Salvation

The Simplicity of Salvation

     But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Cor. 11:3)

     The Lord’s intention in making a way of salvation for lost, Hell-bound sinners was to make it neither religiously ritualistic nor the least bit complicated. He made it simple.

  • The dying thief was saved instantly on a cross right beside Jesus (Lk. 23:42). No baptism, communion, church membership, or good works were involved.
  • The Philippian jailor simply asked how to be saved and got his immediate answer (Acts 16:30–31). There was no confession of sins, no sacraments, and no rituals performed.
  • The Gentiles of Cornelius’ house were instantly saved on the spot without even praying, being baptized, or being confirmed (Acts 10:43-45).

     Many other examples could be given of salvation’s simplicity and why there are strong reasons for the confusion and turmoil in the minds of people making God’s salvation much more complicated and complex than the Bible says it is. Chief among these reasons is Satan himself, who is mentioned in the verse given above as the source of the turmoil. He is also a liar, a deceiver, and a murderer (Jn. 8:44)

     Paul said in the text above that the mind is “corrupted” when it thinks that salvation is not simple. Peoples’ minds have been corrupted by religion, propaganda, deceivers, and the devil if they “think” that salvation is hard, for they did not receive such a notion from the Lord.

     If salvation were difficult, then only the brilliant-minded, the ultra-educated, the crème of society, the gifted, and the super-achievers would be saved. Interestingly, it is most usually these categories of individuals who are the most resistant to the Gospel of Christ. Such a strategy would contradict the Lord’s stated desires anyway, since He saved thieves, jailbirds, murderers, liars, adulterers, and very often other of the dregs of society:

  • The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).
  • This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (1 Tim 1:15).

     Jesus didn’t come to save the righteous, since there are none. There is none righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10). All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not (Ecc. 7:20). They are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Ps. 53:3).  
Since the Lord wants all to come to repentance, it simply follows that He would not design salvation to be complicated.

WHAT A SINNER NEEDS TO KNOW:

  1. You are helpless to save yourself. Neither your works (Eph. 2:8-9), your religion, or your goodness as a person can save you. Those are THINGS and things do not save.
  2. After you die, you will have to face judgment before God (Heb. 9:27). The Lord already sees you as dead in your sins (Eph. 2:1), as a child of the devil (Jn. 8:44), as condemned already (Jn. 3:18), and your name is not written in God’s book of life (Rev. 20:15).
  3. The result of dying without Christ and being judged by a holy God is to be damned and cast into a burning Hell. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15).
  4. God’s answer for this terrible spiritual condition was that He sent us a Savior, Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, who was also the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). God sent His Son to die in the place of every single sinner as a substitute instead of each of us having to go to Hell where we would suffer forever. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures… he was buried, and… he rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (Jn. 14:6).
  5. Jesus Christ accomplished and finished everything a sinner needs for salvation on Calvary’s cross and then He rose from the dead. With His dying breath, the Savior of the world said, It is finished (Jn. 19:30). The price for each of our sins was paid by the dying Lamb. God’s anger was pacified, His holy justice was satisfied, and the way to reconciliation with God was forged.
  6. Salvation is simple. Since you cannot do anything to save yourself, Jesus Christ did it all. The salvation and the eternal life He offers is A FREE GIFT, and requires that you accept it as such! For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).
    • You must simply receive the gift. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (Jn. 1:10-12).
    • You receive Him by believing upon Him.

      • Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31)
      • He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (Jn. 3:36).
      • Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (Jn. 5:24).
      • But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness (Rom. 4:5).
      • Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified (Gal. 2:16).
      • For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Rom. 2:8-9)
  7. A person is saved, converted, and literally born again spiritually when they make the decision to believe on Christ by trusting Him and placing complete faith in what He accomplished on the Cross.

     Not one person gets their sins forgiven, gets to Heaven, or is a Christian because they partake of the works and rituals of religion. Salvation is simple, and it is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ by faith, not on religious exercises. Christ died that He might establish a relationship with you and me. Forgiveness from sins, avoiding Hell, and going to Heaven when you die are all benefits of believing on Jesus Christ, but He came to die for us because He loved us and wanted a relationship with each of us.