“And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”
- Acts 16:31
It’s sad to think that some of the basic beliefs and truths of Christianity are not necessarily held by many American “believers.” I’m not talking about something cultural, like what is sin and not sin, or how to love someone well while maintaining Biblical truth. As real as those issues are, there is a sad misunderstanding of salvation in our day and age.
According to a survey done by the Culture Research Center at Arizona Christian University, around 48% believe that being a generally good person will get you to heaven. While only 33% believe that confessing undivided belief in Jesus will get one to heaven.
To make it abundantly clear, according to the Bible and maintained through many Christian traditions, faith in Christ Jesus is the one and only way of salvation!
Faith vs. Being “Good:”
Our culture today looks like a confetti bomb, with all sorts of color and each piece moving in an unpredictable pattern and you are only left with a mess when it does settle down. Our culture says there are many ways to Eternal Life if you believe there is one, to begin with. Some will say as long as you have faith in any capacity at all and in some kind of religion that you will be saved. They claim that Jesus is the one and only way that is too restrictive and not saving everyone.
However, if the criteria were merely that we should be “good” people then that would be even more restrictive. The definition of “good” is too subjective and open to misuse and change to fit and justify someone’s agenda. In one setting a “good” person would be a servant to all but, in another situation, such as war, what is “good” is being an effective killer. If the criterion for eternal life is to be “good” we would need some way to objectively examine what is “good” at all times. It doesn’t take a genius to realize just how difficult that is to do.
Jesus being the one and only way is hardly restrictive because His grace has been freely offered to all people, regardless of how “good” of a person they are. Rather, Jesus sees how ungood and perverted we are as people and says that He can make us good.
Faith is more than a “get into Heaven free” card. Heaven isn’t even the right goal when we think about salvation and eternal life. When we make the focus on Heaven, we easily lose sight of Christ and can slip into the, “as long as I do good I’ll be fine” mentalities. No amount of good on our parts could ever accomplish what Jesus accomplished because His grace is about the redemption of humanity, the restoration of creation, and the reconciliation of God’s presence directly with us. Heaven is squeezed in there too but salvation is not for Heaven’s sake but because God wants us to truly love Him. All this Jesus has made freely available to us all.
Our “goodness” could never accomplish such change and transformation. In part, because we are entirely selfish and sinful and desperately need Christ to redeem us from the inside out. All we need to do in any of this is to believe and follow Christ in His work of redemption, restoration, and reconciliation.
Paul in Philippi:
As Paul is travel about on his second missionary journey, he is encountering cultures who believe in many gods and likely would reject their need for a savior. In this stage of the journey though he enters Philippi, the city of the Philippians (a New Testament book as well).
Early on Paul encounters a woman named Lydia who overhears him sharing the Gospel. She already revered God but now further accepted Christ as her savior and she hosts them and the church while they are in Philippi.
Many days, maybe even weeks pass while they are Philippi, but that started drawing not good attention when a local slave girl, possessed by and spirit and used by her masters for profit, annoyed Paul greatly. Paul cast that spirit out of her and then the masters seized Paul and reported him to the local rulers. They sent him to the inner prison to be under guard along with Silas, who has been accompanying Paul.
While in prison those two constantly are praying aloud and sing hymns, while the other prisoners and the guards listen. Suddenly an earthquake strikes, their chains loosen, and the doors open for all the prisoners. The guard realizing this grabs his sword to kill himself because that would be better than to be caught with escaped prisoners. Paul prevents that harm though, pointing out that everyone stayed in their cells. Trembling and overwhelmed, the guard asks what he must do to have salvation. Paul’s answer…
Believe in Christ Jesus.
That’s it, Christ Jesus is the one and only way of salvation, and all He asks of us is belief to receive salvation. Of course, there are then plenty of implications for how we live in light of being saved but that is the start of personal redemption, restoration, and reconciliation playing out in our lives.
Final Blessing:
Take a minute and worship the Savior:
Let us always remember to point toward Christ with we think and talk about salvation and leave no room for other gods, “ways,” or believing we are “good” enough.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat of your journey!
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