Salvation Summaries

I am going through each book in the New Testament (again) and writing bullet point comments about how a person becomes a Christian and how a Christian should live.  The book of Romans has a lot to say on both issues.

Summary of how a person is saved according to the book of Romans

Like the Jews in Bible times, people today seek to establish their own righteous – or way of getting right with God. They do this by trying to be a good person, trying to obey the 10 commandments, going to church, etc.

However, Romans is clear that this way of becoming right with God and gaining entry into heaven doesn’t work. God gave us the 10 commandments and many other laws not to show us that we obey most or some of them, but to show us that it’s impossible to obey them completely.  When we fail to meet even one of them, we sin.  Everyone sins, and sin results in spiritual death. Because we are all spiritually dead, we are unable to save ourselves, and must rely upon God to do this. Thankfully, God, out of His love and mercy, provides a way for His people to come to Him and be saved.

How is a person saved?  Romans provides us with different approaches but similar ways of becoming a Christian.  The general one is this: acknowledge that God exists; hear, understand and believe the gospel; realize that Jesus died for sinners – which includes you; confess/repent of your sins; call out to Jesus for salvation, and put your faith in Him.

Romans 10:9-10 and 10:13 are two very specific ways of becoming saved. In the former you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.  In the latter you simply call upon Jesus’ name. There is more to these verses than what you may think though, so they should not be used as a simple checklist on how to become a Christian.

Faith in Jesus is the key that unlocks the door of heaven.  It is the only way a person becomes right with God (or justified before Him) and receives eternal life.  Faith comes from hearing the gospel, but it is not something a person can earn; it is a gift from God. The Bible is clear that without faith, you cannot please God.

When you become saved, there are spiritual changes that take within you, and I would guess most people do not realize the extent or impact of these changes. For example, when you become a Christian, your sins are forgiven, you become righteous or justified in God’s sight, and you are now at peace with Him (formerly you were hostile to God). In addition, you become united with Christ and the Holy Spirit now dwells in you.

The spiritual changes that take place at the moment of conversion affect how you live going forward. Why?  Because you have been freed from the power of sin to control you, and you now have the Holy Spirit to lead you.  The Holy Spirit gives you the ability to “bear fruit” and do things that please God, but effort and determination are required for you to grow spiritually. How do you do this?  You are to no longer to live for yourself, but the Lord (Rom 14:7-8).  Also, you are to let God continually transform you by changing the way you think.  Those who claim to be a Christian but act in the same way they always did are not likely saved.

How a person is saved (and other verses relating to salvation)

• Acknowledge that God exists, even though everyone should know this.
  • God has made His presence available to everyone on this earth via His creation (Rom 1:19-20). It reflects His attributes (His power, intelligence, creativity, love, etc.). Because His existence is evident to all, none is excused from not knowing Him. None can plead ignorance when He judges them.

• Hear and understand the gospel.
  • The gospel is one means by which God saves you (Romans 1:16). We think of the gospel being found only in the New Testament, but the promise of the gospel (a Messiah would be born in the line of David, etc.) was revealed to prophets in the Old Testament too (Romans 1:1-4).  Isaiah 9:6 is one example of this.

• What is the gospel (according to Romans)?
  • It is the power of God to save those who believe (Rom 1:16).
  • It is for the salvation of all people (Rom 1:16)
  • It reveals how a person becomes righteous in God’s sight; this is by faith in Jesus (Rom 1:17)
  • It reveals God’s wrath, which is on the unrighteous and ungodly.
  • It is about Jesus Christ, a physical descendant of David, who was raised from the dead and thus declared to be the Son of God (Rom 1:2-4, 9)
  • It’s goal is for people to believe in God and obey Him; this brings glory to God (Rom 1:5)
  • It shows us that a Christian is to LIVE by faith. You can’t separate your faith from how you live at work vs. in the home. Those who claim to have faith but say they don’t want to force it on others are being disobedient.

• Realize that you are a sinner (Rom 3:23).
  • We all have turned away from God to follow our own ways.
  • We know we sin when we compare ourselves to God’s laws, which include the 10 commandments, and realize we can’t obey them (Rom 3:20; 7:7). Do you love God with all of your heart, soul mind and strength? No. Do you love your neighbor as yourself? No.
  • God’s laws were not intended to be how a person is saved; they are to show us we can’t be saved by them (Rom 8:3). They point us to the only way to be saved. You can’t get right with God by trying to obey His laws.
  • Sin entered the world through Adam and spread to everyone (Rom 5:12). Sin brings death (Rom 5:12).
  • Sin results in spiritual death (Rom 6:23)

• Realize that Jesus died for you, a sinner (Rom 5:6)

• Repent
  • God wants you to repent of your sins and become saved (Rom 2:4).  Because of God’s kindness, He tolerates the sinfulness of man and waits patiently for him to repent, but judgement awaits those who don’t (Rom 1:18, 2:5).

• Put your faith in God’s Son.
  • If we are bad (not good) in God’s sight because of our sin, how do we become “good” in God’s sight?  The only way we can become right with God (or righteous), be at peace with Him (not under His wrath, Rom 5:1) and good in His sight, is by faith in His Son (Rom 3:22, 5:1), and believing that Jesus will remove our sins (Rom 3:22, 30; 4:7). Abraham is an example of someone having faith.
  • You receive God’s Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5)

• What is faith?
  • It is a gift from God (Rom 4:16). If it is a gift, it is something we can’t earn (we certainly can’t based upon how good we are or have been).
  • Obedience seems to be tied with, related to or a byproduct of faith.
    • Romans 1:5…the obedience that comes from faith
    • Romans 1:16 – the righteous are to live by faith
    • Romans 2:7- God gives eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality; there will be wrath and anger for those who are self-seeking and reject the truth and follow evil
  • Faith is closely related to belief, but appears to go beyond it.
    • At this time I view the difference as this: belief is in someone or something you can see or hear or touch and it seems rationale or plausible. Faith, on the other hand, lacks one of these…you may not be able to see or hear or touch.  Also, the thing you are asked to believe may seem impossible.  The latter requires trust; the former may not.  I’ll have more to say on this later.

• How does one receive faith?
  • From comes from hearing the word of Christ, or the gospel of salvation (Rom 10:17).  We don’t know exactly how or when God grants faith in the heart of a sinner, but we know He does.

• Another way to become saved:
  • Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Rom 10:9). It is with your heart that you believe and are justified; it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Rom 10:10).
  • Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom 10:13)

• Can you lose your salvation?
  • Romans 11:22 seems to indicate that you can, but from a review of all salvation related verses in the NT, the answer appears to be “no.” With that said, no Christian should become content with his/her faith and knowledge of the Lord; a constant searching for more should be the aim of every Christian to prove that they are truly a believer.

• Attributes of a Christian:
  • acknowledges that God exists, as is evident by His creation (1:19-20)
  • believes in and obeys God, which brings honor to His name (Rom 1:5)
  • honors and thanks God (Rom 1:21)
  • has repented (Rom 2:4)
  • has faith in God (Rom 1:8)
  • has received the free gift of eternal life (Rom 6:23)
  • is righteous and justified before God (Rom 3:28) by faith in the Lord (Rom 5:1)
  • is at peace with God (Rom 5:1) and saved from God’s wrath (Rom 5:9)
  • is not condemned by God (Rom 8:1)
  • has died with Christ (Rom 6:6) and is now united with Him (Rom 6:5)
  • no longer under the power of or a slave to sin (Rom 6:1-14)
  • does not let sin reign in one’s body (Rom 6:12)
  • has the HS living and dwelling within them (Rom 8:9,11)
  • is controlled by the HS and live for/to please the HS (Rom 8:4)
  • serves God with all of heart (Rom 1:9)
  • serves Jesus like Paul did (Rom 1:1)
  • lives by faith (Rom 1:17)
  • persists in doing good (Rom 2:7)
  • is a bond servant or slave of Jesus (Rom 1:1)
  • has joy on account of his/her sins being taken away (Rom 4:7-8)
  • knows that he/she is a child of God (Rom 8:16)
  • wait eagerly for redemption.  Salvation, in one sense, is a process. Paul and those whom he wrote to in Romans knew that they had been saved (Rom 8:24), but at the same time they were waiting for the end of their salvation when Jesus would fully redeem them (Rom 8:23)

• Attributes of a non-Christian:
  • does not understand how to become right with God, or righteous in His sight. Non-Christians seek to establish their own way of getting right with God – by trying to be “good.” The Jews did something similar; they tried to get right with God by obeying all of God’s laws.  The way to get right with God is by putting one’s faith in God’s son though.
  • remains under the power of sin; is/remains a slave to sin (Rom 6:6-7)
  • remains controlled by one’s sinful nature and thus thinks about sinful things and lives to please the flesh (Rom 8); those who are in the flesh or controlled by the flesh cannot please God (Rom 8:8)
  • is/remains condemned by God (Rom 8:1)
  • does not belong to God because does not have the HS living within them (Rom 8:9)
  • lives for self, practices evil deeds (Rom 2:8)
  • has unrepentant heart (Rom 2:5)
  • is unrighteous, wicked, greedy, evil (Rom 1:29); is envious, murderous, deceitful; shows malice toward others (Rom 1:29); is prone to gossip, slander others; insolent, arrogant, boastful, do evil (Rom 1:30-31); is not trustworthy, unloving, unmerciful (Rom 1:31)
  • may have shameful/burning desire for the same sex, degrading passions for the same sex, commits indecent acts with someone of the same sex (Rom 1:26-27)
  • does not have eternal life in heaven (Rom 6:22-23)

Relationship between faith/salvation and deeds

• Obedience comes from faith (Rom 1:5)
• Those who live for the Lord and persist in doing good receive eternal life; those who live for themselves and practice evil deeds receive eternal punishment (Rom 2:5-10)

How a Christian should live

• Honor/glorify and thank God (Rom 1:21)
• Bear fruit for God (Rom 7:24)
• Serve God with all your heart like Paul did (Rom 1:9)
• Love God
  • God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God… (Rom 8:29).  Does your life show that you love Him?

• Do not be worldly (Rom 12:2)
• Do not sin.
  • Do not let sin reign in your body so that you obey its lusts; sin shall no longer be master over you (Rom 6:12-14).  You are no longer a slave to sin, so don’t live like you are (Rom 6:6).  Thus, no Christian should continue to participate in a lifestyle of adultery, pornography or homosexuality.
  • Stop sinning whenever possible; remember, you died to your former sinful life; you crucified this life on the cross. You are now united with Christ.  You are to live for God’s glory; not yours.
  • Refrain from homosexual acts or lusts (Rom 1:24-32)
  • Do not engage in sexual promiscuity (having frequent sexual relations with different people) or sensuality (inappropriate sexual gratification), which are lifestyles of fleshly lust (Rom 13:3-4).

• Allow God to continually transform you mind so that you know His will for you (Rom 12:2)

• Live by the Holy Spirit (Rom 6, 8).
  • Those who live by the HS have their minds set on what the HS desires (those who live according to their sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires)(Rom 8:5-6).

• No longer live for yourself; you live as if Jesus is your Lord (for now He is)
  • Paul was a “bond-servant” (slave) of Jesus (Romans 1:1); as Christians, we are too. When you become a Christian, Jesus becomes your Lord; you become His servant, or slave.  Thus, you do what He wants you to do, and tells you to do. You obey Him out of reverence and love for Him.
  • Romans 14:7-8 7 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

• Identify and then use the spiritual gifts God has given you (Rom 12:6-8)

• Abhor evil, cling to what is good (Rom 12:9).
• Love each other with genuine affection. Take delight in honoring others (Rom 12:10).
• Love your neighbor as yourself (Rom 13:9)
• Serve the Lord enthusiastically (Rom 12:11).
• Be devoted to prayer (Rom 12:12).  Pray continually for the needs of other believers – Paul prayed day and night for the needs of the believers he wrote to (Rom 1:9).
• Be patient in times of trouble (persevere in tribulation). Rom 12:12
• Contribute to the needs of other believers, practice hospitality (Rom 12:13)
• Ask God to bless those (change their hearts with His love) who persecute you for being a Christian (Rom 12:14)
• Live in harmony with others, be at peace with all men; associate with the lowly (Rom 12:16, 18)
• Never pay back evil for evil; don’t take revenge on other (Rom 12:17, 19)
• Do not be a stumbling block to other believers who are less spiritually mature. If you are doing something that they believe it is wrong, even though you know it is not, don’t do it. Remember, you are to seek harmony and peace with other believers, and build them up (Rom 14:19, 15:3)
• Persist in doing good deeds (Rom 2:7)
• Stay away from those who deceive and cause dissensions among others from their false teachings (Rom 16:17)
• Seek to save others.
  • Paul’s desire and prayer was for the Jews to be saved (10:1).Should we not have the same desire, and pray, for our relatives, friends and others who are not saved?

Who God is

• Has great wisdom and knowledge. We are unable to comprehend His decisions and methods.  Everything comes from Him, exists by His power and is for His glory (Rom 11:33-36).
• Has eternal power and a divine nature (Rom 1:20)
• Created the world (Rom 1:20)
• Raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 1:4)
• Has incredible love for the people He created, and as evidenced by Jesus Christ (Rom 8:39)
• Is sovereign.  Because of this, He can influence the actions of others and even control their outcomes.  For those who refuse to acknowledge, thank or honor God, God may allow their sinful nature to consume them and do shameful things from shameful desires.  He may even completely abandon them and allow them do things that should never be done (this includes homosexuality) (Rom 1:21-32).
• Is able to fill the Christian with joy and peace for trusting in Him (Rom 15:13)
• Gracious, kind, tolerant and patient (Rom 2:4). One of the ways He showed His grace to use was by sending Jesus Christ (Rom 5:15)
• Has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and has compassion on whom He wants to have compassion (Rom 9:15)
• Has the authority to punish people who practice the sinful behaviors mentioned in Rom 1:24-32 (wickedness, murder, arrogance, boastfulness, homosexuality, etc.) (Rom 2:2-3)
• Reveals His wrath against the ungodly (Rom 1:18)
• He judges everyone; everyone must give an account of himself/herself before God (Rom 14:12). At some point in time, every knee will bow to God (Rom 14:11).

Who Jesus is

• He is the One who Isaiah, in the Old Testament, spoke about.
  • Isaiah 9:6-7 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever…
• Had a human nature; He was a descendant of King David (Rom 1:3)
• Declared (or proven) to be the Son of God when He rose from the dead (Rom 1:3-4)
• Died for the ungodly (Rom 5:1)
• Intercedes on behalf of Christians (Rom 8:34)
• The centerpiece of the gospel (Rom 1:2 9)

Other

• Can you know whether another person is saved?  Yes.  A person is saved by faith in the Lord.  If you have faith in Him, you are saved.  The faith of those Paul wrote to was being reported all over the world (Rom 1:8).  If you can know whether another person has (saving) faith, you can know whether they are saved.

Baptism

• Physical circumcision plays no role in a person’s salvation (Rom 2:28).  If baptism in the NT replaces physical circumcision in the OT, then baptism would also play no role in a person’s salvation (See Acts 15 for more on this).  The only circumcision that matters is spiritual circumcision (Rom 2:29), which is done by the Holy Spirit.  The only baptism that matters is baptism by or of the Holy Spirit upon a person’s conversion.