Expert: Celestial Lightpath - 6/21/2008

Question
QUESTION: There is no prayer a person can say in order to become born again. Salvation is 100% God's work, and He chooses those whom He plans to save.


The Bible is very clear that man's work cannot get him saved, and faith is described in the Bible as a work.

ANSWER: John,

I must disagree with your assertion here. The Holy Bible is very clear about Salvation. Prayer is communication with God. Since we cannot see God, we communicate with Him through prayer. And when we declare (through prayer) that we give our life to Jesus Christ, repent for our sins and decide to accept and follow Jesus, we are Born Again! Salvation is given to THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST! That is what Jesus asked of us and those who do not choose to believe this cannot be called true Christians. Good works alone cannot attain Salvation for anyone. They must clearly GIVE their life to Jesus Christ.

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that Believe on His name." -- JOHN 1:12 (KJV)

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you." -- ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 3:19-20 (KJV)

"Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be Saved." -- ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 4:12 (KJV)

** The KEY To SALVATION Is In This Scripture**:

"VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME HATH EVERLASTING LIFE." -- JOHN 6:47 (KJV)

Notice that Jesus does not say that He first must choose whom to save! He says those who Believe in Him will be Saved with everlasting life!
So, it is very important to know and understand this as the adversary is busy in the world today trying to convince people to think that people do not have to make an effort to attain Salvation through Jesus Christ because Jesus automatically does it for them as He chooses. That is incorrect and will not Save anyone otherwise Scriptures would have reflected it that way.

Jesus goes on to say these VERY IMPORTANT things in the following two Scriptures:

"Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven." -- MATTHEW 10:32 (KJV)

--and--

The following is what should actually be said/done in order to obtain Salvation as per Jesus' teaching.

"That if thou shall Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall Believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED." -- ROMANS 10:9 (KJV)

So, again, please be careful in believing things you may hear from those who do not wish for people to attain Salvation. They will try to confuse a person because that is the devil's best lie! He does not want for people to become Saved. Jesus DOES and has told us How in the aforementioned Scriptures.

Thank you for contacting us today.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: You can't form theology from reading two or three verses in the Bible. You have to compare spiritual things with spiritual, as the Bible commands.

You quoted John 1:12 about those who receive Christ, but you failed to mention the next verse, which states: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Those who receive Christ are born of God. Their spiritual rebirth is not based on man's will (will of the flesh, will of man), but on God's will.

You said that those who accept Jesus and decide to follow Him are born again. So what you're really saying is that those who live a certain way, or say certain things, earn their salvation. That's what you're teaching. That's not grace. Grace is the undeserved gift of salvation. If we accept Jesus or believe on Jesus and because of this, God gives us salvation, then we are basically earning our way into Heaven. We are saying, "Ok, God, I did this and that, and I'm trying to obey the Bible, and so, obviously, I'm born again."

You see, that's the wrong attitude because it places the emphasis on US. I did this and I did that, and now I'm saved. Salvation means that God did this and God did that, and now we're saved.

When we look at all of the verses in the Bible which speak of salvation and man's nature before he's saved (spiritually dead), we know that salvation can only come to those whom God saves. The very fact that God speaks of election and predestination several times in the Bible attests to this fact.

The raising of Lazarus in John 11 is a dramatic picture of how Jesus dramatically raises the unsaved from spiritual death to spiritual life. Just as Lazarus was unable to contribute to becoming physically alive, so too are the unsaved completely unable to contribute to their salvation before God makes them alive.

And how about babies and little children? If salvation depended on us, they'd have no chance. And babies need salvation as much as anyone else, read Psalm 58, for example, on how God views the newborn.

Confessing, believing, trying to obey the commands, getting baptized in water, calling on the name of the Lord, repenting, etc., are all actions that man takes. Man's actions cannot contribute in any way to his salvation.

When God does save someone, they will start to repent, they will start to confess Christ, etc., in a pleasing way to God. Before salvation, these actions cannot, and do not, please God (Romans 8:8).

You must form theology on ALL the verses which pertain to a particular subject, not simply those which seem to prove your point.

Answer
John,

The Holy Bible is very clear, succinct and to the point on how a person attains Salvation. There can be no other interpretations including yours. All the Christian churches, including world-renowned evangelists, clergy, and many others teach their congregations the same thing because it is the way the Bible teaches and how *Jesus Himself* has told us we can attain Salvation. You either believe Jesus the Son of God on this or you don't. The many thousands, perhaps millions of churches around the world cannot be wrong by following what is in the Holy Bible on this and teaching it to their congregations.

What you are saying is not in context to what the Bible teaches about Salvation.

You say "You said that those who accept Jesus and decide to follow Him are born again. So what you're really saying is that those who live a certain way, or say certain things, earn their salvation."

I explained to you already what that meant, John. You are taking things out of context again. Read carefully this time to what I have said according to what the Bible teaches, please.

"And when we declare (through prayer) that we give our life to Jesus Christ, repent for our sins and decide to accept and follow Jesus, we are Born Again! Salvation is given to THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST!" (This is Biblical, John. To confess with your mouth and accept that Jesus died for us and our sins and then resurrected to eternal life by God raising Him from the dead.)

I also said "Good works alone cannot attain Salvation for anyone. They must clearly GIVE their life to Jesus Christ." Plain and simple.

We are not here to argue God's word. God's Word is infallible. Again, the bottom line about Salvation is in the following Scripture. Please read it, re-read it and then if you do not believe it, that would be your choice as God has given you free will but I hope you Trust God's word as it is presented in the Holy Bible. John, have a great day with Jesus by your side!

"That If Thou Shall Confess With Thy Mouth The Lord Jesus, and Shall Believe In Thine Heart That God Hath Raised Him From the Dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED." -- ROMANS 10:9 (KJV)

I hope you now fully understand the ONLY way to be Saved so that you will go to Heaven (assuming it is your personal choice to go there) at your appointed time with clear conscience that you followed God's Word on being Saved. The above Scripture is the Ultimate KEY to Salvation. No one anywhere can EVER change that. No one can interpret it to mean anything else than what it means because if they did it would then not be God's Word for Salvation.