In general, I do believe it’s not what people SAY but what they DO that demonstrates who they really are & what they really believe.
For example, if a person talks about how much they value family but spends all their free time AWAY from their family, I must conclude that they don’t really believe what they profess they believe.
But when it comes to whether someone is actually SAVED or not, I beieve we must give PRIMARY consideration to what they SAY they believe (about The Gospel in particular) above & beyond what they DO.
If a person who claims to be a Christian says they believe they are saved because they have believed The Gospel alone (i.e., that Christ died for their sins, was buried, and rose again on the 3rd Day according to the Scriptures), I must assume they are my brother or sister in Christ irregardless of any external physical behavior that may lead me to believe otherwise since I don’t know everything that person is going through/struggling with in their lives.
But, false man-centered humanistic theological/religious systems teach the opposite. For example, Calvinism/Lordship Salvation teaches that if a self-professing Christian doesn’t demonstrate adequate external works, “fruit,” and a “changed life,” then it’s to be assumed that they were never saved in the first place (i.e., that they never possessed “saving faith”). The focus is on the external actions & behaviors instead of the profession of faith which (most-likely) reveals the person who claims they were saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone has believed in vain because they are looking for evidence of their salvation beyond Christ’s finished redemptive work on The Cross ALONE for the remission of all their sins and eternal life.
And that is the central problem with ALL man-centered theological/religious systems (Calvinism, Arminianism, Universalism, Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, JWs, etc…)
They all, to varying degrees, elevate mans’ self-effort (what they DO) above justification by faith in what Christ has DONE alone. They ALL add to The Gospel & therefore NULLIFY The Gospel by adding some type of stipulations or requirements to the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ ALONE.
If this is you, and you have been in a man-centered religious system where the pastor or priest told you that Christ did “His part” and now you have to “do your part,” I am here to tell you that you have been lied to!
There is no “your part” to do to be forgiven of all your sins (past, present and future) & to spend eternity in Heaven apart from BELIEVING The Gospel.
The Eternally Existing Son of God, God The Son, Jesus Christ, ACCOMPLISHED it ALL!
He died on The Cross for ALL the sins of the world ever comitted. He cancelled out YOUR entire sin debt!
He ALONE defeated sin & death forever! You must be perfect (sinless) to enter heaven.
And God knew you & I never could be in our sin stained flesh, so He sent His Son to pay that debt for us! He Who knew no sin became sin for us that we may become the righteousness of God in Him!
“For God so loved the world He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever would BELIEVE in Him would not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Jesus took ALL of our sin, nailed it to The Cross and buried it into the ground and when we trust (BELIEVE) He did it for us, we are ressurected WITH Him unto new ETERNAL life and He promises we will NEVER PERISH!
We are Born Again! 100% Saved from the PENALTY of our sins (eternal death), Sealed by The Holy Spirit of Christ FOREVER), Sanctified by The Perfectly Sinless Blood of Christ, 100% Rapture Ready & 100% Heaven Bound!!!!
If you have been trusting that “doing your part” either saved you or is keeping you saved (i.e., daily repentance of sins, water baptism, speaking in tongues, belonging to a specific church organization, tithing, teaching Sunday School, going to church regularly, being a good person, serving at a soup kitchen, going on mission trips, etc…) I pray that TODAY you would REPENT (change your mind) of TRUSTING in any of those outward actions/behaviors (no matter how meritorious some of them may be) and place your trust (BELIEF/FAITH) SOLEY in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ ALONE (In HIS death, burial and ressurection) & become an adopted child of God!
It’s not what you DO that gets you to heaven. It’s SOLEY based on what you genuinely BELIEVE in your heart anout what Jesus ALONE accomplished on YOUR behalf!
And if you genuinely trust in Jesus Christ and His FINISHED REDEMPTIVE WORK ALONE for the remission of all your sins and eternal life, then you have BELIEVED The Gospel and are saved for all eternity!!!!!
God made it UBER simple for ANYONE and EVERYONE to spend eternity with Him!
Hallelujah praise Jesus!!!!
