Expert: Phillip Senn - 8/19/2005

Question
Hi. I have been a Christian for 19 years; I
accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in 1987.

My question focuses on the core belief one has to
have to be a Christian. I have always believed
that to be to trust in Jesus Christ's sacrifice on
the cross for my sins, to believe in His death
and resurrection, and to believe He truly is God.

I have always believed also, that I am saved by
grace through faith, and that if I try to "add"
anything beyond what I have mentioned above, as
a means of salvation, then that "extra" is
actually a work, and the whole package is a
false gospel, a non-saving gospel. The "extra"
could be anything -- water baptism, joining a
certain church organization, standing on my head,
you name it.

I base this biblically on Scripture such as
Romans 10:9-11, Acts 4:12, 1 Corin. 15:3-7,
and Galatians chapters 1 and 2.

I was suprised to find out recently from a
friend who believes what I have stated above,
yet also believes that if a person in ignorance
or through misguided teaching trusts in the
Lord's sacrifice and resurrection, PLUS something
else, -- that the Lord will "understand" and
still save this indivdual. For example, if this
person believed that water baptism was necessary
in addition to what Christ accomplished, that
the Lord would "understand" and still save the
individual.

My view, which I have conveyed to my friend, is
that type of "gospel" is a false, unreliable,
and non-saving gospel. It is not the truth about
Jesus' complete sacrifice and in essence, is an
insult to the Lord. That anytime we say or trust
in Jesus Christ "plus" X, that is a false gospel.

My friend's reply has been that I'm putting God
in a box and that the Lord is more compassionate
than my narrow view. He points out that many
folks prior to and after the reformation did not
have the gospel I stated at the beginning preached
to them, and that surely many of them were saved.

He also point out folks like the thief on the
cross, and Old Testament people of faith mentioned
in Hebrews 11, such as Rahab.

If I am mistaken in my understanding of all this,
please share with me how and Scriptures to
back this up. And do you think my friend is right
in that a person can accept Christ's sacrifice
and something else (in ignorance or by receiving
misguided teaching) and still actually be a
believer ?

I very much appreciate your help and sharing.

In the Lord,

Ken  

Answer
Ken,

I appreciate your very honest approach to this question. The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that our confidence must be in Christ and Him alone for salvation. Some even teach that we must "turn from our sins" in order to be saved. Scripture says we must "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" and we will be saved. Our confidence must be in Him, and His finished work on Calvary.

There are some, however, that have trusted in Christ, and have been bewitched (see Galations 3:1). Our responsibility to these brethren is the same as Paul faced, to use Scripture to show them the error of their thoughts. They were sealed when they came to Christ by faith, and they received the same Spirit of God that we received at that time. They need to be shown, by Scripture, that their understanding has become misdirected toward "another gospel". For those that fail to allow Scripture to be their guide in these matters, and return to Scriptural teachings, I would question whether they have received that Spirit.

A person that is led by the Spirit of God, in most cases, will say, "You know, I didn't receive the Spirit by the obedience to any commands (law). I trusted in Christ as my Saviour and God counted that FAITH as righteousness, thus allowing me to become a child of THE KING, and as a result of being His son, He gave me the Spirit, whereby I cry, 'ABBA FATHER'."

Assurance of salvation can easily be removed from a person trusting in grace and works. As works becomes the focus rather than the grace of God, the person sees their failures and cannot have that assurance that once was theirs (1 John). God wants us to be confident in Christ's atoning work alone as our means of being made right with God.

That having been said, God also wants His children to walk in a way that honors His name. We are not created in good works in Christ Jesus, but rather we are created in Christ Jesus, unto good works.

I hope this has answered your question. Please don't hesitate to use allexperts.com if I may be of any further assistance to you. Also, please rate this answer so that I may know how I am doing.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn

Ken,

Having reread your question I decided I need to add a few comments. I wanted to make clear that a person cannot trust in another Gospel and claim to be saved. But once they have believed the "True Gospel" and have been saved by grace through faith, they cannot become lost as a result of those false gospels by which they were bewitched.

Your friend is incorrect to assume that the people prior to "the reformation" didn't have the same Gospel that you preached. Scripture indicates that the same gospel was preached to the followers of Moses in the wilderness (see Hebrews 3:16-4:6) that was preached unto us. The Gospel of Christ has been preached to all generations. Our responsibility is to be sent by God to preach this message of hope to the world. Some, as those in the wilderness, will not benefit from it, as the word preached will not be mixed with faith in them that hear it.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn