The Bible teaches one way of salvation. The whole process stands upon Christ the Saviour – John 14:6; Acts 4:12. It doesn’t matter whether one is Jew or Gentile (Acts 15:9) there is but one gospel (Rom. 1:16). All who are saved are in one body (Eph. 2:13-17).
In contrast to this simple, unified plan, mankind has invented who- knows -how- many ways of salvation. It is intriguing to know where these differing ideas of salvation may have come from, inasmuch as the concept of salvation comes from the Bible. It is pointless to appeal to the Bible if you don’t abide by it. Why talk about Heaven when it is only rationally known by the Bible?
There are a number of salvation plans that acknowledge Christ, because it is apparent that the idea of a Saviour implies you can’t save yourself.
- Praying the sinners’ prayer. As far as I can determine, it was Billy Sunday who invented this plan and so it is less than one hundred years old. You can look from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find it, and yet so many teach this method and many more have swallowed it!
- Salvation by faith only. This has been attributed to Martin Luther and came about as a result of his revulsion to the Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation by works. Extremes beget extremes, and he boldly and erroneously inserted the word “only” in his version of Rom. 3:28. This put him in conflict with the book of James which is the only book that contains the expression “faith only” (2:24), declaring that salvation is NOT by faith only. Not to let that get in the road of what he imagined to be the truth, he solved the problem by calling James a “letter of straw” (ie. worthless).
- Salvation by works. This may be the oldest and most enduring approach in the history of the world. It is much like a recipe that acknowledges the presence of sin and righteousness and comes up with an idea that good deeds (righteousness) can atone for bad deeds (sin). Naturally to achieve such a thing by this process appeals to man’s pride – “look what I did by being so good!” Now it is true that the saved ought to live righteously, but that is not the thing that achieves salvation. Salvation is a gift, and like a gift it can be both received or rejected. One can earn damnation by personal effort (sin) but one cannot earn salvation (Rom. 6:23; Eph 2:8-10). Theoretically, one could save himself by works by living perfectly, but nobody outside Jesus has been able to achieve that. It is sad but at the same time, interesting, to see other plans of salvation espoused by many as we become more and more biblically illiterate. There remains a desire to go to a better place upon death, and the process incorporates God to some extent, but it is an expectation based upon wishful thinking rather than upon the solid foundation of Scripture.
- Salvation by personality. So-and-so was such a nice person he or she must be heaven bound. Such is the theme of many funeral services. Naturally every one has some attributes or qualities that endear them to some others, and so, presto, into heaven they must go.
- Salvation by talent. When the famous die it is expected that their talent, which perhaps has been a source of entertainment to many, will entitle them to future glory. This idea is perhaps best expressed in the song Rock and Roll Heaven by The Righteous Brothers. The theme is a glorification of deceased musicians who in Heaven will make up one H…of a band!
- Salvation by family relationship. This has been called Satan’s greatest weapon to keep people from obeying the gospel. Because one related to me departs this life, then any thought of future punishment for that one is too horrific and so that one must be saved. And the logical extension is that if I do the same as my departed loved ones, I too will be saved. The corollary is that if I do something other than what they did I will be condemning them. Since everyone has departed relatives it results in a universal salvation mindset.
- Not bad enough to be lost. This perhaps is the most popular. Again there is a vestige of knowledge about sin being the cause of condemnation, but what is sin anymore? “Whatever became of Sin?” is the title of a book written by a famous psychologist. I have had several people tell me they are not sinners (despite the Bible’s insistence they are – 1 John 1:8:10), and I can only conclude that people have the idea that sin is only really bad stuff – like the sort of thing that would send you to jail. And after all, if we are all sinners then surely God will judge on the curve and I will find myself on the right side of the line – I mean, really I’m not a bad person – certainly not bad enough to go to Hell!
- The truth is as follows: (1)Hear the good news about Jesus, God’s Son, who died for you that you might live eternally in Heaven ( John 3:16 Acts 10:34-43) (2) Repent of your sins (Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30,31) (3) Confess your faith in Christ before others (Matt.10:32,33; Rom. 10:9,10) (4) Be immersed in water for the remission of your sins Acts 2:37-41; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.3:20,21) (5) Obeying this gospel puts you in the church (Acts 2:47) in which we are to live faithfully, growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:3-11).