Here is what the Bible says about eternal salvation:
All people are sinners in need of a savior.
“No one is righteous. Not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned wasy; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
The price (or consequence) of sin is death.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Jesus Christ died for our sins.
“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8
We receive salvation and eternal life by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
“For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son. That whosoever would believe on Him would not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ brings us into a relationship of peace with God.
“Therefore, since we Have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” (Romans 5:1)
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
Salvation is eternal! Nothing can ever separate a born again believer in Jesus from Him!
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separAte us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or earth below–indeed, nothing in all creation, will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
The very moment a person places his faith in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection he or she is “sealed by the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13) and saved eternally. It is a free gift. No works are involved in receiving the gift or maintaining it.
It is also an eternal gift and God promises the born again believer he/she “will never perish.” (John 10:28)
That is why the Gospel is referred to as “The Good News.”
It wouldn’t be good news if you had to work for it or always questioned whether your eternal destination was Heaven or The Lake of Fire.
Salvation is also a one time event. Not a process as many false teachers claim. Many false teachers (5 point Calvinists, Arminianists, and Lordship Salvationists) incorrectly teach that a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone BUT that they either have to DO certain additional works either to get saved or to maintain their salvation. (i.e., “repent of all their sins,” “surrender to the Lordship of Jesus,” “endure till the end,” etc…)
They often mock and scoff at the One True Gospel of Grace (that a person is saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone) derisively referring to it as “greasy grace” and “easy believism” and frequently claim that Jesus “did His part” but that “you have to do yours to maintain your salvation.”
Let me be clear.
Anyone who teaches any of these “faith plus works” false salvation doctrines are preaching a “doctrine of demons.” The Apostle Paul declares that those preaching such false works-salvation gospels to be “accursed.” (Galatians1:8-9)
The common denominator with all these false doctrines and teachers is that they all conflate salvation with spiritual growth applying verses in the Bible having to do with spiritual growth to salvation.
Salvation is a one time event in the life of The Believer.
Spiritual growth is a process a Born Again Believer undergoes the rest of their life here on this earth AFTER they have received the free gift of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
Many people who sit under these faith in Jesus+works false teachers struggle with knowing whether they are truly saved and frequently doubt their salvation which causes major fear and anxiety.
Frank Mirinith has written an article entitled, “The Psychological Effects of Lordship Salvation” which details many of the physical and phychological problems people who have been taught that salvation is conditional can suffer from including neuroses, phychoses, personality and affective disorders and substance abuse.
If you happen to be one of those people, this article is for you to assure you that you were sealed by the Holy Spirit the very moment you acknowledged that you were a sinner in need of a savior and placed your faith ALONE in THE Savior, Jesus Christ, and HIS finished redemptive work on The Cross alone for the remission of all your sins (past, present and future) until “the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30) (when you recieve your glofified body) and that your salvation is NOT CONDITIONAL on any works either before you were saved or after.
Eternal salvation is only the result of God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.
A person is saved FOR good works.
Not BY them!
So, of course after you have received the FREE gift of salvation by faith in what Jesus did for you, you SHOULD do the good works God has prepared for you as your good and rightfull service unto the Lord.
You SHOULD get water baptized.
You SHOULD read your Bible daily.
You SHOULD join a Christ centered, solid Bible teaching church.
You SHOULD serve the orphan and the widow and go on mission trips to share The Gospel and help people with their physical needs.
You SHOULD acknowledge your sinful actions and behaviors to God and ask for forgiveness to those whom you have wronged.
And you SHOULD strive toward being more obedient and faithful in sharing The Gospel with a lost and dying un-saved world who desperately needs Jesus!
But the key word is SHOULD!
None of these things are requirements for eternal salvation.
They are the things outlined in the Bible that God knows are good for us and that will help us grow in our faith so that we can be more effective in loving God and loving others with the hopes that we will be more effective in winning souls to Heaven!
A person has a choice as to how much/little they desire to grow. And each person will bear different ammounts of fruit in this life which I believe the Bible teaches will influence not only the blessings we receive in this life but also for all of eternity.
But the key here is that Salvation is a one time event and spiritual growth (discipleship) is a process and it is VITAL we who endeavor to rightly dviide the Word of God clearly differntiate the two.
When we are secure in knowing that God has forgiven all our sins and that we have the eternal assurance of knowing that we will spend eternity in heaven with Him, we can experience the True Grace that God desires that we walk in.
True Liberty and True Freedom only found in Jesus Christ!
If you have trusted in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ alone for the remission of your sins and eternal life, be assured that you are saved eternally and “WILL NEVER PERISH.” It’s God’s promise to His Children. He will “never leave you nor forsake you.”
Bask in His grace and grow in your faith by daily endeavoring to do the “SHOULDS.”
But just know that we all fall short. None of us are perfect. So KNOW with 100% certainty that even when you do (and you will) fall short on the “SHOULDS”, your eternal salvation is NEVER IN QUESTION!
And if you have not trusted in Jesus for the remission of your sins and eternal life, may today be the day of salvation for you!
“For all who call on the name of Jesus will be saved!” (Romans 10:13)
So, here is what the inerrant, authoritative and infallible word of God says about eternal salvation.
It’s by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone!
Be encouraged!
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Galatians 2:16
Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Philipians 3:9
And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, …
The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
So that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—
And by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. …
