Acts 16:30; Luke 10:25), and it certainly isn't an overstatement to say that it's the most important question that anyone could ever ask.
So, what's the answer? The answer I'm going to offer assumes that you believe the Bible is God's word -- it's the very speech of God Himself -- He is its ultimate author. Now, assuming you believe that, I would suggest that you get your Bible and look up and read very carefully all the passages I'm going to refer you to. I believe these passages will answer your question in full.
I stress "answer your question in full" because I'm concerned that an incomplete, and therefore inaccurate, answer is often given to the question, "what must I do to be saved?" I don't for a minute, however, think that anyone is out there intentionally trying to pass on wrong answers to important spiritual questions. I'm just convinced that many sincere, Bible-believing, Jesus-loving people have been unintentionally given inaccurate information about a few things, and they in turn have unintentionally passed along that same inaccurate information to others.
Now, let's answer the question, "what do I have to do in order to be saved?"
Some well-meaning people will say that your salvation is 100% unconditional. In other words, they will say that you don't have to do anything to be saved. As you read your New Testament, however, you will discover that there are clearly spelled-out conditions for salvation.
So, what are these conditions? "Show me the verse where I can find them," you may be asking. Actually there isn't a single New Testament passage which includes the entire list of conditions necessary for salvation. To discover all the conditions for salvation we must look at everything that the New Testament has to say about the way of salvation. Looking at everything the Bible has to say about any matter in order to fully understand that matter is a basic rule for understanding the Bible. It's part of "Fundamentals of Bible Study 101" if you will. Let me illustrate what I mean.
Here's a question for you. To which of Jesus' parents did an angel announce the impending birth of Jesus? Was it Mary or Joseph? Matthew says "Joseph" (Matthew 1:20-21). Luke, on the other hand, says "Mary" (Luke 1:26-33). So, who was it? Both, of course. Matthew simply records the occasion it was announced to Joseph, while Luke records only the announcement to Mary. We get the full picture only by combining and comparing those two historical records.
Here's another one for you. One of Jesus' most famous miracles was when He cast some demons into a herd of pigs which then ran down a steep bank into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. Did Jesus cast those demons out of one man or two that day? If you look in Matthew's record he says, "two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs" (Matthew 8:28). Mark, however, says "a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him (Mark 5:2; Luke also mentions only one demon-possessed man in his account of this event, Luke 8:27). So, who is right? Matthew or Mark and Luke? Actually, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are all three right. There were obviously two men, as Matthew reports, but one of the two was probably the "spokesman" for the two, and so, Mark and Luke just focused on him as they reported the incident. Again, we get the full picture of what happened only when we combine and compare all the historical records.
Let me give you one more. Can you name the women who came to the tomb of Jesus on Sunday after His crucifixion? If you look in Matthew 28:1 you will discover that it was "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary." But, if you take a look at what Mark has to say, you will find "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome" (Mark 16:1). But wait, Luke's list is still a little different. He says it was "Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them" (Luke 24:10). And let's not forget John. He reports only Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb early that Sunday morning (John 20:1). So, who's right? Again, you have to pull all the information from all the records together to get the most complete picture. Doing this, we know that it was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna, and probably a few other unnamed women who visited Jesus' tomb the Sunday after He died on cross.
When it comes to the question of "what must I do to be saved?" we have to do the very same thing. We have to combine and compare all that the New Testament has to say about the matter to get the full and complete picture of what we must do. When we do this, what we find is that there are four conditions we must meet to initially receive the salvation that God offers to us. We must:
- Believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to earth and paid for our sins by being executed on a cross, buried in a tomb, and brought back to life (Mark 16:16; John 8:24; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10).
- Confess our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord (Romans 10:9-10; Matthew 10:32)
- Repent of our sins -- which means we have to change our attitudes toward sin. We must begin to hate sin and try to rid our lives of it (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Acts 20:21)
- Be baptized [which means a "burial or immersion"] in water into Christ (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:1-6; 1 Peter 3:21)
We've just given you several passages to look up, but we don't want you to think that these are the only passages which identify conditions we must meet to initially receive salvation. There are plenty of others, but they identify no conditions other than the ones mentioned above. If you would like a real challenge you may want to read through the New Testament yourself and as you come across each passage which seems to identify a condition(s) for salvation write that reference under the appropriate category.
Take a look now at 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9. Here the apostle Paul tells us that Jesus is coming back, and one of things that will happen when He returns is that He will be "dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." He goes on to say that "these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord . . ."
Salvation from eternal destruction is clearly given to us when we "obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." In other words, Jesus' saving blood is applied to us when we "obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (we must never forget for a moment that it is Jesus' blood that cleanses us from our sins and saves us (Romans 5:9)). That expression -- "obey the gospel" -- is an expression to describe a person's meeting the conditions of salvation that God's has established. When we "obey the gospel" -- meet the conditions God has established for salvation -- God applies the benefits of Christ's work on the cross to us, and He saves us.
Now let me leave you with a few questions that I want you to think about. Have you obeyed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior who shed His blood for you? Have you confessed your absolute conviction that Jesus is Savior and Lord? Have you committed yourself to trying to rid your life of sin? Have you been baptized into Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins?"
I know that there are many questions that people have on their heart about this matter of being saved which I haven't answered here. If you are one of those people and would like to talk with someone about those matters, someone at Lebanon Road would be glad to sit down with you at your convenience and discuss them with you; just give us a call.