Christian Apologetics Conclusion - What must I do to be saved?

This is undoubtedly the most crucial question ever asked by man.

God’s Plan of Salvation is laid out in the Holy Scriptures

1.  We are all sinners (Romans 3:23)

Rom 3:19-25  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Emphasis mine)

2. As sinners we are deserving only of death, but God has a better plan

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3.  Salvation is achieved through belief in Jesus

In John 14:6, Jesus says, “No one comes to the father except through me.[1]

Act 16:30,31 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

4. God’s gift to man is salvation by faith in Jesus through His grace.  We can’t do anything which will make us deserving of salvation.

Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.

5. We receive this grace through confession of our sin and a sincere belief that He can and will save us from our sins.

Rom 10:8b-10  ...that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

6. Once you have believed in your heart that Jesus is God then you must confess it – This does not mean to confess it to other men, but to God Himself as this passage describes in one of Jesus’ parables:

Luke 18:13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

7.  The result of such belief, confession, and begging for forgiveness is then salvation.

John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

8.  Once you are saved, nothing can take it away

Rom 8:38,39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 10:27-30 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.  I and the Father are one."

9.  No one knows what the future holds – today is the day to accept his offer of grace

2Corinthians 6:2 For he says,

"In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you."

I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

10.  Baptism is the commandment of God, but is not required for salvation

Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

 Luke 23:40-43 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”  (baptism by Holy Spirit [the sign of salvation] came prior to baptism by water precluding the need for baptism by water for salvation).

11.  Belief brings life

John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

12.  Once saved, live for Christ

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

13.  Be bold and proclaim what Christ has done for you

Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

So what does it mean to ‘believe in the Lord Jesus’?

While Paul and Silas were in jail, there was a great earthquake and the jail doors opened and the jailer was about to commit suicide rather than be put to death for letting the prisoners escape when Paul told him to stop, that they hadn’t left.  The jailer was so impressed that we read these words from him:

Acts 16:29-31  The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.  He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household."

(Emphasis mine)

So the critical question is: “What must I do to be saved?” and the simple answer is “Believe in the Lord Jesus”.  The difficult question is: What does it mean to “Believe in the Lord Jesus”?

James 2:19 says; “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder.”

So it is evident that just the belief that there is a God is not enough to attain salvation.  So what is the believing that Paul and Silas meant?  What is the difference in believing that there is a God and believing in Jesus as God.

Jesus himself tells us in John 5:24

John 5:24 I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

In John 8:31-32 He says: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (Emphasis mine)

The next logical question then is: Jesus said a lot of things, he taught the exact same things in more than one way to more than one group of people and at various times.  What are these teachings that one has to believe to get oneself “set free”?

John 14:6-11  Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

(Emphasis mine)

In this verse Jesus tells us that there is no other way to salvation than through Him and also that he is God.  In John 10:30 He flatly says “I and the Father are one”.

Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

This seems to me to be the crux of the issue.  Jesus spends a large amount of his ministry debunking the traditional Jewish beliefs about the Messiah and explaining the truth.  Most of what we read about – especially in John - are His attempts to convince them that He is God.  This bit, that He is the fulfillment of the law, that as a result we are no longer under the law, and that He is God and has the authority to judge and to give or refuse to give salvation (aka spiritual life) as he chooses, is radically new and is the only major difference in the moral life that we are called to in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

There is a clear distinction between the morality (or moral law) and legalism (or social law).  Ergo, we are still to have no other gods before him (Ex. 20:3), but we are not to stone the rebellious child at the town gates (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

Whatever moral life we are called to lead, though, it is clear that no such “clean living” can lead us to salvation.[2]

Furthermore, we are told the penalty for the unpardonable sin[3] – that of rejection of Christ as personal savior and thus the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Revelation 20:10-15 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

(Emphasis mine)

The doctrine of Justification is attested to by scripture

Rom 3:23-24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines justified as ‘To demonstrate or prove to be just, right, or valid.  To declare free of blame; absolve’.

When Christ judges the dead at the end of time the Bible says that He will judge each person “according to what he had done.”  Christians then will be judged and found to be free of blame because Christ Himself bore the burden of that blame and paid the price in advance for those of us who accept Him.

From these scripture passages, it is clear then that the belief in Jesus (meaning the acceptance of and belief in all of who He is and everything he taught, including that He is the one and only God and is thus uniquely capable of forgiving sin), the confession of sin, and the asking for forgiveness is what is required for salvation, nothing more and nothing less.

Importantly, the scriptures do not say all one has to give up to be saved.  There is no requirement to stop drinking alcohol or stop anything else.  The beauty of the Holy Spirit is that He will work in your life to make you not want to do things which are contrary to God's will and make you want to do the things which are clearly inside of God's will (see Galatians 5:22-25 below).

 Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."  This does not mean that if you ask Him for something He will give you whatever you want.  It means that he will place into your heart the desire to do what he wants you to do - He will give you the desire to do His will!

The word translated as "give", in the Hebrew is "nâthan", which literally means to put, or assign.[5]  So literally, it means He will assign to you the desires of your heart.

Through this salvation experience of believing, confessing, and accepting, you will experience the peace that passes understanding which is available only to those who are saved through His grace.

What happens after one has attained salvation?

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

1John 2:5,6 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

The coming of the Holy Spirit was prophesied of by John the Baptist.

Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

The word baptize is transliterated here and means literally to submerse.  It is interesting that the Bible talks about two types of baptism.  The baptism by water which is an outward demonstration of our dying to our old self and being born again into new life, and the baptism by the Holy Spirit which is the gift of God to all who are saved.

We find in Acts that all those who receive Christ as personal savior immediately receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Act 2:36-39 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

Acts 10:44-48

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."

So why is the Holy Spirit given?

John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 16:7-15 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.  All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Acts 13:4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

Hebrews 2:3b-4 This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

And what does that mean to us?

Romans 8:8-11 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

1Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Once saved always saved

Once we have attained salvation it cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything, not even by ourselves as some claim we can lose salvation by choosing to leave God’s salvation of our own volition. 

Rom 8:38-39  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (emphasis mine)

Nor anything else in all creation includes us, ourselves.  We cannot separate ourselves from the love of God and neither can anyone or anything else.

Heb 9:24-28 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.  Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.  Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

The writer of Hebrews tells us Christ died once for all.  If one could fall from grace requiring salvation anew, Christ would have to die again for him since that first sacrifice wasn't good enough.  This is in sharp contrast to the old covenant where men had to sacrifice repeatedly for new sins as they are committed.  The blood of animals doesn't forgive sin, it only postpones the penalty for sin until the perfect sacrifice has been made, the sacrifice of God Himself, the only person whose blood is sufficient to wash away sins forever.

John 10:27-30 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.  I and the Father are one."

(from New International Version)

Live to emulate Jesus

We are obligated to try to take as many as possible with us.  Not that we should all be preachers or missionaries, but we should at least exude Jesus such that others can see Him through us and be compelled to ask us about it.  When asked, we should then be prepared to tell them how God's grace has affected us.

Mark 16:15-16 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Matt 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Rom 10:12-15 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Ephesians 4:11-13 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The Prize

Despite Paul’s early sins and persecution of Christians at the end of his life he was able to look back and be satisfied that he had lived out God’s will for his life. 

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Conclusion

The journey has been long and the discussions technical and intense.  It is clear that our primary purpose on this earth is not to gather as many toys as we can before we die.  It is to proclaim the truth of Jesus to all the world.  2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Just as a good parent will do anything to rescue his children from danger, Christ will tarry as long as there are souls to be saved and it is our responsibility as faithful believers in Christ to help bring with us as many as possible while we are still on this Earth.

How many of us at the end of our lives will be able to say as Paul did, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

That doesn’t mean we have lived perfect lives, on the contrary, Paul also says “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”[4]

What it means is that he listened for the call of God and heeded that call.  That is what we are called to do and it is our just recompense for the salvation that He purchased for us on the cross.

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[1] A child who  is unaware of sin and its consequences is a special case and does not have the understanding to accept Christ as savior.  This dilemma is not clearly addressed in scripture, however, in 2 Samuel 12:23, David explains why he ends his grieving over his dead child explaining that he (David) would “go to him, but he will not return to me,” indicating that he would see his child again in the afterlife.  Psalm 51:5, however, tells us that we are “sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”  I believe that all are sinful from conception as a result of original sin.  The curse of Adam’s sin falls on each of us and is passed down from father to child, generation to generation, to the present day (since Jesus did not have an earthly father he was not subject to original sin).  Thus the child does not enter heaven because of a lack of sin, rather the child enters heaven as a result of a special outpouring of God’s grace on one who doesn’t understand sin well enough to be conscious of it.  Thus, the child who has not reached the maturity to understand sin and its ramifications is still saved through Christ as a result of His grace and not because he is sinless.  Otherwise, if a person were only subject to hell after reaching the "age of accountability" and thereafter having committed a sin, then there is the possibility that someone could reach heaven because they were sinless without needing the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and that is strictly impossible according to John 14:6 and Romans 3:23,6:23.

[2] Ephesians 2:8,9

[3] Many see the unpardonable sin as “speaking against the Holy Spirit” (Matt 23:32), however, in the context where Jesus made this statement, the Pharisees had attributed the work of Jesus to his being a follower of Satan and Jesus is talking about the Pharisees rejecting Christ as God and attributing his miracles to Satan instead (since the miracles Jesus performed he did through the power of the Holy Spirit).  Thus the unpardonable sin is not simply “speaking against the Holy Spirit”, rather it is, rejecting the godhood of Jesus himself.  Since accepting Jesus as God and savior is core to the salvation experience, the unpardonable sin is that of rejecting Jesus as God and savior and thus rejecting the resulting indwelling of the Holy Spirit that comes to every believer.

[4] Romans 7:15
[5]  נתן (nâthan):  A primitive root; to give, used with great latitude of application (put, make, etc.): - add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, X avenge, X be ([healed]), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit consider, count, + cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute do, X doubtless, X without fail, fasten, frame, X get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), X have, X indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), + lie, lift up, make, + O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, X pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up). + sing, + slander, strike, [sub-] mit, suffer, X surely, X take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, + weep, X willingly, + withdraw, + would (to) God, yield.