What's Wrong With "Getting Saved"?

All of us at one time or another, have heard a minister plead with sinners to "get saved". Usually the event is at the end of a service, and the minister will call people up, and have them repeat a prayer of some sort, followed by a "confession" that they believe in their heart that Jesus rose from the dead, and so on . . .

At the conclusion the minister will tell them that if they did this with all their heart, and really meant it, that. . . "they are now saved"! This friends, is of Satan. Jesus has NEVER sent any man to tell people "they are saved", and events such as these have a damning effect on more souls than perhaps any other religious activity. If you are claiming to "be saved", or if you are telling others that they "are saved", you are tragically confused and misled. Hopefully, you will repent when hearing the truth on this important matter, and be encouraged to help, not hinder, those desiring to follow Jesus.

"Conversion" and "Salvation" are NOT the same experience! When Jesus said, "he who endures to the end shall be saved", was he saying that he who endures to the end shall be converted? Or when Paul wrote, "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed", was he saying that our conversion is nearer than when we believed? Of course not. The clear meaning of both of these statements is that salvation is a future reward for faithful saints and that we should strive to be found worthy to receive it!

Salvation is most frequently mentioned in the scriptures of the New Testament as a future hope, not as a past - nor even a present - experience. Sometimes salvation is used in the present tense, but it ALWAYS refers to "being healed", "protected", or "rescued" from some sort of sin or consequence of it. The notion among modern Christians that a believer is already saved and his future secure regardless of his works in this life is absolutely foreign to the Bible.

When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded, "If thou wouldst enter into life, keep the commandments" (Mat.19:17). Please notice that Jesus told him the way to salvation was obedience. There is no formula, ceremony, no single event or confession which can save anyone. Salvation is glorification - God's future reward for his obedient children. And NONE of us has received that yet.

The word salvation has been used by Christians for so many years now as a synonym for conversion that is sounds unorthodox to teach that we are NOT saved yet, and that we will NOT be saved in the end if we are disobedient to Christ. But listen to what Peter says will happen to the man who is set free from sin by Christ Jesus, but then returns again to it: "If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them" (2Pet.2:20- 21).

Contrary to the popular Christian maxim, there is no such thing as a "sinner saved by grace". If you are a sinner, then you are NOT being saved at all; instead, you are being lost, because you are sinning. When Paul wrote that "Christ came into the world to save sinners", and that he was the chief example of that truth (1Tim.1:15), we must agree. But the issue is, how does he do it? And the answer is clearly laid out for us in the scriptures:

In order for a sinner to be saved, he must first hear the gospel preached (Rom.10:17). Then the Spirit must convict him of sin so that he can repent (Luke 13:1-5). Next, the Spirit must work the wonder of conversion in his heart, baptizing him into the body of Christ (1Cor.12:13); which is the baptism of the holy Ghost (with the evidence of speaking in other tongues) . . . no one has confessed, or can confess, that Jesus Christ has become their Lord without the holy Ghost (1Cor.12:3). Finally the newly converted person (no longer a sinner) must be led by the Spirit throughout his life, and live obediently (Rom.8:14). This is how sinners are saved. This is what Jesus came to do. And Paul was the "chief" example. Hearing about Jesus, convicted of sin, converted upon receiving the holy Ghost (when Ananias laid his hands on him), then led by the Spirit into truth, and finally, faithful to finish his course until the end. Without fear Paul could say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course. I have kept the faith."

Friends, please do not settle for religious "catch-phrases", "ceremony", or "dogma". These things will not save anybody's soul in the end. God will satisfy your hungry soul, if you are willing to let go of the vain imaginations and traditions of men. If you "got saved" sometime in the past, now would be a good time to repent of that carnal deed, and get on the right path of obeying the Spirit of God. Let us remember the words of our Lord who said about salvation in the end: "Not every one that saith unto me, `Lord, Lord', shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

Return to Main Page