Dear Editor,
It amazes me how complicated people make salvation. Jesus tells us that whoever believes in Him will inherit eternal life. He tells us that there is no way to the Father except through Him.
So, when I ask people why they believe they are going to go to heaven they tell me just about anything and everything except that they believe in what Jesus has done for them at the cross.
Religion, and the thought that works attain righteousness with God, has done a great amount of damage to the work of Jesus at the cross.
If being justified right before God is totally and completely dependent upon faith in the person and work of Jesus and Him only, why don’t the majority of people know this simple truth?
Why are they all so bound to religion and works? Jesus came to set the captives free not bind them up in religious works.
Here’s a list of the failed ways in which man tries to gain salvation.
Doctrines: They are made by man based upon God’s Word. They help to show how God works but they cannot save only show a person to salvation
Message/Messenger: The message no matter how reliable the messenger cannot save. They only tell of the Savior.
Stories: They can be used to enlighten a person to truth but once again cannot save. They only point to the Savior.
Laws/Rules: The dos and don’ts may tell us how to live or expose how we are living but the Law or following the rules does not save.
Leader/Pastor/Teacher: These are offices filled by people. They are not the Savior so all they can do is point to or lead people to the Savior.
Works or I Do’s: Many people use their works to prove their salvation. No one is saved by works therefore no one can boast because you can’t earn salvation. Salvation is a gift based on faith not a receipt for your works.
Rituals/Ceremonies/Ordinances/Practices: Following such is not a bad thing. Many have spiritual significance. But these practices cannot save you because works do not save anyone and no person can save themself. We need a Savior to save us.
Facts: Facts are just that. They express what is true. People can know facts but facts are not living and active therefore they cannot do anything for anyone. They can help you know truth but that’s the limit.
Personal Understanding: Just because you know or understand something, the understanding may help you but it cannot once again save you. Mental comprehension is not able to deliver a person just inform them.
Testimonies: Testimonies tell others what you have come to know and believe but your testimony in incapable of saving you or others.
Witnesses: A person that saw something can tell about it but they don’t have power to save. Their message cannot save another but it might lead another to the One who can save them.
Only the Person of Jesus saves. He did the work of salvation and all faith, trust, belief and reliance must be toward the object of your salvation. To cling to anything else will leave you short of your desired hope.
What are you holding to as your way of salvation before the Lord’s righteous judgment?
Thomas Swain