Gift of Salvation: How Can You Accept and Keep It?

Published on 04/28/24 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

Do you want to live forever in a world where only love, peace, happiness, and goodness exist? You can, and it is up to you to make that happen.

How?

The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16, WEB) Does this mean that anyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life?

Yes and no.

Yes, anyone who believes in Jesus will be saved (have eternal life in God's Kingdom). But no one will be saved if they simply believe in Jesus. Sounds like doublespeak, doesn't it? The thing is that we must understand what "belief" in Jesus means. The important doctrine of "believe and you will be saved," is often not fully grasped. The problem lies in the concept of "belief."

To begin to understand "belief" for salvation, we must ask ourselves: What does believing in Jesus really mean? Will those who simply acknowledge Jesus receive eternal life?

Well, let's consider the demons. During Jesus' earthly ministry, the demons fell down at his feet trembling, and acknowledged him as the Son of God (Mark 5:7). Indeed, the demons most certainly believe Jesus. But are they going to be saved? No, unless they repent.

The first message that Jesus preached at the start of his earthly ministry was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2) Repentance is a change of attitude that results in a change of action; if you only feel sorry about what wrong thing you've done without changing your action to do the right thing next time, you've not truly repented. Those who do not repent will perish (Luke 13:3), so eternal salvation requires a faith (belief) that entails repentance. Whenever we sin, we must confess it to God and He will faithfully forgive us (1 John 1:9).

Hence, our belief in Jesus must be a working faith, for faith without works is dead (James 2:26), and "that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith." (James 2:24). A faith is proven genuine by works. If you claim to have faith in God and not trust Him for your daily necessity, do you have genuine faith? By its very definition, "Christian" describes a follower of Jesus who is Christ-like in all they think, say, and do, by living according to the will of God. Being a Christian is not simply believing that Jesus exists; otherwise, we can call demons "Christians." Thus, if you don't live by faith, you aren't a Christian. And if you aren't a true Christian, you won't find the narrow road that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14).

Our belief in Jesus should involve not only acknowledging him as the Messiah and the only Son of Yahweh God Almighty, but also trusting him for our every need, knowing our need to be saved by him, that he is our only Savior (Acts 4:12), and that without his sacrifice, no one would receive eternal life--the entire human race would go on singing the sad tune of "Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." And the belief of ours must be shown through our actions, and that's done by repenting and living according to Yahweh's teachings (Matthew 19:16-17). Our obedience to the Word of God should stem from our love for Him and gratitude for His gift. So the best way to describe "belief" in Christ is "active trust."

Of course, our works and obedience will never be perfect enough to meet the righteous standards of Yahweh; this is why we can never earn salvation through our works alone (if we can earn eternal life by working for it, then Jesus died for us in vain). Salvation is a free gift to those who believe and repent through God's grace (undeserved kindness). but it's one thing to receive eternal life without working for it; it's another thing to abuse this gift by repeatedly and willfully committing evil acts without repentance. Rest assured, unrepentant sinners will not be saved even if they confess and profess belief in Jesus.

Jesus himself said it best: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’" (Matthew 7:21-23)

So, those who faithfully follow Jesus will never perish (John 5:28-29; John 10:28-29). On the other hand, those who, like the demons, simply have passive belief in Jesus without repenting of their evil deeds and without active trust will not receive eternal salvation. Don't be deceived--God will not be mocked. Whatever you sow, that's what you'll reap. (Galatians 6:7)

Please carefully note what the Bible says:

"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'Vengeance belongs to me,' says the Lord, 'I will repay.' Again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:26-31)

"'But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.'" (Hebrews 10:38)

"For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)

"For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, 'The dog turns to his own vomit again,' and 'the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.'” (2 Peter 2:20-22)

Here, Peter was speaking about those who had first accepted the knowledge of God (by which they had escaped the defilement of the world) and then returned to their old sinful ways. He said that their latter state would be worse than their former state. They would be better off not knowing God initially than to reject Him later on. This seems to teach that there is a worse punishment for apostatized Christians (Christians who stop obeying God) than unbelievers or those who had never heard of the Gospel before. This is in line with God's principle: we are more accountable if we have more knowledge than others.

"See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off." (Romans 11:22)

"Or don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

"Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21).

Please, I implore you, if you truly want to learn about salvation or any other crucial topic, study the Bible yourself. Personal study and constant prayer to God will give you the truths. Don't just take people's word for it, because there are many different interpretations and false teachings out there.

Make it your life's resolution to accept the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ! It'll be the best resolution you can ever fulfill in your lifetime!