What
is the determining factor in salvation? Exactly what does a person have to
do to be saved? The Bible doesn’t leave us in the dark. The answer is found
in the Word of God.
In Acts 16:30,31 the
Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
The jailer was asking, “What
one thing is absolutely necessary for my salvation?” and the Bible answer
was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In John 3:36 Jesus divides
the world into two groups: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God abideth on him.” Here you have those who are believing on the Son and
those who believe not on the Son. Those who are believing have everlasting
life, according to the promise of God; and those who believe not shall not
see life, but the wrath of God abides on them.
In John 3:18, again Jesus
divides the world into two groups: “He that believeth on him is not
condemned [is not under sentence]: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son
of God.” Here again Jesus says there are two groups: those who believe and
those who believe not. Those who believe have the sentence lifted. They are
not condemned. And those who believe not are under the sentence of sin,
which is the second death, because they are not believing on “the name of
the only begotten Son of God.”
Galatians 3:26 says, “For ye
are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” This passage plainly
says that everybody who is a child of God is a child of God by faith. Romans
5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Neither time nor space
permits me to share with you all the verses that say believing, or faith, is
the determining factor in salvation. There are at least 153 verses in the
Bible that make believing the determining factor in salvation. Mark 16:16
says, “He that believeth not shall be damned.” So if the Bible is true,
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the determining factor in salvation.
I’ve heard or read a number
of sermons on “saving faith”; but the Bible never puts the word “saving”
before faith. Faith is not the Saviour. Jesus is the Saviour. Faith is an
attitude of the soul through which Jesus saves.
The Bible never tells us to
believe and be saved. It is always careful to say, “Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” or, “Whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life,” or, “He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life.” It’s the Object of faith that makes faith
important. Faith in the wrong thing could result in a person’s damnation.
Now since faith is the
determining factor in salvation, it is important to know what faith is.
So far as I know, there’s
only one definition of faith in the Bible. It’s found in Hebrews 11:1. But
while there’s only one definition, there are many illustrations of faith in
the Bible. I think the best illustration of faith is found in Hebrews 12:2,
where we find the expression, “Looking unto Jesus.”
I. Faith Is Not Looking At Jesus But Looking Unto Jesus
Almost everyone will admit
that Jesus Christ existed, that He was a real person. Every time we date a
check, we admit the existence of Christ. Faith is not looking at Jesus as a
historical personage.
James 2:19 says, “The devils
also believe, and tremble.” Even the demons admit the existence of Christ.
In Acts 19:15 the evil spirit in the man said, “…Jesus I know, and Paul I
know; but who are ye?” No, faith is not looking at Jesus; it’s looking unto
Jesus, which is another way of saying depending on Jesus.
Suppose someone cosigned for
you to borrow money, and if you didn’t pay, the authorities would put you in
jail. And suppose the money came due and you had nothing with which to pay.
You called your cosigner and said, “Bob, I’ve got problems. You know that
note you signed for me—well, the money is due, and I can’t pay it.”
Your friend replied, “Don’t worry about it. Just look to me!” He means by that, “Just depend on me. I’ll pay it.”
Jesus Christ says that we owe
a sin debt. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” To pay what we
owe, we would have to die and go into Hell and stay there forever. But He
says, “Don’t worry about it. You just look to Me.”
Isaiah 53:6 says, “The Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Two thousand years ago God took
every sin you have ever committed and every one you will ever commit, and
God Almighty laid those sins on Jesus Christ. While Jesus Christ was bearing
your sins in His own body, God punished Him in your place to pay the debt
that you owe as a sinner.
Jesus uttered seven things
while He hung on the cross. Just before dying He said, “It is finished.”
Nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it. It’s complete!
His death on the cross made
full payment for your sins. And now He says to you, “Look to Me! Believe
that I did die on the cross for you. Believe that I did pay your sin debt
and look to Me. Look to Me, and all is well.” Faith is not looking at Jesus;
it’s looking unto Jesus, depending on Jesus, relying on Jesus, putting the
matter of your salvation in His hands and trusting Him to get you to Heaven.
II. Faith Is Looking Away From Everything Else and Looking
Only to Jesus
Martin Luther translated
Hebrews 12:2: “Aufsehen zu Jesus,” which means “looking up to Jesus”; in
other words, looking away from everything else and looking only to Jesus. It
means that you look away from your works.
How long do you think you’d
have to work to earn Heaven? Read the description of Heaven in Revelation 21
and 22. Why, the Bible says the street in Heaven is made of pure gold. The
gold is so pure it’s like transparent glass. You can see through it. Earth
has no way of refining gold that pure. If you worked ten million lifetimes,
you couldn’t begin to earn Heaven. And the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8,9,
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
And consider this: If a man
worked to stay out of Hell, the very motive would render the work
ineffective. He would be working from a motive of fear. According to I
Corinthians 13, all work must be motivated by love. Paul said in verse 3,
“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my
body to be burned, and have not charity [or love], it profiteth me nothing.”
So if a person worked to stay out of Hell, the motive would render the work
ineffective.
A boy once asked an old preacher, “Sir, what can I do to be saved?”
The preacher replied, “Son, you’re too late.”
“What!” exclaimed the boy, “too late to be saved?”
“No,” said the preacher, “too late to do anything. You see, son, Jesus did it all two thousand years ago.”
Now wait a minute! I believe in good works, but not as an instrument of salvation. You don’t work to be saved; you work because you are saved.
I would not work my soul to save,
For that my Lord hath done,
But I would work like any slave
For love of God’s dear Son!
“Looking up to Jesus” means I
look away from my righteousness and only to Jesus. I’m for living right. You
ought to live as clean, as moral and as pure as you possibly can. But Titus
3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost.” Isaiah 64:6 says, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags.”
Now just a minute, friend.
The Bible doesn’t say the worst you do is like filthy rags, but the best you
do. There is no way that anyone could ever be righteous enough to go to
Heaven. You would have to be perfect, and there are no perfect people.
Sam Jones, the Methodist evangelist, once asked a congregation, “Does anyone here know a perfect person?” A lady raised her hand. “Yes.”
“Do you know a perfect person?”
“Well,” answered the lady,
“I’ve never met her, but my husband talks about her all the time. She was
his first wife.”
The truth is, no one is
perfect. Jesus said, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but
they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance” (Mark 2:17). Faith is looking away from our righteousness and
looking only to Jesus. You don’t get better to get saved. You get saved to
get better, and you can’t get better until you do get saved.
A stanza from my favorite hymn says:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
“Looking up to Jesus” means
looking away from our church membership and looking only to Jesus. Everyone
who accepts Jesus Christ as Saviour should join a church. But you don’t join
the church to become a Christian. Being in the church won’t make a Christian
out of you any more than getting into the garage will make an automobile out
of you. I’m a church member, and everybody who’s saved ought to join a
Bible-believing church. Acts 2:41 says, “Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.”
On the other hand, if you’re
depending on the fact that you belong to the church to get you to Heaven,
you’ll go to Hell through the church. In Matthew 7:22,23 Jesus said, “Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful
works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity.”
According to the Bible, many
will miss Heaven even though they were church members and worked hard, even
preaching or prophesying in Jesus’ name. But they will miss Heaven because
they did not totally, fully, completely trust Jesus Christ. They trusted
their works.
“Looking up to Jesus” means
you look away from your baptism and look only to Jesus. I’m for baptism.
Every person who accepts Jesus Christ as Saviour ought to be baptized, but
baptism is not an instrument of salvation. It’s an outward expression of an
inward experience. It’s like putting the wedding band on the finger after
you are married. It doesn’t marry you, but it shows everybody that you are
married. Being baptized doesn’t save you. It’s an outward symbol telling
others that you believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
The man who’s depending on
his baptism to get him to Heaven will go to Hell through the baptistry. Now
why do I say that? Because John 3:36 says, “He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Wait a minute,
friend, Jesus Christ says if you’re not depending on, believing, trusting,
relying on the Son, you “shall not see life; but the wrath of God” abides on
you. The man who’s trusting his church membership or his baptism or his
reformation or anything else other than Jesus Christ, will not go to Heaven.
John 3:18 says, “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” There is no
promise to those who partly believe on Christ and partly on something else.
Someone asked me, “But doesn’t the Bible say in Mark 16:16, ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…’?”
“Yes,” I replied, “but the
next expression says, ‘…he that believeth not shall be damned.’” You see,
believing is the determining factor, not being baptized. That’s like saying,
“He that getteth on the jet plane and sitteth down, shall fly to
Jacksonville, Florida; but he that getteth not on the plane, shall not fly
to Jacksonville.”
It’s the getting on that
gets you there, not the sitting down. But any fool knows if you get on, you
ought to sit down. If you don’t sit down, you’ll wish you had sat down
before you reach your final destination.
If you’ve trusted Jesus
Christ as Saviour, you ought to be baptized. But you should not be baptized
thinking that baptism saves you. If you do, you’re not trusting Jesus
Christ; you’re trusting baptism. Faith is looking away from everything else
and looking only to Jesus Christ.
III. Faith Is Not Experiencing a Feeling But Relying on a
Fact
I’ve dealt with people who
doubted their salvation because they did not think they had the proper
feelings at the time of conversion. There is not a verse in the Bible that
tells a man exactly how he has to feel in order to be saved. As a matter of
fact, the Bible never says you have to feel any way to be saved. Acts 16:31
says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
I remember when I was first
married. We drove back to my wife’s home, and there were some friends in the
yard. When we got out of the automobile, someone asked me, “How does it feel
to be married?”
I said, “I feel exactly like
I did a few minutes ago.” But you know something? I was just as married as
the fellow who had some great feeling.
Not everyone reacts the same to the same experience. I remember one night I was driving home from a revival meeting when a car overturned in front of us. Several people were badly injured. Some who saw it cried, others ran to help, while some buried their faces in their hands. One lady fainted. Now they all saw the same thing and had the same experience but reacted differently. I’ve seen people cry when they trusted Christ as Saviour. I’ve been with others who smiled, while others laughed and some even shouted; but they all had the same experience. They all trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour. No, faith is not having some particular feeling. Faith is depending on a fact.
Now here’s the fact: Two
thousand years ago Jesus Christ died for you. He bore your sins in His own
body. God punished Him in your place to pay the debt that you owe. That’s a
fact. Whether you ever do anything about it or not, it’s still a fact.
What you must do is believe
that fact and not only believe in your head that Jesus Christ died on the
cross to pay your sin debt, but depend on, rely on, trust Him and what He
did for your salvation.
If I were not a Christian and wanted to be, I would simply pray this prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I do believe that You died for me. And here and now I do trust You as my Saviour. From this minute on, I’m depending on You to get me to Heaven. Help me to live for You and to be a good Christian.
After praying the prayer, I
would accept what God says in the Bible—that I do have everlasting life
because I’m trusting Jesus Christ for my salvation: “He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). I mean I’d accept what God says,
whether or not I ever had any feelings.
Once you make that decision
and trust Christ, perhaps there’ll be some feeling. But whether or not the
feeling comes, the Word of God is still true. God cannot lie!
When you trust Him, you will
have everlasting life. The determining factor in salvation is believing,
trusting, depending on, relying on the Lord Jesus Christ.
F. G. Pentecost said, “Two and two is four—that’s mathematics. Hydrogen and oxygen form water—that’s chemistry. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved’—that’s revelation.”
You ask, “How do I know?”
“Well,” he said, “the burden of proof lies with you. Put two and two together and see if you don’t have four. Put hydrogen and oxygen together and see if you don’t have water. And believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and see if you won’t be saved.”
