The topic of a Christian’s salvation can be confusing at times. Is there a certain prayer you need to pray? Where in the bible does it instruct you to be saved? How can I be sure I am saved?
Many Christians would tell you that salvation is to pray and ask God for forgiveness for your sins. While that’s not necessarily bad, there’s more to it than just repenting of your wrongdoings. Being saved by Christ is a matter of grace and faith. What does that mean, though?
Today, I’m going to share what I think salvation really is and what the bible actually says about being saved.
Straight From the Word
Let’s look at what Jesus says first. This is in John 5:24.“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from life to death.” And then, to his disciples after he rose from the dead, he says, “Stop doubting and believe.”1 In Mark 5:36 he tells Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” And, in one of the most famous bible verses, John 3:16…“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
You know what all of these verses have in common? That one word: believe. In the Greek translation, it’s the word pisteuon. It’s richer than the English meaning. Pisteuon is the idea is of a trusting belief, loyalty, commitment, engagement. Believing in God, in this deep and trusting way, is how we are saved.
Notice how Jesus never says anything about a certain prayer you need to recite, or even about asking for forgiveness. He says over and over again, “believe, and you will be saved.”
Faith
R.C. Sproul, who wrote Everyone’s a Theologian, says that “justification is by faith alone.” And in Systematic Theology, by Charles Hodge, I read that “the condition of the covenant2 is faith.”
A christian is someone who has fully put their trust in Jesus Christ as the only Savior3, and has accepted the gospel through Christ alone4.
This means that our faith and God’s grace is what saves us.
We are not saved by praying or by saying we’re sorry for our sins.
That’s not to say those things are bad—they’re actually good, and are evidence of our faith. Prayer, repentance, submission to God, desire to be more like Christ, and other actions can come from being saved.
And it’s not just in the gospels that we are told to believe. “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”5 “For it is by grace you’ve been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”6 “If you declare with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”7
So, we know that it’s by faith we are saved, but what does faith really mean?
“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
Back in Old Testament times, before Jesus died on the cross, a Christians’ salvation was a “Christ-led, spirit-given understanding of the gospel theme” 8. They believed God was going to fulfill his promise that Jesus would one day come and die for them.
No Faith without Grace
However, faith isn’t the only part of salvation. We are saved because of God’s grace--we cannot save ourselves–and our faith is how we receive the gift of grace.
God didn’t have to send Jesus to die on the cross for us. He didn’t have to give us a second chance. But, because he is gracious and loving, he did. That’s what salvation and faith is all about. R.C. Sproul says that “we are debtors who cannot repay our debt,” meaning that we could never earn God’s love, and it’s by his grace, our faith, and Jesus’s death and resurrection that we are saved.
The bible is clear about salvation: salvation is putting your faith (confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see) in God, and His grace takes care of the rest. There’s no ceremony or ritual, no specific prayer or recitation needed. Just believe and receive.
footnotes
- John 20:27
- Covenant meaning God’s promise
- https://www.gotquestions.org/
- https://www.bibleref.com/
- Romans 3:22
- Ephesians 2:8
- Romans 10:9
- https://answersingenesis.org/
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