Tag: salvation

2 Great Errors About Salvation

Published on by Christopher C. ChapmanLeave a comment

Intellectual

1. Salvation comes through believing certain facts ABOUT Christ instead of ENTRUSTING OURSELVES TO Christ

Many believe they are saved because they believed certain facts about the atonement. But doctrines cannot save us. We must entrust ourselves to the One Who is risen to save! Don’t trust doctrines ABOUT Christ; TRUST CHRIST!

Hebrews 7:25

Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, because He at all times lives to make intercession for them.

Transactional

2. Salvation comes through a PAST TRANSACTION with God instead of an ONGOING  RELATIONSHIP with God through Christ based on a faith that works through love

Many believe they have eternal life because they made a transaction with God in the past. Salvation is NOT yesterday; salvation is TODAY! It is not found in a transaction, but in a risen Savior! Trust in Christ! Trust Him TODAY, not yesterday!

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 

Working together with Him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive God’s grace in vain.” For He says:

I heard you in an acceptable time, and I helped you in the day of salvation. Look, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.

“SavED” In The Past Tense

Published on by Christopher C. ChapmanLeave a comment

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV

The Bible speaks of being saved in 3 tenses, past, present, and future. What does it mean that we were “saved in the past.” When the Bible speaks like this it is referring to the fact that there was a time in our past when we turned from our rebellion and through faith submitted to Jesus Christ. It was at this moment that we were reconciled to God. Salvation in the past tense refers that time when we were reconciled to God.

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:9-14 NKJV

In Luke 18 we see an illustration of this in one of Jesus’ parables. Here we see that the moment the tax collector humbled himself in repentance towards God and called out for mercy he was justified. That is, he was accepted by God. This later happens in reality in Luke 19 when Zacchaeus repented of his sins during dinner and Jesus immediately declared, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

For more on this topic, here is a short video: