“Questions About Salvation”, A Closer Look by Rick Sons

Questions People Have About Being Saved

QUESTIONS:
1. What is salvation?
2. What is the plan of salvation?
3. What is the prayer of salvation?
4. What are the steps to salvation?
5. Is Salvation a Process?
6. Can a Person Lose Their Salvation?
7. Is Water Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
8. How can I have assurance of my salvation?
9. Does a Person Have to Ask Jesus into Their Heart to Be Saved?
10. Does a Person Have to Be Sorry for Their Sins to Be Saved?
11. Does a Person Have to Repent to Be Saved?
12. Does a Person Have to Forsake Their Sins to Be Saved?
13. Does a Person Have to Pray a Prayer to Be Saved?
14. Can a Believer Commit the Unpardonable Sin?
15. Does a Person Have to Get Saved More Than Once?
16. Should a Person experience feelings at the Time of Salvation?
17. Does a Person Have to Confess Jesus to others To Be Saved?
18. Does a Person have to Surrender Their Life to Jesus to be Saved?
19. Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?
20. What is the Christian doctrine of salvation?

ANSWERS:
1. Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison (Philippians 1:19). More often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance.

2. The Bible is very clear about man’s need for God. It is clear about the eternal afterlife. It also clearly states that God Himself holds the keys to Heaven and Hell. God offers only through Jesus the remedy for man’s sin problem and its eternal consequences.

3. There is none; however a “prayer of salvation” can be the most important prayer we’ll ever pray. When we’re ready to become a Christian, we’re ready to have our first real conversation with God. When we pray a prayer of salvation, we’re letting God know we believe His Word is true. By the faith He has given us, we choose to believe in Him.

4. Believe: Believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and receive Jesus’ gift of forgiveness from sin. John 20:30-31 says, 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

5. See Answer above. Believe. Do not confuse Salvation with Sanctification.

6. The issue is simple: the salvation that Jesus Christ offers is either conditional or unconditional.   If is unconditional, then there is nothing we can do to lose it. If it is conditional, then there is some thing or some things that we can do to lose it.
The Bible says:

• Jesus said those who believe in Him will never perish.
• The Bible promises eternal life to all who believe in Christ.
• Nothing shall separate us from Christ. 

Salvation is a gift. A gift is often confused with something earned. No one can earn their salvation, it is God’s gift to us.

7. The belief that baptism is necessary for salvation is also known as “baptismal regeneration.” It is our contention that baptism is an important step of obedience for a Christian, but we adamantly reject baptism as being required for salvation. We strongly believe that each and every Christian should be water baptized by immersion. Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial.

8. The Apostle John wrote an entire chapter to assure God’s people that they are indeed God’s people. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God: that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13). The word “know” means absolute assurance.

9. Do you want to be saved? “Then just ask Jesus to come into your heart.” While this statement is not anti-biblical, neither is it expressly biblical. The wording generates a mental image that can easily lead to wrong impressions, especially among children, who tend to take things literally. Paul prayed “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:17). But Paul is writing to believers who had already received Christ.

10. Sorrow is an emotion, which may or may not accompany the realization of one’s guilt of sin. A person DOESN’T have to feel sorry or remorseful for their sins to be saved; but rather, must simply admit that they are guilty of violating God’s commandments.

11. NO! The Greek word for “repent” is metanoia (noun) or metanoeo (verb). It basically means a change of mind and the context must determine what is involved in that change of mind. Believe and repent are never used together as if teaching two different requirements for salvation.

12. “NO!” You do NOT have to stop sinning to be saved! Truthfully, no one can stop sinning! No one can live above sin—NO ONE! The Bible says that even our own goodness is as filth in God’s sight (Isaiah 64:6). Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners (1st Timothy 1:15). You do NOT have to give up anything to be saved except your UNBELIEF.

13. We are not saved by saying particular words or by praying a particular prayer. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. When we trust in Jesus, we are saved on the basis of his death and resurrection. Salvation comes as we gladly welcome the Good News that Christ has paid the debt we owed so that salvation itself is the free gift of God.

14. Can a true believer, whose salvation is eternally secure in Christ, still be guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit? No. Because the meaning of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a willful, determined opposition to the present power of the Holy Spirit. And Christians cannot commit that kind of sin.

15. A person can no more “work” his way out of salvation, they say, than he can “work” his way into salvation.  The idea is that since there is nothing a sinner can do to earn salvation, there is nothing a saved person can do to lose it. The moment a person Believes they claim, his salvation is secured and he faces no risk of ever losing it.

16. Some people do experience emotion, joy, and relief; however, most people don’t feel anything at the time of salvation.  Remember, salvation is NOT an experience; it is a lost sinner placing faith in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins.  Emotions and feelings are not necessary for salvation.

17. Matthew 10:33: “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”  Jesus here is speaking about those who reject Christ as Savior; not believers who remain quiet about their testimony.  Certainly, a mature Christian in faith, such as Stephen (Acts 7), is going to stand up for the Lord.

18. The Bible does NOT indicate turning away from the act of sin itself, but rather from the guilt and condemnation of sin.  Romans 3:19 states, “Now we know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and the entire world may become guilty before God.”  The soul that TURNS to Jesus Christ by faith to be forgiven of sin has repented.  The Gospel of John mentions the word “believe” 85 times without ever mentioning “repent” even once.  Clearly, to believe is to repent.

19. This question is the cause of the Reformation, the split between the Protestant churches and Catholic Church. John and James approach the same subject from different perspectives. Paul simply emphasized that justification is by faith alone while James put emphasis on the fact that genuine faith in Christ produces good works.

20. According to Christian belief, salvation from sin in general and original sin in particular is made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, which in the context of salvation is referred to as the “atonement.” While some of the differences are as widespread as Christianity itself, the overwhelming majority agrees that Christian salvation is made possible by the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, dying on the cross.