Introduction:
One of the biggest Biblical
debates today is regarding the issue of what saves us. The debate
typically centers around whether or not a person has to be
baptized. Regrettably, what often happens is the two debaters find
passages which mention their favorite requirements and they argue
them back and forth. In this lesson, we will get away from
“their verses” and “our verses”. We want to see what
“Jesus’ verses” say. In this lesson we will simply search
through the scripture to see what is necessary for salvation.
Discussion:
I.
You may be
surprised to hear it, the Bible actually reveals sixteen
essentials to salvation.
A.
Acts
28:28; Philippians 1:28 – God the Father.
B.
II
Thessalonians 2:13
– The Holy Spirit.
C.
Matthew
1:21; 18:11; Acts 4:12 – Jesus the Christ.
D.
Acts
15:11; Ephesians 2:5, 8 -- The
grace (unmerited favor) of Jesus.
E.
Matthew
26:28; Romans 5:9
– The blood of Jesus.
F.
Acts
11:14; Romans 1:16; I Corinthians 1:21; 15:1 – The gospel.
G.
Romans
10:17; James 1:21
– The word of God.
H.
I Timothy 2:4
– Knowledge of the truth.
I.
II Thessalonians 2:10
– Love of the truth.
J.
Romans
8:24 –
Hope.
K.
Mark
16:16; Acts 16:30-31; Romans 10:9 – Faith. (James
2:21-26).
L.
Romans
10:9-10
– Confession of faith.
M.
II
Corinthians 7:10
– Repentance.
N.
Romans
10:13
– Calling on the name of the Lord. But how do we do that?
O.
Acts
22:16; Mark 16:16; I Peter 3:21 – Baptism for the remission of sins.
P.
Matthew
10:22
– Endurance to the end.
II.
We must take
it all.
A.
I recognize,
of course, that several of the above requirements for ultimate
salvation overlap each other. For instance, hearing the gospel and
having the knowledge of the truth are quite similar. However, we
must make sure that when it comes to being saved, we recognize
every single one of these things as required. Regrettably, we
often hone in on the controversial requirements like baptism and
forget that there is more to salvation than that. We must make
sure that we are not converted to baptism, but rather that we are
converted to Christ and to the entirety of His teaching.
B.
According to
Psalm
119:160, the sum of God’s word is truth. That is, we
cannot take one statement from the Bible and claim to have all
truth. Rather, we must look at all the Bible says on a topic.
Thus, in our discussions regarding salvation. It does us no good
to try to divide Bible verses between “us” and “them” and
then lob them at one another. We have to take all of the verses
together.
III.
Putting it
all together.
A.
Going
through this exercise demonstrates something to us. First, it
demonstrates that we cannot remove any of these requirements and
be saved. For instance, without grace, we could have all the
others but would never be saved. On the other hand, without
baptism, we could have all the others and neither would we be
saved. That God, in His Word, links each of these concepts or
actions with salvation demonstrates that each of them is required
and if even one is missing we don’t have all the pieces.
B.
Additionally,
we cannot take any of these verses to mean that only the one
concept or action mentioned in that verse is all that is needed
for salvation. For instance, we cannot bank on II
Thessalonians 2:10 and say, “I love the truth therefore
I must be saved,” if we have not repented of our sins, confessed
our faith in Jesus or been baptized for the remission of our sins.
Additionally, we cannot turn to I
Peter 3:21 and say, “I have been baptized. I must be
saved,” if we haven’t repented of our sins or if we do not
love the truth. What we actually learn is that these seemingly
simple statements are actually more complex than they appear. I
Peter 3:21 can say that baptism saves, not because that is
the only requirement, but because it is only biblical baptism if
all the other requirements are in place. Without faith, it is not
biblical baptism. Without repentance, it is not biblical baptism.
Without knowledge of or love for the truth, who would be baptized?
Therefore, Peter’s statement includes the other requirements. In
like manner, Acts
16:30-31 though Paul only mentions belief, his statement
includes confession of faith, repentance and baptism as well as
everything else, because having faith in Jesus and His Word, means
I believe all He said. Therefore, I cannot be said to have faith
if I won’t repent or be baptized, because then I obviously did
not believe Jesus’ teaching on repentance or baptism. Consider
one final example. That Acts
15:11 and Ephesians 2:5-8 say we are saved by grace
does not mean we can say, “Oh, God is gracious therefore I must
be saved,” if we have not repented and are not enduring in
Christ to the end.
Conclusion:
The issue, therefore, is where are you on this
spectrum? If you don’t have all of it, you don’t really have
any of it. If you haven’t been enduring in Christ but rather
have turned from Him, then your earlier faith and obedience is not
going to save you (Ezekiel
18:24). On the other hand, if you have never come to
Christ in faithful obedience to begin with, you are not saved. Do
you know and love the truth? Do you hope in Christ? Do you believe
in Jesus? Have you repented of your sins? Then why not confess
your faith in Jesus and be baptized for the remission of your sins
today?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
Franklin
Church of Christ
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