Up to this point in the course, we have described the condition of man and God’s initiative in saving man from his dire predicament.
Before we talk about our proper response, we need to discuss some common misconceptions regarding salvation.
In fact, the Bible encourages a self-examination regarding this most important matter.
2 Corinthians 13:5
As we can see, there are many common misconceptions about salvation. The genuineness of conversion to Christ cannot simply be determined by a few words a person once said, but more importantly, by an examination of one’s life after the decision.
A one-time confession, a simple prayer at a retreat or at the end of a gospel presentation, may very well be the point of genuine salvation. Or, it may have been just empty words, fleeting feelings and nothing more. After all, through our emotional highs and lows, all of us have said words in the past that we didn’t really mean.
If such a confession was not based on an understanding of the gospel, or if it was not followed by obedience to Christ and a continuous walk with him, then it’s doubtful that anything genuine happened at that point.
I was born as a Christian and have been a Christian my whole life.
Read the following verses:
Romans 3:23
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Acts 3:19
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out
I believe everything the Bible says.
Intellectual understanding or belief in God by itself is insufficient for salvation.
James 2:19
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder!
As supernatural beings, demons believe the truthfulness of statements such as “Jesus is the Son of God” and “Jesus died for mankind’s sins” with much greater certainty than human beings can ever achieve. However, we would all readily agree that their intellectual understanding of Jesus does not necessarily equate to them being saved.
I cried and felt the presence of God in my life.
Emotions can be meaningful, but they do not equate with salvation.
See James 2:19 again:
James 2:19
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder!
I believe that I’m saved and that’s good enough.
Many people have been so solidly taught to never doubt their salvation that they think that having assurance is the same thing as being saved. Take a look at the Pharisees (a devout religious group during Jesus’ time). They are the prime example of people who were sincere about their assurance of salvation. Tragically, they were sincerely wrong.
Read Matthew 23:13-15:
But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
I am very active in the church.
Read Matthew 7:21-23:
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."
I was born as a Christian and have been a Christian my whole life.
Read the following verses:
Romans 3:23
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Acts 3:19
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out
I believe everything the Bible says.
Intellectual understanding or belief in God by itself is insufficient for salvation.
James 2:19
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder!
As supernatural beings, demons believe the truthfulness of statements such as “Jesus is the Son of God” and “Jesus died for mankind’s sins” with much greater certainty than human beings can ever achieve. However, we would all readily agree that their intellectual understanding of Jesus does not necessarily equate to them being saved.
I cried and felt the presence of God in my life.
Emotions can be meaningful, but they do not equate with salvation.
See James 2:19 again:
James 2:19
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder!
I believe that I’m saved and that’s good enough.
Many people have been so solidly taught to never doubt their salvation that they think that having assurance is the same thing as being saved. Take a look at the Pharisees (a devout religious group during Jesus’ time). They are the prime example of people who were sincere about their assurance of salvation. Tragically, they were sincerely wrong.
Read Matthew 23:13-15:
But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
I am very active in the church.
Read Matthew 7:21-23:
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."
First and foremost, salvation is described in the Bible as a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8 says that becoming saved
A gift, by its nature, can neither be earned nor demanded (as is the case with wages).
There is nothing we can do to earn the gift of salvation through good deeds or religious rituals.
The gift needs to be simply received with gratitude.
However, when we think of gifts, our minds automatically conjure up nicely wrapped products – items that become ours to keep and use.
But salvation is the gift of a relationship with God. It is not an object that you can grab and walk away with. It is the grant of an undeserved relationship—like an orphan being adopted into a family.
When people don’t understand that salvation is a relational gift,
that they can put away, and move on with their lives largely unaffected.
This is one of the inadequate views of salvation, where salvation is viewed as something that one acquires upon saying the right prayer.
Perhaps it is the subtle connotation of the word “gift” that causes us to objectify salvation in that way.
However, when we read the Bible, it becomes clear that
And this makes sense since the essence of our sin is the rejection of a love relationship with God.
Thus, being saved from that would mean being reconciled to Him relationally.
The gift of salvation is a gift of God’s love and grace. It is a relational gift, very much like the proposal for marriage or the offer of adoption extended by a gracious king to those who have rebelled against him.
Specifically, the gift that enables me to become a child of God is the gift of Christ’s righteousness attributed to me.
Author J.D. Greear explains:
“The gospel is that Christ has suffered the full wrath of God for my sin.
living the perfect life I should have lived, and dying the death I had been condemned to die.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says,
that He actually became my sin so that I could literally become His righteousness.
Saint Athanasius called this
He took my record, died for it, and offers me His perfect record in return. [...] Theologians call that
J.D. GREEAR, author
For further reading, a PDF version of Chapter Six can be found here. For more, please see below for stories on how the resurrection impacted peoples' lives.
