Salvation by Grace

How is one saved? What must one do to be saved? What is the "Good News"?

I am a Christian, but I do not believe we are saved by accepting Christ as our Savior. It is not the act of accepting Christ that saves us. This may sound contrary to New Testament Scripture:
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." Acts 16:31
"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved." Rom.10:9
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved..." Mark 16:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Jn 3:16

And there are many more verses like these:
Luke 7:50, Act 2:40, Titus 3:5, Rom.4:5, Gal.3:6, James 2:23, John 1:12, Heb.11:6

I do not disagree with these verses, or any other part of Scripture. I do believe that in a zeal to get people ‘saved' or converted, these and other passages relating to salvation have been mis-understood, and falsely used or taught.

Consider these verses (there are more like these also):
"For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourself, it is a gift of God." Eph.2:8
"Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29
"... Through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life." Rom.5:18

All people, in all times, all places, all stages of life, from all backgrounds and religions, of various conditions of body, heart, and soul, have been all saved by the grace of God, through the death and resurrection of Christ. No exceptions, no other requirements. All grace. All free!

Why then, will some souls go to "Hell"?
Because they "loved the darkness rather than the light." John 3:19
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, ... although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, ..." Rom.1:18-32

This does not mean that they were not saved, Christ died for the ungodly, He saved them, but they preferred the darkness to the light, they rejected the salvation that was provided, at such a high cost to God, and so freely given to them. God will not take someone to heaven (into an eternal loving relationship with Him) against their will. Those who refuse, reject the grace of God so freely given will loose it. Verses like John 3:16 are not commands of something we must do; rather they are promises of what God has done, is doing, and will do for us.

A person's faith is the result of their relationship with God. What a person is willing to believe, or refuses to believe is directly related to how they see themselves before God and how they feel about that position. A person who does not want to see their ‘self' as a sinner will not want to accept that God can save from sin. A person who wants to blame all their misfortunes and the evils of this world, on God, or someone else, will not want to accept Him as ‘all knowing', ‘all powerful', ‘all wise', ‘all loving', and ‘all just'. Everyone has faith, it's just a matter of what or who we have faith in. Everyone has a relationship with God; for some it is a very loving, trusting, uplifting relationship; for others it is a hateful, spiteful, rebellious relationship; and yet for others it is a relationship void of acknowledgment or emotion. To face this life and all that it entails, each one develops something they believe in, trust in, rely on. Some trust in ‘chariots' (power, wisdom, influence, wealth), some trust in another person or people, some only trust in themselves. Some trust in the one, true, God who created the universe, (Psalm 20:7). No one can ‘convert' or convince another person to believe in God. If I convince someone to believe in Christ as their Savior, will they believe because of faith and trust in God, or their faith and trust in me? It is God who works within each one's heart to bring us to Him. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that gives us faith in Christ (To have faith in God does not come from ourselves, it is a gift from God). I can share what I know about Christ, what God's word says, and about the relationship I have with God (what God has taught me or done in my life). That sharing may help someone to understand and know about God, but then it is between God and that person how their relationship develops and what decision that person makes (the faith they will have) in response to what they know.

From faith in God, comes the dilemma of our sinfulness. How can I hope to find favor with a perfect, almighty, holy, God? Christian faith believes that God accepts us on the basis of His mercy and grace, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We don't have to understand how or why God forgives us and wants us as His; we only need be thankful He does. The work of Salvation is not dependant on us at all. We are not saved by what we believe, or our relationship with God. We are saved by the grace and love of God and His Son Jesus Christ. However, our knowledge and faith in Christ directly and greatly affects our faith and the kind of relationship we have with God. That is why it is important to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what all those verses are about. The act of believing is not what saves anyone. But, to not believe, to reject Christ is to turn from God and reject the gift which was so freely given. For those who are able, if they do not accept Christ, they are headed down the road that leads to ultimate rejection of God and death (Rom.6:16). That is why we preach Christ as Savior.

Acknowledgment and acceptance of Christ is dependant on our ability to understand who Jesus is and what He has done (that is why our salvation is not dependant on acceptance or knowledge). We are accountable to God for the gifts and abilities He gives us, our intellect being one of those gifts. By the ability to understand, a person is able to accept or reject God's love and grace in their life. Some people never reach a point of being able to accept or reject Christ's free gift. Some people will only in this life have a very limited understanding of God and Christ's death for us. All people, to the extent that they understand, will accept God and Christ or reject Him. We are all accountable for our ability to decide and the decision we make. Those decisions then affect our faith and relationship with God. Our faith and relationship with God affects our lives now and ultimately our eternal destiny. Our relationship with God helps, or deters us, as we go through this life and the things we face. A faith-love relationship with God can uphold us through difficulty and give us perspective in prosperity; A faithless-loveless relationship with God intensifies the struggle, and makes prosperity hollow and lacking.

Some have asked, is a baby who dies going to heaven? the intellectually handicapped? ... the person who dies before making a decision for or against Christ? We can have confidence in what Jesus has done for all people. All have been saved by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Only those who truly, knowingly, rejected God's free gift are lost; And only God truly knows who they are. For only God knows the hearts of people. Some people say they accept Christ and may even live what we think are Christian lives, yet they are lost to God. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven,..." (Matt.7:21-22). And there are many people looked down on because of their ignorance, life style, or appearance, yet in their hearts they love and trust in God. (Luke 18:9-14). "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1Sam.16:7) The "Good News" is that "While we (all) were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly." (Rom.5:6,8). Jesus has "taken away the sins of the world." (John 1:29) Nothing stands between us and God. "Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:38-39). It is important to share with people the great sacrifice of Christ and the great love God has for each and every person; so that the world's temptations, and human sin nature does not lead us to reject the eternal, loving, relationship God has planned for us. "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." (1Cor.2:9)