Is Eternal Salvation a Matter of Mere Belief, Or Is There Something More?
Is eternal salvation simply a matter of believing that Jesus is God and that He died on the cross for your sins, or is there something more that goes along with it? Support your answers with Scripture!
“The answer is simple,” you might say. “Between John 3:16, Acts 16:31, and Romans 10:9, 10, the answer is perfectly clear:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. — John 3:16
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” — Acts 16:31
that 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; — Romans 10:9
Additionally, salvation cannot be attained through works:
because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. — Romans 3:20
… a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. — Galatians 2:16
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. — Ephesians 2:8, 9
So, in a nutshell: it’s about believing in Jesus and not about works, right? Well, let’s consider some additional scriptures:
Demons believe that Jesus is God:
[the unclean spirit said], “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” — Mark 1:24
Are they saved?
Judas Iscariot walked with Christ for three years and was even the treasurer of their group, and he’s infamous for being the one who betrayed Jesus. Was he saved? Not according to John 17:12 and Acts 1:25.
And what about the Jews who “believed” and “believed in” Jesus in John 8?
As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So, Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” — John 8:30–32
Were they saved? Would someone who’s been born again seek to kill his Savior (8:40)? Would Jesus call someone who is saved “children of the devil”? (8:44) Would He say that they are “not of God” (8:47, cf. 1 John 4:4)?
So, there’s something more than just believing some things about who Jesus Christ is and what He did. If there weren’t, there would have been no need for Paul to write:
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? — 2 Corinthians 13:5
Not everyone who sits next to you in church is a genuine believer, despite all appearances (Matthew 13:24–30); and apparently, it’s possible to deceive oneself into believing that one’s faith is genuine when, in fact, it is not (Matthew 7:21–23).
So, how do we know if our faith is real? When we examine ourselves, what should we see? A thorough study of the epistle of 1 John would be beneficial in thoroughly answering this question, but for want of time, I offer the following self-examination questions:
Do I recognize my sin as utterly sinful, and does it grieve me when I do sin? (2 Corinthians 7:9, 10)
Is Christ Lord (i.e., master) of my life? Is my life characterized by obedience to Him and His Word? (Luke 6:46–49)
Is my lifestyle significantly different from the world? (Romans 12:2)
Is my greatest desire to be conformed to the image of Christ? (Romans 8:29)
Do I long for Christ’s return? (2 Peter 3:12)
Do I love to be among other believers? (1 John 3:14)
The point here is that it is not sufficient to merely profess faith in Christ, to agree with a checklist of facts about Him, and then go out and live our lives as if nothing has changed. If there is no repentance—not only of our unbelief, but also from our sin—then there can be no salvation because repentance is gift that only God can grant to the unbeliever (Acts 11:18, 26:20; 2 Timothy 2:25). God does not save “unto sin” (Romans 6:1, 2) but rather “unto good works.” (Ephesians 2:10)!
If there’s one key theme to the epistle of James, it’s that “actions speak louder than words.” If your faith is genuine, you will naturally produce works that are commensurate with that faith (Ephesians 2:10)—but works don’t produce the faith, and works do not produce salvation. No matter how hard a fig tree tries, it will never be able to produce olives (James 3:12), and no matter how much Darwinists might insist to the contrary, an alligator will never fly. In the same way, the unregenerate can never, by his works, do anything to please God or to earn His favor (Isaiah 64:6), because he is spiritually dead in his trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).
In order to be saved, you must be born again (John 3:3), and just as we had nothing at all to contribute to our respective physical births, we have nothing at all to contribute to our rebirth (John 3:8; Romans 9:16; Ephesians 1). When this rebirth happens, we each become a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), God seals us with Christ Jesus with the Holy Spirit, who is given to us as an irrevocable pledge (promise) of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13, 14), and He begins to conform us to the image or likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29).
In other words, we’re changed from the inside-out. It’s not instantaneous, but for those who are truly born again, it is an absolute certainty.
Homework
There’s no new homework this week, but Lord willing, we will attempt to answer the actual question that was posed a couple of weeks ago, so I would encourage you to think carefully about the following question:
“How can God justly send someone to hell if he’s never even heard of Jesus?”