Thinking today about salvation and some mistakes that people sometimes make.
Mistake #1 – Believing you are saved because of your heritage
You can’t inherit your parents’ salvation. Salvation is personal. No one can do it for you.
John 8:42-44
“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Jesus is talking to the Pharisees (religious leaders) and telling them that while He speaks the words of His Father, they speak the words of their father, the devil. The Pharisees thought they were saved because of their Jewish bloodline. After all, the Jews were the chosen people. They knew the law and the followed the traditions of their ancestors. They felt this was enough to make God their Father.
Perhaps you think that too. You think that because your parents are Christians and you go to church, that you are therefore a Christian. After all, if you had to chose from a list of religions, that’s the only one that fits.
Keith Green was quoted as saying “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger.”
Jesus says, “If God were your Father, you would love me …” You are required to have a relationship with Christ in order to be a Christian. Jesus said you need to love me He didn’t say if your parents love me, or if your church loves me. It is your decision.
Mistake #2 – Believing you are saved because you are a good person.
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
In this parable, we see that the Pharisee thinks he is saved because of the things he does. This is probably one of the biggest reasons today that people think they are saved. I don’t cuss, or smoke, or cheat on my spouse – therefore, I must be saved. After all, I live a pretty good life. I try to help others.
Jesus refutes this by telling us that it’s not the Pharisee who is justified, it is the tax collector. To be justified, we need to be honest about who we are and what we’ve done. We must be humble before a holy God. We must realize that we have sinned and ask God to forgive us.
One more thing to notice. Notice that the Pharisee compared himself and his behavior to the tax collector. Notice that the tax collector compared himself to God. The tax collector had the right idea.
Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” It is the glory of God that we should compare our lives to and not other people. It is not good enough to be better than others. Other people are not standard for entrance into heaven. God holds the standard and if we are to get in on our own effort, the standard is perfection. This is why we need forgiveness from Christ.
Romans 3:24 goes on to tell us that we can be saved because we are “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Mistake #3 – Believing you are saved because of your good works.
Matthew 7:21-23
““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
Here we find Jesus talking about who will be able to enter heaven. Notice that the people are reminding Jesus of all the great things they’ve done. Jesus refutes this by saying He won’t accept their works. Remember, it is God’s glory that is the standard that we are held to and it is perfect. So unless everything we do is perfect, we fall short of His standard. When we try to offer good deeds to atone for our sin, God rejects those deeds because they are stained with our sin.
Jesus says that we need to do the will of His Father in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. So what is that? Acts 17:30 says that “He commands all people everywhere to repent.” That simply means to turn away from our sin and turn to Christ.
While our works are stained with our sin and rejected by the Father, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is perfect and acceptable. When we trust Christ as our Savior, we are relying on His sacrifice to pay for our sins.
So how are we saved?
God gives us salvation through His Son. It isn’t based on what I’ve done, it is based on what Jesus did for me.
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
I John 5:11-13
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
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