Clearing the Air: Common Misconceptions About Salvation
Introduction:
I heard about an 83 year old man the other day who had lived his entire life as a bachelor. One day this man gathered his four nephews and announced that he was planning to be married. His nephews were in shock. One spoke up and said, "Uncle are you getting married because this woman is beautiful?" He said, "No." Another nephew asked, "Uncle are you getting married because this woman is a great cook?" Again he said, "No." The third nephew questioned, "Are you marrying this woman because she is rich?" "Of course not," was his reply. The final nephew said, "Uncle if your not marrying this woman because she is beautiful, or because she is a great cook, or because she is rich, then why are you marrying her?" With a wink he said, "I’m marrying her because she can drive at night !"
I like a man who knows what he needs. Many people are confused about what they need. Many people are confused about what they really need. Some people think they need more money, others think they need more friends, and others think they need more accomplishments. All those things are all well and good, but our greatest need is salvation.
Some of the common misconceptions that we hear of are over issues that are not altogether that important. On the other hand I have noticed that some of the common misconceptions about spiritual things are on some of the most important issues possible. I guess the Devil in his subtle way wants people to be confused on issues that are essential for people to understand. One of the areas where there are misconceptions galore is regarding salvation. There is no subject more important that the salvation of mankind, and yet within that subject there are some many different ideas and beliefs and many of them are common misconceptions held onto by a majority of people.
Text: Titus 2:11-14
I. Misconception 1: You Can Be Saved Outside of Jesus
There are many people who reject the idea that Jesus is the only way to God. In fact if you were to tell people that you believed that Jesus is the only path to God they may consider you narrow minded and bigoted. In fact, as we discussed last week many people believe that Jesus is just one path to God, and in the end all religions will lead one to Heaven. According to a Barna poll from 2000, about one out of four born-again Christians believes that it doesn’t matter what faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons.
Of course they fail to accept the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, but is they would they would see that the Bible does not teach this many paths to God theory. In fact the Bible plainly teaches there is one way to the Father and that is through Jesus. Many would view that as a condemning message, but in reality it is an invitation for any that would come to the Father through Jesus the Son.
John 14:5-6
Perhaps it seems a little bold and some may say arrogant to teach that you cannot be saved outside of Jesus, but it is what the Bible teaches. Whenever salvation is mentioned in the Bible it always is in the context of being in Christ. If we equate all other religions as being on equal ground and say that you can be saved outside of Jesus we absolutely undermine the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died for a purpose and that purpose is that salvation would be available to all people.
One cannot be saved outside of Jesus. The Bible teaches plainly that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It is that sin that separates man from a holy God. Because God is holy anything unholy or anything sinful cannot enter his presence. That is why God could not just overlook our sin, it had to be dealt with and the wrath of God had to be settled for our sin. The Bible teaches constantly that without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins. What Jesus did on the cross what he died as a sacrifice for our sins, he bore our sins, and furthermore he took the wrath of God that we were due upon himself. People that are not Christians cannot claim that sacrifice. When we die we all are going to stand before God and give an account of our lives.
Those that believe that people will be saved outside of Christ make the death of Jesus absolutely pointless. Jesus died for a purpose. If it wasn’t for the death of Jesus then there would be no hope of salvation for man.
Those that bite into this common misconception would call us judgmental for believing that Jesus is the only way to God. They would criticize us for wanting to push our views and beliefs upon others. Perhaps they are right. That is exactly what I am trying to do because I believe that Jesus is the only way to God and I want all people to be saved. I have always wondered why those who label us as judgmental for believing that people are lost apart from Jesus are not considered equally as judgmental for judging people outside of Christ to Heaven. In the end it does not really matter who we think is saved. It is not my decision, it is not your decision, it is God’s decision who he saves and who he doesn’t.
What many people do is they change their beliefs and doctrine in order to make the people they want to be saved alright with God. So what they do is they change the rules, they bend the lines, and they blur the Scriptures to say what they want them to say. Perhaps it makes some people feel better because they can honestly not believe that anyone would be lost. The problem is that doesn’t change the reality. All it does is give people a false sense of hope and causes people to be content with where they are when they should not be content. Many people base their idea of who is saved on their feelings and emotions and often on misconceptions.
Like the psychiatrist who took on a very disturbed man as a patient. The man thought he was dead. No matter what techniques the doctor tried, the man still thought he was dead. Finally the shrink tried one last desperate strategy. He asked the man if dead men bleed. "Of course not," said the patient, "they’re dead." With that the doctor pricked the man’s hand with a pin, and it started to bleed. "What do you say to that," asked the doc. "Well, I’ll be," said the man, "Dead men really DO bleed after all!"
For many people they are confused about salvation because they have bought into misconceptions which have shaped every view they have. Their beliefs are distorted because they hinge on things that are not true. Some people like the crazy man that thought he was dead cannot be convinced that they are wrong because they believe those misconceptions so strongly.
Jesus came into the world and died for sinners. He died to make a way available for all people to get to God. He is that way. That way cannot be found in ourselves. It cannot be found in any man. It cannot be found in any other false religion around the world. Jesus is the only way to the Father and salvation is not available to those outside of the saving blood of the Son. This is the exact reason that the Apostles preached with such a sense of urgency. They believed that salvation was not available in anyone other than Jesus.
Acts 4:12
In 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California. Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief. On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison. The car owner had intended to use the crackers as rat bait. Now the police and the owner of the VW Bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car. So often when we run from God, we feel it is to escape his punishment. But what we are actually doing is eluding his rescue.
Many people are avoiding their salvation. Salvation is available, but we must make the choice. Many people in this world spend their time running from God and not towards Him. When it comes down to it salvation is a decision we must make. Though God wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth, He does not just wave a magic wand and cause people to be saved. Salvation is a choice that people make themselves based upon the evidence.
Back in 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the U.S. Mail and was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused to accept it. The matter went to Chief Justice Marshall, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. "A pardon is a slip of paper," wrote Marshall, "the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged."For some, the pardon comes too late. For others, the pardon is not accepted.
Pardon is offered to all, but many people reject that offer of pardon.
Several years ago a man and his wife were found frozen to death in their car. A blizzard had dumped tons of snow in the area, burying their vehicle. Before she died, the woman scribbled a note on a piece of paper and stuffed it in the glove compartment. The note read: "I don’t want to die this way." Tragically, less than six feet from their icy grave was a stranded bus, whose festive passengers remained warm throughout the night.
Let me tell you that all those outside of Christ are without hope and for them when they die outside of Christ; they die an eternal death as well. Let me assure you that you don’t have to die that way. Salvation is available.
II. Misconception 2: You Only Need to Believe to Gain Salvation
There is a large portion of people who believe that all you have to do is believe in order to be saved. They believe that faith alone saves an individual. While I believe faith is essential for one’s salvation, I do not believe that because a person believes it means that they are saved.
James 2:14-24
The majority of the mainline denominations today teach what is called “faith only”. That is they believe that faith is the only element necessary for one to be saved. It is ironic that the only time that the words “faith” and “alone” appear together in Scripture are here in James 2 where it says, “Faith alone does not save.” The Bible teaches that if you believe in God that you have simply reached demon level because even the demons believe in God.
The doctrine of faith only really began during the years of the Reformation Movement. If you remember there was great anger and outrage that began to swirl over the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. The church was teaching that people could earn their salvation. They were selling people what they called “indulgences” which gave them permission to commit sin if the price was right. They were selling fake relics of things like the cross where Jesus was crucified. They taught they if they said enough prayers, went to enough mass, and went to enough confessions then they would be saved. Martin Luther and company saw some great fallacies in this teaching. They looked at Scripture and saw that we are not saved by the works we do, but we are saved by grace. Rather than balancing the Scripture with what was being abused they ran to the other extreme and said, we are saved by faith and faith alone. They omitted any plan of salvation. I do believe faith saved, but it is not a faith that just believes in God intellectually. It is an obedient faith that saves.
I believe that more is expected of us before we are saved than just belief. How do we know that? We know that because there are certain things the Bible connects with salvation. For example, the Bible says in Romans 10, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved. Mark 16:16 tells us that, “he who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Jesus and John the Baptist both preached that unless you repent you will perish. Peter when asked on the day of Pentecost what they must do to be saved said, “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Well, which one of those is the right thing we must do to be saved? All of them are right. We run on dangerous ground when we try to form a set of beliefs based solely on one Scripture to the neglect of others. We must remember that when it comes to the plan of salvation and we are reading a Scripture there can always be more, but there can never be less.
Of course we also must understand that just because one believes the right things doesn’t mean they will do the right things. There are many people who in their head believe in God. Those people know some things about God. We may call them believers, but they are not saved. Jesus said that “many will say to me on that day, did we not say to you Lord, Lord. But I will tell them plainly, depart from me you evil doers I never knew you.”
Perhaps today you rest comfortable because you believe in God. That is great that we believe. That is a great starting point for you. You are doing great; you have reached a demonic level of faith. A true belief in God demands some type of response on our part. If we believe shouldn’t we desire to obey? Maybe you feel secure in your salvation saying to yourself, “I believe in God.” Understand this, belief alone does not make us saved, but an obedient faith does.
III. Misconception 3: You Can Earn Your Salvation
While on one hand we believe that a true faith requires obedience, we also want to understand that no deeds that we do can earn our salvation. Salvation is not something that we can be good enough to earn. There are many people around the world who are confident in their eternal state because they believe that they are good people. What they need to realize is that no matter how good they are or how many good deeds they have done they are not good enough to earn God’s favor.
Many times we who believe that there are certain things a person must do to be saved are labeled as believing in works salvation. This isn’t true at all. I do believe that God laid out certain terms for our pardon. That does not mean that we are not saved by His grace or that we earn His favor it simply means that we have an obedient faith willing to come to God on His own terms. I don’t believe any acts of righteousness I do can earn my salvation, but I do believe God has laid out terms of pardon. Many people reject baptism as being essential for salvation saying that it is a work and we are saved by grace. If I gave you a check though for a million dollars (don’t hold your breath), and I told you that this check is just a gift with no string attached, but you had to go to the bank to cash it would you dare say, “I don’t want that check! You said it was a free gift with no strong attached! If I go to the bank that means it wasn’t a free gift!” You wouldn’t say that because going to the bank to cash the check wouldn’t be a work. Likewise baptism is not a work that we do that earns our salvation, but it is the point in time when we have our sins washed away. It is the point in time when in the mind of God we clothe ourselves in Christ. It is the point in time when we die to the old self and put on the new self. It is the point in time when we obey the gospel. It is the point in time when God’s Holy Spirit indwells us. It is the point in time when we meet the promises of God. Baptism is not our work, but it is God’s work. The work of baptism is not in us stepping into a pool of water and passively allowing someone to dunk us in some water, but the significance of baptism is the change in the mind of God towards us. I believe that the Scriptures teach plainly that it is not by works, but by the grace of God that we are saved.
Titus 3:5-7
If that is true, and it is, then what does that mean for our lives? It means that you or I can never be good enough no matter what we do to earn our salvation. It means that if we want to be saved we desperately need Jesus and we cannot rely on our own goodness to get us into Heaven.
The people that argue that baptism is argue by stating we are making salvation conditional. I would say that they are right because salvation is conditional. I believe that God’s love is unconditional in that he gave His Son freely to die for the sins of the world and that he loves every sinner and wants them to come to salvation, but there are certain terms of pardon. That does not violate the grace of God.
Ephesians 2:1-10
It is clear that we are saved by grace and not by works, but that does not mean that works are not important. We are saved by grace, through faith, at baptism, for good works.
IV. Misconception 4: You Can Never Lose Your Salvation
There are many people who teach that once you are saved that there is nothing that you can do to lose your salvation. This teaching is sometimes called, “once saved always saved” or “eternal security”. The problem with those teachings is that is not what the Scriptures teach at all. While I believe our salvation is secure and that God is not going to on a whim decide that he no longer wants us to be saved, and while I believe there is nothing anyone else can do to take my salvation from me, I believe that I can make a choice to separate myself from God and I can forfeit my salvation.
The Scriptures put as much emphasis on finishing the race strong as they do starting the race. There are countless Scriptures calling God’s people to remain faithful until the very end of their life.
Philippians 2:12
It is a great and common misconception that we can never lose our salvation. In fact all that does is make people content with where they are. It causes them not to resist sin to the best of their ability, not to persevere through trials and not to seek to grow and mature in Christ.
James 1:12
We also see that many of the promises in Scripture are conditional to our remaining faithful until the end.
I Corinthians 15:2
