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.  This book contains my favorite verse in the Bible (1 Cor 9:22).

Summary

A person becomes a Christian when God “calls” that person, and that person, in turn, calls upon Jesus.  Calling upon Jesus requires that you believe in Him.  You learn about and believe in Jesus from hearing the gospel. The gospel is all about Jesus and what He has done for us (came to die for our sins).  Jesus’ resurrection is the key to Christianity, or stated another way, the Christian’s faith hinges upon Jesus’ resurrection. If He did not rise from the dead, you are still in your sins, and, according to Paul, we should all eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.    

There is more to living the Christian life than what most Christians likely believe. Whatever you do should be for God’s glory (and thus not yours). You are not to seek your own good, but the good of others, especially non-believers as part of helping them become saved.  Also, you need to consider not only to what you do and say, but how this affects spiritually immature Christians.  You should not say or do anything that may weaken their faith even if you know, as a more mature Christian, that what you are saying or doing is acceptable, for weakening the faith of another is a sin on your part and against Christ.

1 Corinthians has a lot to say about sexual immorality, including homosexuality, and what Paul says will surprise and anger many today.  Paul is clear that Christians are allowed to associate with homosexuals who are not believers.  However, they are not to associate with those who also claim to be a Christian.  These “Christians” are to be removed from the church body to help them repent of that way of life and possibly save their soul (Paul was concerned about the eternal destiny of others instead of political correctness).  Rather than tolerate or accept sexual immorality, Christians are to flee from it.  Both the Old Testament and New Testament are clear that people who live a lifestyle of sexual immorality (adultery, homosexuality, prostitution, etc.) will not go to heaven unless God changes them to become a believer. There were people in the New Testament who were caught up in a lifestyle of immorality before becoming a Christian, and then God changed them to discontinue this way of life. If God can do that in Bible times, He can do it today.

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

• God must “call” a person.
• After being called by God, a person must call upon Jesus (1 Cor 1:2, 9, 24 and 26).
• The gospel message is what saves (1 Cor 15:2).
  • It is about Jesus (1 Cor 9:12) and the cross (1 Cor 1:17-18). Jesus died for our sins (1 Cor 15:3), was buried, raised, and then appeared to many people.
  • It can sound foolish to non-Christians (1 Cor 1:18). Non-Christians cannot understand spiritual truths or God’s will since they don’t have His Holy Spirit within them (1 Cor 2:14).
  • Paul preached the gospel and related to his listeners as much as he could in order to save them (1 Cor 9:20-22). In my opinion, too few pastors and Christians share this same desire today.
• Believing in Jesus comes from hearing the gospel and is required for salvation.
• God saves those who believe (1 Cor 1:21).

Characteristics of a Christian

• Is united with, or in, Christ Jesus (1 Cor 1:29-30)
• Has (or appears to) eternal security because of Jesus (1 Cor 1:8, “He will keep you strong to the end.”).
• Has received spiritual gifts (1 Cor 1:7).
• Represents God’s temple, for the Holy Spirit lives inside a Christian (1 Cor 3:16)
• Eagerly awaits (or should) the return of Jesus (1 Cor 1:7)
• Can know whether another person is a Christian, for Paul knew Timothy (“faithful in the Lord”) was. Non-Christians cannot do this.
• May still act like the world in some ways (jealously, quarreling, etc.) if is spiritually immature or a “mere infant” in Christ (1 Cor 3:2-3).

How a Christian should live

• Don’t quarrel or act jealous, for this is worldliness (1 Cor 3:3)
• Be careful who you associate with; bad company corrupts good character (1 Cor 15:33).
• If you are unmarried, live a life of devotion to the Lord, and seek to do what pleases Him (1 Cor 7:32).
• If you are married, seek to please the Lord and your spouse (1 Cor 7:33-34). Do not divorce your spouse (1 Cor 7:14).
• Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)
• Follow the example of Christ (1 Cor 11:1)
• Do not seek your own good, but the good of others (1 Cor 10:24).  Why?  Like Paul, to save them (1 Cor 10:33).
• Plant “seeds” like Paul and/or water them like Apollos (1 Cor 3:6); God rewards those who do so (1 Cor 3:8)
• Do not do or say anything that may weaken the faith of a fellow believer even if you know, as a more spiritually mature Christian, that what you are saying or doing is OK. Weakening the faith of another is a sin on your part and against Christ (1 Cor 8:4-13).
• Love God (1 Cor 8:3), Christ, your family, friends, neighbors, guests, strangers…even your enemies.  Simply love (1 Cor 13:1-13).
• Be holy (1 Cor 1:2)

Sexual Immorality

• Incest – No person who claims to be a Christian should be involved in incest. If a church member is, the church should remove that person from the church body to get him/her to repent, for wicked and sexually immoral people will not go to heaven (1 Cor 6:9-10).  This person should also be removed so that he/she does not weaken the faith of others to the point that they tolerate and accept this lifestyle (1 Cor 5).

• Other forms of sexual immorality – In addition to incest, the Bible identifies adultery, homosexuality, prostitution and bestiality as sexually immoral. Pre-marital sexual relationships, which are widespread in our society today, are also sexually immoral.

• Response to homosexual supporters – Some homosexual advocates claim the prohibition against homosexuality in the OT book of Leviticus no longer applies, for people today are not bound to follow Old Testament laws. There are several problems with this.
  • First, to be consistent in their interpretation of Leviticus, homosexual advocates must conclude that there is nothing wrong with incest, adultery, prostitution, bestiality or the sacrifice of children, for all of these are grouped with homosexuality into one category of behaviors that God views as detestable. Either all should be viewed as acceptable today, or all should be unacceptable.
  • Second, saying that all of the Old Testament laws do not apply to us today is not entirely correct.  There were certain ones that applied only to Israel and before Jesus came to earth (for example, people no longer sacrifice sheep or goats when they sin). But as with the 10 commandments, there were certain moral laws in the Old Testament that govern all people in all cultures and all periods. For example, incest will always be wrong; bestiality will always be wrong; a life of adultery will always be wrong; living a homosexual lifestyle will always be wrong; and sacrificing your children will always be wrong.
  • Third, even not required to obey Old Testament laws, Christians are to seek to do those things that please the Lord, for they are now responsible to God and a servant of Jesus. If someone wants to please and honor God, they will seek to avoid those things that He views as sinful, and do those things which are not.  It is clear in the OT and NT that homosexuality is sinful.
  • Fourth, Leviticus is not the only Old Testament book that condemns homosexuality. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the book of Genesis (see my post on Sodom, Gomorrah and Homosexuality) does too.  In the New Testament, homosexuality is criticized in 1 Peter, Romans, 1 Corinthians (see 6:9-11), Jude and Revelation. The apostle Paul, who received the gospel message directly from Jesus Christ and learned other spiritual truths from God’s Holy Spirit, spoke out against sexual immorality, including homosexuality.  So did Peter and John, who were close associates of Jesus.  In 1 Cor 10:8, we read that God killed 23,000 Israelites because of some/a number of them were committing sexual immorality.
  • However, there is good news for homosexuals, adulterers, and others who engage in sexual immorality.  All have the opportunity to receive forgiveness of sins and become a new creation (and thus lead a new way of life).  However, this can only takes place when that person becomes a Christian.  It is clear in the New Testament that some believers were caught up in wicked lifestyles (the verse does not specifically tell us which ones, but it doesn’t matter whether it was homosexuality or adultery or drunkards, etc., for God views all as wicked) before they were a Christian, but God changed their behaviors once they became a Christian (1 Cor 6:11). You may not be able to change your desires and lifestyle on your own, but God can.

• How a Christian responds to homosexuals depends upon whether they claim to be a believer – As a Christian, you may continue to associate with homosexual non-Christians, for this can’t be avoided. Your aim should be to tell them about how to become saved so they can lead a new way of life (1 Cor 5:9). However, you are not to associate with homosexuals who claim to be a Christian (1 Cor 5:11-12), for this lifestyle is incompatible with being one and hurts the church body.  This means that churches should not allow homosexuals, or adulterers (etc.) to become members, and they also have the responsibility to honestly tell homosexuals what the Bible (both Old Testament and New Testaments) says about this way of life.

• Christians are to flee from sexual immorality – Christians are not only to not accept or tolerate sexual immorality, they are to “flee” from it (1 Cor 6:18) for it is sinful (1 Cor 6:18) and wicked.  God wants Christians to honor Him not only with their mind, but also with their body (1 Cor 6:19-20).  Why?  A Christian’s body becomes a member of Christ (in the sense that that person is united with Christ) and becomes a temple of God (because the Holy Spirit lives inside that person).  A Christian’s body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord (1 Cor 6:13).

Who God is

• Has a will to do things just like we do. It was His will that Paul become an apostle of Jesus. God “called” Paul for this purpose (1 Cor 1:1)
• He is our Father; Jesus is our Lord (or this is the way Paul refers to them, 1 Cor 1:2)
• Showed us His grace by sending His Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for us (1 Cor 1:4)
• Takes the initiative to call people to have fellowship with His Son so that they can be saved (1 Cor 1:9)
• He is the One from whom all things came and for whom we live (1 Cor 8:6)

Who Jesus is

• He is the One through whom all things came and through whom we live (1 Cor 8:6)
• Died, buried, raised from the dead and appeared to many
• Exposes the motive of men’s hearts (1 Cor 4:5)

Other

• Paul knew that the people he was writing to were saved.
  • They call upon name of Jesus who is their Lord (1:2)
  • They have received Jesus Christ (1:5)
  • God has called them into fellowship with Jesus (1:9)
• Baptism was not important to Paul.
  • He could not remember how many people he had baptized (1 Cor 1:16).
  • Also, he said “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” (1 Cor 1:17).
  • If Paul’s desire was to save others (1 Cor 9:22, 10:33) but he did not feel the need to baptize or consider it important, then baptism would not be required for a person to become saved.
• In one sense, salvation is a process, for Paul referred to some people as perishing and to others as being saved (1 Cor 1:18).  In other verses, salvation is shown as a completed action or event (i.e., “have been saved”).
• Satan tempts people to sin (1 Cor 7:5)
• The Bible uses the term saved and unbelieving/unbeliever (NIV) to describe Christians and non-Christians (1 Cor 7:14-16)