Salvation Summaries

All Christians, and even a number of non-Christians, know that the primary way a person becomes saved (or a Christian) is by believing in Jesus.  This can be seen in John 3:16, the most well-known verse in the Bible, and other verses below.

• 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.

• John 6:47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

• John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

• John 11:25-26 ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  ²⁶ and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

• 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.

However, most may not realize that the Bible speaks of two types of belief: one that saves, and one that does not (The same goes for faith: there is a type that saves, and a type that does not).  As a result, it is possible for a person to say or claim that they believe in Jesus, but not be saved.  In fact, I believe there are many who fall into this camp, and it truly is a dangerous place to be.

In this post, I’ll provide three examples where belief in Jesus does not lead to salvation.

Examples where belief in Jesus does not save a person

1. Parable of the Sower

Jesus’ parable of the Sower can be found in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8.  Each parable is divided into two parts: the parable itself, and Jesus’ explanation of it.  I’ve copied the version from Luke below.

• Luke 8:5-8 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

• Luke 8:11-15 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

I believe the purpose of this parable is to illustrate:

• The impediments to become saved (not understand or believe the gospel message, have a type of superficial or temporal belief that does not save as no fruit is produced),

• How a person is saved (hearing and understanding the gospel message that leads to a saving belief in one’s heart, where heart goes beyond one’s intellect or mind to include thoughts, feelings, desires and resulting decisions),

• The evidence that one has been saved (the bearing of fruit).

In the table below, I identify each part of the parable and its spiritual meaning.  I also give examples of the different “soils” based upon people I have read about or know.

The table shows the progression of belief as you move from one soil to the next:

• Soil 1 – no belief
• Soil 2 – a superficial and temporary belief
• Soil 3 – a superficial belief
• Soil 4 – a saving and persevering belief

2. Jesus did not entrust Himself to those who “believed” in Him

In the book of John, there were many people who saw the miracles Jesus performed and because of this “believed” in Him.  However, Jesus could see in their heart that their belief was not genuine, or the type that leads to repentance and salvation.  Their belief was like the people described in soil 2, superficial and probably temporary. As a result, Jesus did not “entrust” Himself to them.  Per Warren Wiersbe’s commentary, “they believed in Him, but He did not believe in them!”

John 2:23-25 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

3. Simon the Sorcerer

In the book of Acts, we read about a sorcerer who believed and was baptized, and thus we would assume that he was saved.  However, in this case, the evidence indicates otherwise.   The story of Simon is below.

Acts 8:9-24 9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” 24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

While it is true that spiritually immature Christians can act like non-Christians for a time, and thus Simon’s inappropriate behavior may simply have reflected this (see the book of James, for instance, where the Christians there said sinful things, expressed anger, showed personal favoritism, displayed selfish ambition and worldliness, acted jealously and quarreled…all because of their spiritual immaturity), I believe a stronger case can be made that Simon never was saved.  Here are the reasons why:

• I believe Simon’s belief was like that in soil 3 in the Parable of the Sower.  Simon’s belief was not based upon the message of salvation, but the mesmerization of miracles. He followed Philip everywhere not to learn more about this new Christian faith, but because he was continually amazed at the miracles Philip performed.  These miracles were likely even greater than the ones he had performed from his sorcery.  Then, when he saw Peter and John perform the miracle of giving the Holy Spirit to those who had believed and were baptized, Simon was mesmerized by this too, and so much so that he wanted to pay Peter and John for the ability to do it.

• Peter’s response to Simon is more indicative of how one would respond to a non-Christian than a Christian.  For example, Peter said that Simon’s heart was poisoned by bitterness and wickedness.  Further, Peter said that Simon would “have no part of share in this matter,” because Simon’s heart was not right before God.  In short, Peter was telling Simon, “we want nothing to do with you.”  Again, that’s not what you’d expect one Christian to tell another Christian, even if the other was spiritually immature.

• As in John 2:23-25, where we read that Jesus would not entrust Himself to those who “believed” in Him based upon His miracles, I believe the story of Simon is similar in that Peter would not entrust himself to Simon based upon the miracles  Peter and John had performed. In short, Peter, as a strong Christian, knew that Simon’s heart had not changed from unbelieving to believing.  Simon had not made Jesus the most important person in his life; rather, the performing of miracles continued to occupy that spot.  Simon’s belief was like the people in soil 3, where the performing of miracles was a thorn too big and pervasive to allow Simon to believe and bear fruit.

Conclusion

A belief in Jesus is required for a person to be saved, but not all beliefs in Jesus result in salvation.  This can be seen in the Parable of the Sower, the story of Simon the Sorcerer, and in Jesus’ unwillingness to entrust Himself to certain Jews who “believed” in Him.

People who claim to be a Christian need to examine themselves to see if there is evidence of this, or the bearing of fruit.  They also need to have the humility to realize that salvation is a two way street, for Jesus, who knows your heart, must entrust Himself to you before you can be saved.  If you don’t know whether He has done this, pray to Him that He does, and ask Him to help you with any unbelief you may have.  Then, look for evidence of fruit in your life.