03.06 - What Then Are We Saved By?

3.6 WHAT THEN ARE WE SAVED BY?

We wish to close this chapter on a positive note. If we are not saved by faith only, then what are we saved by? Let’s look at the positive side of Jesus’ statement (Mat 7:21): "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Can anyone deny that we are saved by doing God’s will? Dare they? If it is God’s will that we are saved by doing nothing, then so be it! If it is God’s will that we be saved by faith only, then so be it! On the other hand, if we must walk on burning glass and nails, then so be it! Our job at this point is to determine just what this is.

It is essential that we understand the two aspects of salvation: (1) what we must do to get into a covenant relationship with God, and (2) what we must do to keep ourselves saved. Confusing these two aspects of salvation prevents us from dealing with the subject intelligently. We recognize that one of the basic tenets of Calvinism was the security of the believer (or, as it is often stated "once saved always saved"). We will not address this, since it is so obviously contrary to scripture. (We urge any who hold to this belief to read any three pages of the New Testament in a row -- it is difficult to find three pages in a row in which this doctrine is not clearly contradicted. Indeed, we have already presented many scriptures above that contradict this doctrine, and many more will be presented in the remainder of this book.)

Since all have sinned (Rom 3:23), all are in need of salvation. Some people claim that they have no sin, but this is rare. Most people know that they have sinned and believe earnestly that they have met God’s plan of salvation when, in fact, they have not. Let us take this one step at a time -- we will first address the subject of escaping the consequences of our sins and entering into a covenant relationship with God. Then in the final section we will address the issue of keeping ourselves saved.