Error Concerning Salvation
Two things Satan has mastered are lying and deception. Especially is that true with respect to salvation. Probably more than half of the earth’s population either does not have access to the Bible or does not believe in Christianity, preferring some other religion. Among those who do accept certain truths concerning Jesus, many have not read the Bible for themselves and are taking somebody else’s word concerning their salvation. The danger of listening to men instead of God is demonstrated in 1 Kings 13 when the younger prophet listened to what the old prophet hem\him—and lost his life.
Among those who do exalt the Word of God, many study the Bible topically instead of textually. Some religious groups use prepared materials about salvation that are calculated to imply that only faith and repentance are all that is necessary for salvation. They do not study any of the conversion accounts in the book of Acts. Instead they take verses that were, oddly enough, written to Christians, and then say, “See? That’s all it takes to be saved.” Most of these cite John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-9, and Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 1:9, and maybe Acts 16:30-31. Let’s consider each of these.
John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe on His name.
The problem with the way those who cite this verse is that they redefine the word receive. They insist, “All you have to do is receive Jesus, and you will be saved. Are you ready to receive Him right now? Yes? Oh, good, you’re saved—as of this very moment.” Say, how easy is that? In just seconds a person can make a verbal confession and become a Christian. Wow! And if the person trying to persuade the one who is lost is clever enough, the victim (so called because he is assured he is saved when he is not) will never notice from the context that this is not a case of conversion.
No, the writer is simply bringing us to John the Baptizer and to Jesus. He is simply making a general statement about those who rejected and those who followed Jesus. The critical part of the point is the preceding verse, which says: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). In other words, many of the Jews who should have been thrilled that Jesus had finally come to fulfill the prophecies made concerning Him, God’s people, and the kingdom of Heaven (the church), but they were not. So, some rejected Him, but others received Him. “If they received Him, they were saved, right?” Not necessarily. Many received Him at first—but then departed and walked no more with Him (John 6:66-69). If receiving him means saved, they were afterward lost.
But the text itself makes clear that receiving Jesus does not here refer to salvation; to those who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They had not already become children of God. More is necessary than just saying, “I receive Jesus.” One must listen to Him and follow Him, which means doing what He commands. John 1:12 does not explain the way one receives Jesus—only that He must be received.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
This might be called the universal text—more widely quoted than any other. It is a great text, but its purpose is not to describe the way in which anyone is saved. No one has asked the question here, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul is writing a doctrinal section here in opposition to the Judaizing teachers or anyone else who might claim that just being a Christian is not enough. Satan never limits himself to just one technique when he can find success with many.
For example, he is able to persuade some to be atheists and agnostics—those who doubt the truth of the Scriptures. But he does not convince everyone to disbelieve because the proof for the existence of God and for Jesus being the Messiah is too abundant and too powerful. So, to the rest, the devil says, “Well, of course you must believe; only a fool would not. But you need more than just the teaching of Christianity.” Then he will tell them, “You need to observe the law of Moses, too,” or, “You need to learn the deep and secret teachings of Christianity,” or, “You should know that what the body does will not affect the soul.” The strategy is to encourage them to be a Christian—just get them to accept more than that. Or less.
All of those additions to the doctrine of Christ were found in the first century. After that, many things were added or taken away despite the Bible’s severe warnings against doing so (Gal. 1:6-9; 2 John 9-11; cf. Deut. 4: 2, Pr. 30:6; Rev. 22:18-19).
Christians have been saved by grace through faith—not through doing the works of the law. People could boast about how well they had done that. Many misunderstand what is the gift of God in this text. It is not faith; it is salvation. God does not give us faith; He provides evidence, and it is up to us to believe or not. When we choose to believe, we enter the process of salvation. When we complete that process, we are saved. Paul does not recount all of the details here because he is not describing the conversion process. He is contrasting faith (and all that faith entails) with the works of the Law of Moses, which could not save.
Romans 10:9-10
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.
Once again, the means by which a person is saved is not the overall topic of study in this text. Both faith and confession are vital to one’s being saved. Both take one in the direction of salvation, but neither of these is said to be the final step in salvation. They are, however, both required.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Like the other verses cited, this one is absolutely true, but it is not telling anyone the way to become a Christian. Rather, it describes what Christians must do in order to continue being saved. Sometimes, people would understand the Bible much better than they do if they would just ask two questions: 1) “Who is the author of the letter writing to?” and 2): “What is the purpose of his letter?” The Apostle John is writing to Christians. He is not telling them the way they became children of God; his purpose is to tell them how to remain so. They must: 1) “walk in the light,” and 2) confess their sins to the Father. By putting forth the proper effort to live the Christian life and having enough humility to confess to God when they sin, they will have forgiveness. Even though sinners must confess the name of Jesus, it is totally erroneous to attempt to apply this verse in such a manner.
Acts 16:30-31
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.”
“Aha!” some might say at this point. “This is a case of conversion! You can’t get around that. And Paul told the jailer all he had to do was believe. Hah!”
No, Paul did not say faith was all he needed, even though it is definitely needed. If there is a reason that this text is not often used, it may be because the reader might just read the next three verses, which will be done here, but before doing so, we ought to ask some questions about this text. These events take place where? The answer is in Philippi, where, so far as we know, the gospel had not yet been preached (Acts 16: 12). On the Sabbath day, Paul found some devout women praying by the riverside. Lydia listened to what Paul had to say, and then she and her household were baptized (Acts 16:13-15).
Notice the text does not say Lydia received Christ, although she did by being baptized; certainly it does not say she was saved by faith only. Afterward, Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl, for which he and Silas were put in prison (in stocks) after having been beaten (16:16-24). As Paul and Silas “were praying and singing hymns to God” at midnight, there was an earthquake, and the doors opened. The jailer, thinking they had all escaped, was about to kill himself (Rome would certainly have executed him) when Paul assured him they were all there (16:25-29). It is at this point that the man asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” and Paul tells him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (16:30-31).
What is he to think? He may or may not have ever heard that name before. Perhaps he has heard that in another part of the world a man called Jesus worked miracles and was put to death. Some may have traveled to Philippi in the years after Pentecost with some information. He may have gathered some information from the prayers and singing of Paul and Silas and marveled that, given their current condition, that in such dire circumstance they could praise God!
We do not know what he knew, but he needed more information than what is in verse 31. Who is this Jesus? Why should I believe in Him? What the reader will realize if he reads the next three verses is that the words expressed in verse 31 are not a summary statement given at the end of a sermon—but rather are Paul’s introductory comments, which he will shortly explain further. In other words, these are not Paul’s final words.
“Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house” (16:32). We do not know all of the things that were taught—surely, that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for everyone’s sins. But we do know that the jailer was receptive. Consider the compassion he showed: “And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes” (16:33a). It was after midnight, but he was now concerned about the way these two men of God had been treated. He took the time to minister to the prisoners—something quite unusual for a jailer; it showed repentance for whatever role he played in their ill treatment.
Did anything else of significance occur? “And immediately he and all his family were baptized” (16:33b). What? After midnight? What’s the rush, if baptism is only an outward sign of an inward grace? They could have said a quick prayer, and voila! salvation. The fact that Paul and Silas baptized them in the silence of the night shows that baptism is essential; it is the way that one receives Christ. Afterward, the jailer set food before them (16:34a) and don’t miss this: “and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household” (16:34b). After he was baptized, the text attributes faith to him. He followed exactly what Jesus taught in Mark 16:16.
When one receives forgiveness of his sins, then is the time to rejoice. Nothing is said of rejoicing earlier—at the point where he believed or repented—only when he and his household were baptized.