Salvation Summaries

Summary of Book

Of all the New Testament books I have reviewed thus far, the gospel book of John is the easiest to figure out in terms of why it was written.  Why?  The author (John) tells us:

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John had two purposes in mind when he wrote his book:

1) Show that Jesus is the Messiah, or the Christ (which the Old Testament spoke about), and

2) Tell people that if you believe in Jesus, you will receive eternal life.

To show people that Jesus was and is the Messiah (and only He can give you eternal life), John made the following points:

• Jesus is the one whom the prophets and Moses spoke about
• Jesus was and is God who became flesh and dwelt among the people
• Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus
• Jesus came to take away the sins of the world
• Jesus performed miracles to show others His power and deity (turned water into wine, healed a paralytic man and a blind man, fed 5,000, walked on water, raised Lazarus from the dead)
• Through the use of analogies, Jesus sought to help people understand who He was/is and believe in Him for eternal life (I am the…door of the sheep, good shepherd, bread of life, living water, light of the world, true vine, resurrection and the life, and, the way, the truth and the life.)
• After dying, Jesus rose from the dead and revealed himself to others. This also showed His power and deity.

In terms of believing in Jesus, John clearly viewed this as important, as he used the term believe (and its variations) more than 70 times in his book of 21 chapters.

Salvation-related Verses

The book of John contains many verses that relate to salvation, with most about believing in Jesus.  There are a few about being born again, coming to Jesus, and doing other things to become a Christian.  In addition, there are some verses that seem to indicate that God is the One who determines who is a Christian and who is not.

In my next post, John – Part 2 of 4, I will show you what it means to “believe in Jesus.”

Now, some of you may be asking, “Believe in Jesus? What’s so special about that?  Many people believe in Him.”

I would agree that many people think they believe in Jesus, but I also believe that many have a “watered down” understanding of what believe in Jesus means, and because of this, they may not believe according to how the Bible defines and uses this term.

The book of John, and a number of other New Testament books, are clear on the issue of belief: unless you believe (according to how it is used in the Bible) in Jesus Christ, you will not go to heaven when you die.  I am concerned that there are many people who say they believe in Jesus, but in reality do not, and because of this, they will not go to heaven.

In John – Part 3 of 4, I will highlight the importance – actually the necessity – of being “born again” in order to go to heaven.

In John – Part 4 of 4, I will answer the question of whether a person can lose his or her salvation.