As my boy Matthew West says, "Grace wins." When will we learn that the works of a wretched sinner can never compare to the grace of the perfect Lamb?
I recently had a conversation on Facebook with a friend's friend. My friend shared my blog "Do Baptisms Save?" and tagged his friend on it, seeking his opinion. This other gentleman, was very polite, and very intelligent, disagreed with me. From what I gathered, he thought - or thinks - as most Mormons do; that there was something we needed to do in order to be saved. After several good conversations back and forth, he asked if repentance was needed to be saved. I simply told him that repentance was proof of the Spirit working within us, and therefore we were already saved. It was a byproduct or a result of salvation, not a requirement.
That answer didn't seem to suit him, as he rebutted back with more scripture. He was really asking some great questions and it was time for me to really search the scriptures and answer him with more than just a few words and haphazard scripture references. I will share with you all what I posted because I feel that some LDS members might benefit from it.
Here is my response:
I do not know what faith you confirm to, but it sounds like you believe as I once did. That our salvation must mean that we have to do 'something'. That we have to follow the commandments, that we have to get baptized, that we have to repent in order for us to earn salvation. That we somehow must work hard to prove to God we are worthy of His love. Again, I completely thought that too. But that is just not what the Bible teaches.
Let me be clear. Jesus alone saves. From your earlier comments, I think you believe that. However, you don't seem to fully understand what is meant by that. Let's look at scripture together while focusing on salvation.
"And there is salvation in no one else [meaning Jesus]; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12). No other name means that salvation is not up to anybody else, including ourselves. We are not saved by Jesus and our works, for that would be two names that we are saved. The Bible is very clear: only one name saves...Jesus.
Moreover, salvation is a gift. You don't earn gifts. You receive them. Paul says "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). He goes on and says "The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned [Adam]; for on the one hand the judment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification." (Rom. 5:16). So through our many sins, Jesus died and gave us salvation. We are justified freely by His sacrifice.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph. 2:8-9). God alone is the bringer of our salvation. If we did have to earn it through our good deeds, by following his commandments, repentance, etc. then we would be able to boast in our righteousness. But we have no righteousness of our own. Even our good deeds are nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). God is Holy, Holy, Holy, and He alone is worthy of honor and praise. It is a good thing that our salvation relies 100% on Jesus's work on the cross and 0% in our actions because Jesus is 100% reliable, trustworthy, perfect, holy, and awesome.
Paul warns the Galations about trying to earn salvation. "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the law; you have fallen from grace. ...For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
Even the scripture you quoted above is taken out of context. Peter goes on in Acts 2:41 and tells us that "those who had received his word were baptized." Meaning, people who had already been born again (recieving His word) were then baptized. These people were already saved and were getting baptized as a proclamation of their faith.
Again, this is solely talking about justification, or salvation. We are only justified to God through Jesus Christ's attonement. Our salvation is totally dependant upon Him.
Now, we need to talk about the fruits of the spirit. Paul says in Romans 7:4 that we "died to the law through the body of Christ...in order that we might bear fruit for God." The Apostle John says that no man, or branch, "can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine, [which is Jesus]" (John 15:4). And Matthew 7:20 says that the world will know we are a part of God's family by our fruit.
But what does this mean? It means that when we are saved, our old life has died. We are born a new creation in Christ. I had several people tell me when I became Christian that I changed. And I responded, "Good! I hope so!" When we belong to God and abide in Him (John 15:4) we will bear fruit. This "fruit" presents itself when we get baptized, when we repent from our sin, when we give to the unfortunate, when we study His word, when we follow His commandments, when we spread the Good news about Jesus.
If we do not bear fruit, then are we saved? That's between you and God. The Bible says that we will know people by their fruit, and if no fruit is shown then they might not be a part of the Vine. That doesn't mean we have to act a certain way or do certain things to be saved, it means that if we are saved we will do certain things and act a certain way BECAUSE we are saved. Do you see the difference?
Let me put it another way. From your pictures, I think I can gather that you are married. I'm sure you love your wife and she loves you. Do you buy her flowers and treat her with the gentleness that a man of God would IN ORDER TO love her? Of course not. You do these things BECAUSE you love her. Your love for your wife moves you to act and behave a certain way. You are expressing your love for her, not earning it. The same is with God. We don't act in order to recieve His free gift of Grace. We act out of love and honor for the grace we've been given.
Q: Is repentance a requirement for salvation?
A: No. It is a result of salvation, not a requirement for it.
Q: Is baptism a requirement for salvation?
A: No. It is a result of salvation, not a requirement for it.
Q: Is following the commandments a requirement for salvation?
A: No. Obedience is a result of salvation, not a requirement for it.
Do you see the difference? We act BECAUSE we've been changed, not in order to be changed. BIG difference.
Lastly, we can do nothing outside of Christ. Left to our own devices, we will sin and turn away from God (See Genesis 3). Remember the Pharises were law abiding religious nuts, constantly telling Jesus that He or his disciples were breaking the law of Moses (which eventually led to His capture and crucifiction) but Jesus kept telling them that He was the bread of life, that He was the door, that a relationship with Him was the only way to be saved, not by following the law.
We must follow the Bibilical laws, which you said above, but not to be saved. We must follow these laws to be purified and sanctified with Christ, not earn salvation. The reason we cannot be saved by following the law is because we can never measure up to it. We will all fall short (Rom. 3:23) and never live up to the law. Period. That is why Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." (Mat 5:17). Jesus did what we could never do, which is fulfill the law. When we accept Him as Lord and savior, then we are saved because we now fulfill the law through Him.
I hope that helps. Have a great day.
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My prayer is that people stop relying on themselves for salvation. That they see the full amount of love displayed on the cross. Jesus paid it all because we could pay none of it. It's that simple. If you are trying to earn your way to heaven, then follow scripture and take upon yourselves His yoke (Matt. 11:30). Stop trying to earn something that's already been paid in full, gift wrapped, and sitting in your lap. Just open God's free gift of grace and enjoy a renewed life with Him.
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