Salvation Summaries

Are you willing to lose your life for Him?  Your answer to this question has a lot to say about where you will spend eternity. Let me explain.

As you know, I’ve been combing through each book in the New Testament in search of verses that relate to salvation. I’ve written brief comments about these verses and put them in a question and answer format to make the material more interesting.  My goal is to thoroughly understand salvation, and it is my hope that you will too from reading what I’ve said.  I don’t want anyone to be “in the dark” about what the Bible says about salvation, for if you are not “saved” according to how the Bible defines salvation, you will FOREVER be in the dark.

But rather than require you to read a lengthy blog entry on all salvation verses in a particular book of the Bible, which will take some time and thought, I’ve decided to write a half dozen or so short blogs on the most important verses about salvation, and on a few stories in the Bible on how to be saved.  That way, if you’re short on time, or simply want to know “the punch line,” you can find out what it is in a matter of minutes. This first blog entry will be longer than normal though, so please be patient.

Now, before I get to the verses that I believe are THE most important on how to be saved, let me make a few more introductory remarks. John 3:16 is a salvation-related verse, and it is the one most commonly used in the public today.  If there is any Bible verse shown on a graduation hat, or on a poster at a concert or sports game, it is John 3:16.  This verse says,  “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.” John 3:16 talks about how to be saved (believing in Christ) and the benefit of being saved (eternal life).  It is short and easy to understand.

However, there are a number of verses in the Bible about salvation, and an understanding of these is needed to get a more complete picture of what salvation is. Believe, or believing in Christ, is certainly one component of salvation, but so is faith (a similar word), forgiveness of sins, grace, repentance, etc.  As a result, I’ll be writing about a number of verses other than John 3:16.

Lose your Life

Of all the verses I’ve read and studied that relate to salvation, there is one set in Mark (and Matthew) that really gets to the heart of what it means to be saved.  I need to warn you though, that a number of people who read these verses will shake their heads and choose to reject them. Why? Because it’s simply too much to ask, and too difficult to do, in their opinion.  I would even go so far to say that some professing Christians who read them will be surprised to learn what is required, and it will cause them to reevaluate whether they truly are a Christian.

Are you ready to read the verses I selected?  No, you’re not.

I want you to take a step back and think about something else first that relates to what the verses have to say, and I believe this will better prepare you for what you’re about to read.

Here’s what I want you to think about.  You’ve heard the phrase, “no pain, no gain” right?  What does this mean?  It means that you have to make sacrifices to accomplish something, and the more you want to accomplish, the more you have to sacrifice.

What would you say is the biggest accomplishment any person could hope to achieve on this green earth?  It’s to live forever, or have eternal life (in heaven). Right?  Right. So to accomplish something that important, that…big…what do you think would be required?  Ponder that for a few seconds. OK, now, you are ready to read the verses I’ve chosen.

Mark 8:34-36 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

So, according to Jesus, what must you do to be saved (note: these verses don’t contain the word “saved” or “salvation” but I consider becoming a disciple of Christ to be synonymous with salvation)?  Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him.  Or in other words, you must lose your life.

“But what does that mean?”, you ask.  A whole sermon could be written on this subject,  but you don’t have time to read one, and I’m not the best person to write one. So instead, here are the cliff notes of the answer to that question.  It means this:

• Give up – You need to be willing to give up your way of life…of being your own boss and doing only what you want to do.

• To Who? You need to be wiling to surrender your life to Christ, and become completely devoted to and dependent upon Him. He is the only one who can save a person from his/her sins.

• Then what? You need to be willing to follow Christ.  You need to seek to know what He wants you to do.  He needs to become your boss, and you become a willing slave (Paul and Peter use the term “bond-servant” to describe their relationship with Christ).

• To what extent?  There is a cost to following Christ.  For a Muslim, the cost is rejection by your family, your community, and it could even mean physical death.  Why?  A Muslim who converts to Christianity is deserving of death according to Islam.  For others, the cost may be losing some of your liberal friends who don’t believe in God or don’t care about Him. It could mean giving up some of your ambitions and dreams, such as having a high paying job, becoming wealthy, owning a big house or a luxurious car. And it extreme circumstances, it could also mean giving up your life.

Are you willing to “lose your life” for Him?  If you respond with the answer “no”, or “not yet”, then all I would ask from you is to consider the consequences.  According to the Bible, a person is either for Christ, or against Him.  You’re either proud of Him, or you’re ashamed of Him. There is no middle ground.

If you are willing to lose your life for Him, then I have good news for you.  Christ is already working in you, for apart from Him you would be unwilling to do so.  But be prepared to change, if you’ve not already.  According to the Bible, a believer in Christ receives the Holy Spirit and becomes a new creation.  Your desires, your ambitions, your interests…your way of life…will change (but for the better).  You will need to make sacrifices of time and money (but it will be worth it).  You will travel down a different path in life, but that path leads to eternal life.

In my next blog entry, I will write about three simple words that Christ asks you to do in order to be saved.