What are the requirements for salvation, that is, for receiving eternal life?
According to the Bible, there is only one requirement for being saved: to believe. There is no need to add anything else to believing. Yet many people think that believing is not enough and that we must add something to it in order to be saved. This is because they do not understand what we believe, what faith is, what the result of a living faith is, and what the expression of a living faith is. As long as a person truly believes, he is saved, and no other requirements need to be added. Let us consider seven conditions which are not required for salvation.
Some people think that in order to be saved we must believe and then implore God earnestly, hoping that God will pity us and have mercy on us so that we might go to heaven. But the Bible does not say that we should hope for God’s graciousness towards us; rather, it says that we must believe that God has already granted us grace. Romans 3:21 and 22 say, “But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, witness being borne to it by the Law and the Prophets; even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe, for there is no distinction.” Whoever thinks that he must believe and hope does not have a reliable faith and will eventually be one who does not have genuine faith. Faith is to believe what is already accomplished. These people do not know what faith is, nor do they know God’s heart. They consider that God’s forgiveness is given to people reluctantly and that they must plead with God to such an extent that He has pity on them. Actually, God has already forgiven us. Since the Lord Jesus has shed His precious blood, all of our sins are forgiven. Therefore, the work is accomplished. If we believe it, we are forgiven. By faith, the redemption which the Lord has accomplished is ours. Once we believe that Jesus Christ died for us, the grace of God is manifested in us.
Some say that if a man believes but does not confess Christ, he cannot be saved. Indeed, the one who believes must confess Christ. However, salvation is not the result of confession. Confession is not a condition for being saved, and one is not saved by confessing.
Matthew 10:32 and 33 say, “Every one therefore who will confess in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father who is in the heavens; but whoever will deny Me before men, I also will deny him before My Father who is in the heavens.” This passage of Scripture does not refer to receiving eternal life; rather, it refers to a man’s future position in the kingdom of the heavens and to the salvation of the believer’s soul. If a person is willing to deny himself and confess the Lord on earth, the Lord will confess him before the Father in the future. It does not refer to a person’s eternal salvation.
Mark 8:38 says, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” This also refers to the time of the kingdom. Mark 8:35 says, “For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever will lose his soul-life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it.” What does losing one’s soul on the earth mean? It means to be willing while on earth to forfeit all enjoyment of the soul for the Lord’s sake. Whoever is afraid of losing face and being put to shame today will certainly lose face and be ashamed in the future. Whoever is not afraid of losing face and being put to shame for the Lord today will certainly be glorified in the future. Those who are not willing to suffer with the Lord today will surely miss the glory in the kingdom. When the Lord Jesus Christ establishes the kingdom on the earth, many will miss the glory.
Matthew 10:32 and 33 and Mark 8:35 and 38 all speak about the kingdom and not about obtaining eternal life. Entrance into the kingdom is related to a believer’s conduct on earth today. If a believer does not confess the Lord when he should before man, even though he already has eternal life, he will have no portion in the kingdom.
Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation.” This verse seems to say that one can be saved by making confession with the mouth. However, in order to understand this verse we must consider the entire context. The subject of Romans 10 is the righteousness which is by faith. Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to everyone who believes (v. 4). Faith is the requirement for obtaining righteousness, but what is this faith? The previous verses say that the word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, and that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. This faith includes two aspects: one is with the mouth, and the other is with the heart. These two matters are the actions of faith; they are two aspects of one thing. They are just like justification and salvation which are two aspects of one thing. Confessing with the mouth is an expression of faith, and faith includes confession. This is why in the subsequent concluding word only faith is mentioned and not confession. Verse 11 says, “Everyone who believes on Him shall not be put to shame.” This verse does not say that whosoever believes and confesses shall not be put to shame. Confession is included in believing, so there is no need to mention it. Verse 14 says, “How then shall they call upon Him into whom they have not believed?” Verses 16 and 17 say, “‘Who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes out of hearing.” These verses do not mention confession again. Confession is not an independent matter; rather, it is a spontaneous expression of believing. Then how is the confession spoken of here expressed? Confession does not mean standing up to give a testimony. Instead, it is like a child acknowledging his mother by calling her “Mom.” When a person is saved by believing with his heart, he confesses with the mouth and spontaneously calls, “Abba, Father.” Therefore, confession is not a requirement in addition to believing. A person needs only to believe in order to be saved.
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