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It’s possible to believe in Jesus but not be saved…

By Jeremy Myers
14 Comments

It’s possible to believe in Jesus but not be saved…

Like the word โ€œgospel,โ€ the word โ€œsalvationโ€ means much more and much less than usually assumed.

Just like the word โ€œgospel,โ€ the way the word “salvation” is often used today is very different from the way the word is used in Scripture.

salvation and saved

When people talk about โ€œsalvationโ€ today or โ€œbeing saved,โ€ what they most often have in mind is the idea of receiving the forgiveness of sins so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die.

But in biblical usage, the noun โ€œsalvationโ€ (Gk., sลteria) and the verb โ€œsaveโ€ (Gk., sลzล) very rarely have anything to do with receiving eternal life or going to heaven when we die. Instead, the words are most often used in connection with some sort of temporal or physical deliverance. We can be saved from enemies, saved from sickness, saved from drowning, saved from suffering, or even saved from a premature physical death. While โ€œsalvationโ€ is sometimes used in connection with sin, this is only because sin often has devastating physical and temporal consequences in our life. To be saved from sin means to be delivered from the destruction and damage of sin in our lives.

One resource that shows this quite clearly is Vineโ€™s Complete Expository Dictionary. Under the entry for โ€œSave, Saving,โ€ the dictionary includes the following options:

(a)ย ย ย  Of material and temporal deliverance from danger, suffering, etc., e.g., Matt 8:25; Mark 13:20; Luke 23:35; John 12:27; 1 Tim 2:15; 2 Tim 4:18; Jude 5; from sickness, Matt 9:22; so Mark 5:34; Luke 8:48; Jas 5:15

(b)ย ย  Of the spiritual and eternal salvation granted immediately by God to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, e.g., Acts 2:47, 16:31; Rom 8:24; Eph 2:5, 8; 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Tim 1:9; Titus 3:5; of human agency in this, Rom 11:4; 1 Cor 7:16; 9:22

(c)ย ย ย  Of the present experiences of Godโ€™s power to deliver from the bondage of sin, e.g., Matt 1:21; Rom 5:10; 1 Cor 15:2; Heb 7:25; Jas 1:21; 1 Pet 3:21; of human agency in this, 1 Tim 4:16

(d)ย ย  Of the future deliverance of believers at the second coming of Christ for his saints, being deliverance from the wrath of God to be executed upon the ungodly at the close of this age and from eternal doom, e.g., Rom 5:9

(e)ย ย ย  Of the deliverance of the nation of Israel at the second advent of Christ, e.g., Rom 11:26

(f)ย ย ย  Inclusively for all the blessings bestowed by God on men in Christ, e.g., Luke 19:10; John 10:9; 1 Cor 10:33; 1 Tim 1:15

(g)ย ย ย  Of those who endure to the end of the time of the Great Tribulation, Matt 10:22; Mark 13:13

(h)ย ย  Of the individual believer, who, though losing reward at the judgment seat of Christ hereafter, will not lose his salvation, 1 Cor 3:15; 5:5

(i)ย ย ย ย  Of the deliverance of the nations at the Millennium, Rev 21:24

Though I would not state this list of various definitions quite this same way, and would put many of the references from definition (b) into other categories, it nevertheless shows that the words โ€œsaveโ€ and โ€œsalvationโ€ in the Bible have a wide variety of meanings.

save a lifeTo help the reader of Scripture know what sort of โ€œsalvationโ€ is in view when they are studying it, I recommend that whenever you comes across the words โ€œsaveโ€ or โ€œsalvationโ€ in Scripture, you stop, replace it mentally with the word โ€œdeliverโ€ or โ€œdeliveranceโ€ and then ask yourself, โ€œDeliverance from what?โ€ย If you look in the surrounding context, you will quickly discover that the deliverance in view has nothing to do with gaining eternal life or going to heaven when you die.

Doing this will drastically help your understanding of numerous difficult passages in the Bible that many have thought of as referring to receiving eternal life, but refer instead to some sort of temporal deliverance.

It is possible, as the title of this post says, to believe in Jesus for eternal life (and of course, receive eternal life as a result), but still not be “saved” from many of the temporal and physical consequences of sin, or from sickness, or from enemies, or from many of the other negative things that can happen in life.

Have you ever heard this taught before? Has it helped your understanding of some of the tough texts in the Bible?

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: believe, Books by Jeremy Myers, Calvinism, eternal life, faith, gospel, salvation, save, Theology of Salvation

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It’s impossible to believe the entire gospel

By Jeremy Myers
16 Comments

It’s impossible to believe the entire gospel

what is the gospel

I began these three posts on the gospel by saying that โ€œYou don’t have to believe the entire gospel to receive eternal life.โ€

Hopefully after reading the previous two posts (Gospel 1 and Gospel 2), you can see why my statement is true.

If the gospel is Jesus Christ and all truth is related to Him, then it is impossible to believe the entire gospel. The most we can do is believe certain truths of the gospel. When we say we โ€œbelieve the gospelโ€ or โ€œbelieve in Jesusโ€ this is a shorthand way of saying that we believe certain truths of the gospel. Since each person is at a different place in their theological development and their walk with God, it is likely that each person believes a different set of gospel truths.

In fact, it is quite likely that there are billions of people on earth today who believe certain truths of the gospel, and yet have not received eternal life.

Why not?

Because they havenโ€™t yet believed the part of the gospel which pertains to eternal life, namely, that eternal life is given to those who believe in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47).

One gospel truth is that we are sinners. And most people believe this truth. But nowhere does Scripture say that believing we are sinners results in receiving eternal life.

So also with the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Countless millions of people believe that about 2000 years ago, there was a man named Jesus who lived in Israel, preached sermons, performed miracles, was crucified on a cross, was buried, and rose again three days later from the dead. But โ€” are you ready for this? โ€” although these truths are extremely central to the gospel, nowhere does Scripture say that those who believe these things have received eternal life.

believe in Jesus

Many of those who believe these wonderful truths about the gospel, have not yet believed in Jesus for eternal life, but are instead, believing in themselves, their good works, their โ€œbeing a good personโ€, their religious activity in a particular church, or a whole variety of others human ideas about how to receive eternal life.

It is one of the greatest tragedies of church history that millions of people can believe hundreds and maybe even thousands of gospel truths, but not believe the one truth which is found at the very heart of the gospel, which is that God gives eternal life to anybody and everybody who simply and only believes in Jesus Christ for it.

Though one does not need to believe the entire gospel to receive eternal life (and nobody can believe all of it anyway), one of the central truths at the heart of the gospel which must be believed is the truth about Godโ€™s absolutely free offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Eternal life is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: belief, Books by Jeremy Myers, Calvinism, eternal life, faith, gospel, Theology of Salvation

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Faith is Not a Work; Faith is Not a Gift

By Jeremy Myers
50 Comments

Faith is Not a Work; Faith is Not a Gift

If we define faith as “confidence” or “conviction” based on the evidence presented, and once we recognize that there is no such thing as “degrees of faith,” then this leads to the truth that faith is not a work.

Faith is not a Work

If we do not choose to believe something, then it cannot be said in that faith is meritorious. That is, faith does not contribute in any way to our goodness before God.

Calvinists often argue that if man โ€œcontributesโ€ faith to the process of salvation, then man has done a good work to earn that salvation, which therefore makes salvation not a gracious gift of God but a transaction between God and man.

But if faith is not something we choose, but is rather something that happens to us when we are persuaded or convinced that something is true, then we cannot say in any way that faith is a work. Besides, Paul pretty clearly contrasts faith and works in Romans 4:5.

faith is not a gift

Faith is Not a Gift

Yet despite the fact that faith is not something we choose but is that which happens to us based on the evidence presented, we must not go to the other extreme and say that faith is a gift.

Faith is not a gift. Though there is a spiritual gift of faith (1 Cor 12:9), this is not to be confused with the faith that leads to eternal life (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47, etc.).

And though some claim that the โ€œgiftโ€ which Paul refers to in Ephesians 2:8-9 is faith, the Greek word โ€œthatโ€ (โ€œthat not of yourselves, it is the gift of God) is neuter and the Greek word for โ€œfaithโ€ is feminine, which means the gift of God is not faith, but rather the entire โ€œsalvation packageโ€ which originated with God (i.e, โ€œby grace you have been savedโ€). See the excellent article by Rene Lopez on whether or not faith is a gift.

What is Faith?

What then is biblical faith (or belief)? In the end, we can do no better at defining faith than does the author of Hebrews. He writes: โ€œFaith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seenโ€ (Heb 11:1).

faith in Hebrews 11

To expand on this a bit, we could say that faith substantiates, or sees as reality, that which we previously only hoped to be true; it is the evidence, conviction, or confidence in things we cannot see. Certainly, some things we believe in can be seen, but the great faith described in the rest of Hebrews 11 is the faith that is confident in Godโ€™s promises based on what is known about Godโ€™s character and Godโ€™s Word.

Faith is the confidence or conviction that something is true based on the evidence presented.

Faith is seeing what is true based on what we know to be true.

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: Books by Jeremy Myers, Calvinism, faith, Theology of Salvation

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Are there Degrees of Faith?

By Jeremy Myers
24 Comments

Are there Degrees of Faith?

Yesterday we defined faith as confidence or conviction. One of the problem people sometimes have with this sort of definition, however, is that we think that there are degrees of faith, or (to put it another way), faith is on a sliding scale, where one end is “wishful-hope-so-thinking” and on the other end is “absolute certainty.”

great faith

Though lots of people like to talk about โ€œdegrees of faithโ€ this is not a proper way of thinking about biblical faith.

There are no Degrees of Faith

Faith is more like a light switch (and not a dimmer switch!). Just as a light is either on or off, so also, you either believe something or you donโ€™t. If you are not sure whether or not you believe something, then you donโ€™t believe it. If you are partially convinced, but not yet fully convinced, then you do not believe.

dimmer switch faithThough Scripture does talk about โ€œlittle faithโ€ and โ€œgreat faithโ€ (e.g., Matt 8:10, 26), this is not a reference to the degree of faith someone has, but to the difficulty of the truth believed. Some things are easier to believe than others, and so when someone does not even believe the simple and obvious things, they have little faith, whereas, when someone believes things that are difficult to believe, they have great faith (See my article, “Now That’s Faith” for more.)

You Cannot “Choose” to Believe

What all of this means is that we cannot exactly โ€œchooseโ€ to believe something. Belief, or faith, is not a decision we make. Faith is something that happens to us when presented with convincing and persuasive evidence.

Sometimes we might not be able to believe something until we see it with our own eyes. Other times, we might come to faith through reason, logic, and the weight of argumentation. Occasionally, we even come to believe something despite our desire not to believe it.

For example, if a father was told that his son was a mass-murderer, the father might not want to believe it, and would not believe it. But if the father sat through the trial of his son, and saw the weight of the evidence, and maybe even heard the confession of his son to his crimes, the father would be forced to believe what he did not want to believe. The father did not choose to believe, but was persuaded or convinced by the evidence presented, and came to believe something he did not wish to be true.

So while facts, logic, and reason can lead to faith, so also can experience, relationships, and revelation. Even hope and trust, which are not themselves faith, can be transformed into faith.

Faith itself can lead to faith, for once we believe some things about God, it becomes easier to believe other things. Divine revelation itself can lead us to believe things about God, ourselves, and eternity which we may not have believed otherwise (Rom 10:17).

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: Books by Jeremy Myers, Calvinism, faith, hope, Theology of Salvation, trust

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What is Faith?

By Jeremy Myers
59 Comments

What is Faith?

What is faith

Defining โ€œfaithโ€ (Gk., pistis) and the verb โ€œbelieveโ€ (Gk., pisteuล) is a bit like trying to define love. We can look up the words in Greek and Hebrew dictionaries and compare how the words were used in various ancient contexts, but when it comes down to how the word is used in real life, the way the word is used today bears little resemblance to the way the word was used in biblical times.

With love, we go through our days talking about how we love football, love pizza, love our cars, and love our spouse, and then we read in Scripture about how we are to love God and love one another, and although we know there is a difference between the various forms of love, we donโ€™t really think about it too much or understand the ways that biblical โ€œloveโ€ might be different than our modern use of the word.

Is Faith the same thing as hope?

It is similar with โ€œfaithโ€ and โ€œbelieve.โ€ Often, when people use these words today, it means little more than โ€œhope.โ€

Though someone might say they believe the Bears will win the Super Bowl this year, they know, as does everyone else, that their faith is little more than hope. You even sometimes hear people say โ€œI believe I will win the lottery!โ€

In this case, the word โ€œbelieveโ€ does not even rise to the level of hope, but is nothing more than wishful thinking.

Is Faith the same thing as trust?

Sometimes when โ€œfaithโ€ is used today, it means โ€œtrust.โ€ Banks talk about the โ€œfull faith and creditโ€ of the United States Government in insuring our deposits, meaning that we trust that if the bank loses our money, the government will give it to us.

Or as another example, you may have heard the story about a man who crossed Niagara Falls while pushing a wheelbarrow, and then asked the watching crowd if they believed he could do this same feat with a person in the wheelbarrow. They all enthusiastically shouted โ€œYes!โ€ but when he asked for volunteers, nobody came forward. This illustration is sometimes used to suggest that faith without follow-through is not really faith; but what it really proves is that there is a difference between faith and trust.

In light of this, people get confusedโ€”and rightfully soโ€”when they read about faith and belief in the Bible. They are not sure whether they should understand faith to be more like hope, wishful thinking, trust, or maybe something else.

Faith is Confidence

So when it comes to the biblical definition of faith, it is probably best to think about faith (and the verb โ€œbelieveโ€) as a confidence, persuasion, or conviction that something is true. While it need not rise to the level of certaintyโ€”for we have all know that beliefs can change when we are presented with new evidenceโ€”faith is being fully persuaded by the evidence we now have.

faith is confidence

We will talk a bit more about what faith is and what faith isn’t in the days ahead, but for now, what do you think of defining faith as “confidence”?

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: Books by Jeremy Myers, Calvinism, confidence, faith, hope, Theology of Salvation, trust

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