True Salvation

Having been a Christian for over 53 years and being a minister and missionary for over 28 years, I have talked to a lot of people about salvation. In traveling to foreign countries and asking a person if they are a Christian, I almost always get the answer, “Yes, I am a Christian.” Their answer actually means they are not Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu, therefore, they are a Christian. In the United States, people are often approached with the question, “If you died right now, would you go to Heaven,” and if they say yes, “How do you know?” you get several answers.

*because I am a good person

*I am a member of the church

*I have been baptized

*I try to do what is good

*I am not sure

All of these answers sound good but none of them assure salvation.

What is salvation?

Salvation consists of several things. One is to confess that we are sinners and in need of a Savior. Another is to repent of being a sinner. Repent means to turn back from with the intention of never returning. Another is to ask forgiveness from Jesus and to accept Him and His work on the cross for your sins. After doing this, we must accept His forgiveness by faith and confess with our mouth that we are now saved.

After the death of Jesus on the cross, the Apostle Peter preached to the crowd that had gathered on Pentecost. The people were convicted (convinced) of their sinfulness and asked Peter what they needed to do. His answer is recorded in Acts 2:37, 38:

³⁷Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” ³⁸Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

You will notice here that repentance comes before baptism. Baptism does not save you, repentance does.

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 10:9,19:

if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

He writes also in Ephesians 2:8,9:

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

This is the answer to those who feel that being good, giving money, etc. is the way into heaven. Salvation can only be obtained by faith in Jesus Christ.

However, even though works cannot save us, there are signs that follow a person who is saved. I have many friends who tell me they are saved because somewhere in their lives they said a “sinners prayer,” and they know that Jesus saved them at that time and now they can do anything they want and they have a guaranteed ticket into heaven.

I would like to direct our attention to the book of 1 John in the Bible where the Apostle John speaks to the life that has been changed and saved. I believe that anyone who is truly saved will exhibit to a growing degree the characteristics that John lists in this book.

1 John

John begins his book with this declaration, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I love this verse because it succinctly tells us what we need to do and what Jesus does in response to our confession. He follows with several verses that help us to see what our life will look like once we have been saved.

2:3 ³By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

2:6 ⁶the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

2:9 ⁹The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

2:15 ¹⁵Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

2:24 ²⁴As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

2:29 ²⁹If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

3:4 ⁴Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

3:6 ⁶No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

3:8 ⁸the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.

3:10 ¹⁰By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

3:14 ¹⁴We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

3:24 ²⁴The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

4:7 ⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

It is amazing to me that people who call themselves Christians do not seem to fit the mold when John uses the words over and over again, “you know.” They still hate one another, they never open their Bible to learn more about Jesus and how to please and obey Him, their life looks nothing like His, and they seem to love the world more that Him.

Therefore, I write this blog not in judgment, but in the hope that these words will help all of us to know better how to please and obey and love Him. In so doing, we can truly be His child and be saved.