As men of God ordained to preach the kingdom of God and salvation to all, the truth of God's word is paramount when discerning doctrine that is professed to be of God. Knowing God's word according to the doctrine of Christ (Heb.6:1-2, 1Pe.4:11, Acts 2:42, 2Jn.9-10) that was taught by Jesus and the Apostles is the only way to measure "truth". As Jesus stated in Jn.17:17, "Thy word is truth". The Apostle Paul constantly affirmed the necessity to know, preach, teach, walk in, and reprove with sound doctrine (1Ti.1:10, 2Ti.3:16, 4:3, Tit.1:9, 2:1).The gospel of salvation that is being preached by mainstream denominational religion is misleading, if not totally in error. The basic requirements for salvation according to most denominations is : "Repent from your sins, believe in Jesus, accept Jesus as your personal saviour, and live a good life". There is a tremendous lack of understanding within the body of Christ about what salvation encompasses and how it is obtained. As we proceed through this study, you will see how denominational doctrines have obscured the salvation message.
The original sin committed by Adam (and Eve) in the garden of Eden dealt with rebellion to God's authority. Partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they decided on their own what was good and evil, transgressing God's authority and his right to determine what is good and evil in his kingdom. Adam and Eve removed themselves from God's covering authority and they became immediately aware of it, for it says in Gen.3:7 thay they knew they were naked (without a covering). They immediately covered themselves with fig leaves (dead works) and hid from God's presence, knowing they had the sentence of death upon them (Gen.2:17, 3:8). And so it has been ever since, Man is rebellious and disobedient, despising authority, trying to hide his nakedness from God. Man tries to approach God dressed in fig leaves (denominational religion) and trusting to his own way of thinking about God. Consequently, the purpose of salvation is to deliver man from rebellion and disobedience, which is Sin, and from the sentence of death that was a result of Sin.
Repentance, as preached by John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostles literally means: to change your way of thinking. When they preached repentance, they were, for the most part, speaking to men who claimed to know God and his word, but who had drifted into denominational doctrines. Their approach toward God and serving God had become entangled with man's way of thinking. The Bible says "There is a way that seems good unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Pr.14:12). The message of repentance has nothing to do with confessing your sins, it has to do with repenting from dead works. Dead works encompasses more than our sins, it includes works of self-righteousness and self-justification, how we approach God, our attitude toward God, our thoughts, our actions, and how we serve God. Repentance from dead works is the first foundational principle of the doctrine of Christ (Heb.6:1). Why is it the first principle? Because man must stop relying upon his own efforts, ability, strength, and goodness to achieve righteousness and eternal life. Until you realize that there is nothing you can do to achieve righteousness, of your own self, then you will remain in your trespasses and sins. God's attitude toward man's effort to justify himself is summed up in Isaiah 64:6: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away". The Hebrew word translated as "righteousnesses" means: righteous acts, to clear self, to justify self. The word for "filthy" means: the menstrual flux. In other words, God compares our works of self-righteousness and self-justification to that period in a woman's menstrual cycle when she is infertile and unable to conceive life in the womb. When you finally repent from your dead works, you will "change your way of thinking" about God, his kingdom, his word, and receive salvation his way! God's way of salvation is obtained through the confession of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Salvation is a free gift given by God to all men (Ro.5:6-19, 6:23, Eph.2:8). It cannot be bought, earned, learned, inherited from your parents, or imparted by any man. It can only be obtained one way, which is through Jesus Christ. We are pardoned from the sentence of death because Jesus took the penalty of our sins upon himself at the cross (1Pe.2:24, 2Cor.5:21). Forgiveness and reconciliation with God the Father was the work of Calvary. Yet the cry of man is "what must I do to be saved" (Acts 2:37, 16:30). Denominational Christianity says: Repent from your sins, believe in Jesus, accept him as your personal saviour, and live a good life. The word of God says that to obtain salvation you must not only believe he is the Son of God, but you must acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. The Greek word translated as "Lord" in the New Testament means: Supreme Authority, King, Master. We saw earlier that Sin was the result of rebellion and disobedience to God's authority. You cannot obtain the forgiveness of sins unless you willingly place yourself under the covering of God's authority. In doing so, you are not only acknowledging God's right to dictate what is good and what is evil, but that forgiveness for sins is dispensed via the realm of his authority. In Mt.6:33, Jesus set the order in terms of righteousness: "seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness". The Greek word for "kingdom" is basileia, which means: royal power, sovereignty, supreme authority. What Jesus was saying is, seek first to put yourself under God's authority and then obtain righteousness. Romans 10:9 states that "if you shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. The Greek word translated as "confess" means: to declare openly by way of speaking out freely, such confession being the effect of deep conviction of facts. In other words, if you confess of your own free will the Lordship of Jesus Christ because it's a fact in your heart, you will be saved. In Luke 23:39-43, after acknowledging that he was worthy of death because of his transgressions, look at the confession of the thief on the cross: "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom". His approach to God was not based on his own righteousness, but a plea of mercy to a king in his kingdom. The thief acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the response of Jesus was: "This day you will be with me in paradise". After the resurrection of Jesus, when he appeared so that Thomas might see him, Jesus spoke saying "be not faithless, but believing". Thomas answered "My Saviour and my God". No! No! No! Thomas said "My Lord and my God"! (Jn.20:26-28)
The book of Esther provides us with a beautiful representation of how we obtain God's mercy and salvation. In Esther 4:11, we see the law of the kingdom concerning those who come into the presence of the king: "Whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live". In Esther 5:1-2, Esther puts on royal apparel and comes into the kings presence with all humbleness and submission. "When the king saw Esther, the queen, standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and the king held out the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the top of the sceptre". Looking at this in terms of God's salvation, man cannot come into God's presence because he has a sentence of death upon him, handed down from Adam. As Esther came into the presence of the king clothed in royal apparel, we come into God's presence clothed in Jesus Christ with humbleness and submission to his authority. When God the Father sees this, we obtain favor in his sight and he extends the golden sceptre, granting us righteousness and salvation. Hebrews 1:8 states: " Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom". Notice how this scripture ties in with Mt.6:33 in that, first it speaks of God's throne (kingdom) and then of righteousness? When He extends the sceptre unto us, we touch his righteousness and live. primary point of emphasis for you to note is that we approach God and receive righteousness and salvation His way. Jesus said in Jn.14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". The only way you can approach God's throne and receive salvation is by declaration of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
In Acts 2:37, when the Jews heard the preaching of the word, they asked "What shall we do?" Peter's reply was, "Repent (change your way of thinking) and be baptized (immersed) in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins". The Greek word translated as "name" literally means name, but figuratively it means: authority or character. Peter's implication was that we are to be immersed in the authority of Jesus Christ to receive the remission of our sins. For instance, when the police knock on a door saying, "open up in the name of the law", their use of the word "name" is figurative meaning: authority. Think about this: If we can only obtain salvation through Jesus Christ and he sits at the right hand of the Father, who sits on the throne, then that means we can only reach Jesus by approaching God's throne. Anybody who tries to approach God's throne without an attitude of submission will have the same end as Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12-15, cast down to hell.
Is repentance required to be saved? The answer is an unqualified YES, but as we have seen repentance does not mean for you to recite a litany of your sins. It means to stop relying upon your self and your efforts to make yourself worthy to approach God. It literally means to change your way of thinking away from dead works and start thinking God's way. Repentance from dead works is the first foundational principle of the doctrine of Christ found in Heb.6:1-2. It is the most important, in that, your ability to walk in the remaining principles is dependent upon the degree of repentance in your life. The less you rely on self, the more you rely on God. In addition to the principle of Repentance from Dead Works, among the various baptisms mentioned in the New Testament is the Baptism of Repentance (Acts 19:4). There are also about eight different Hebrew and Greek words that are translated as repent(ance). That would indicate that there is a multitude of study involved to learn the fullness of what repentance entails.
Must we believe in Jesus to be saved? Assuredly you must, but believing is not enough. James 2:19 tells us that even the devils believe in Jesus. Therefore, there must be action in our life that reflects our belief in Jesus as the Son of God and our Lord (Jas.2:14-26, Heb.5:8-9, Ro.6:16-22).
Must we accept Jesus as our personal saviour to be saved? Nowhere! Absolutely nowhere, does the Bible state that we must accept Jesus as our personal saviour as a condition of salvation. As previously documented, it does say we are to confess his Lordship. Is Jesus our saviour? Of course he is, the Bible acknowledges in numerous places Jesus as Saviour. He is the Saviour of the world (Jn.3:16-17) and for that he is to be praised and worshipped, but our confession that we accept him as saviour is not a condition to obtain salvation. We accept him? Get real, salvation through Jesus Christ is a merciful gift bestowed upon us by a loving God. It is the epitomy of high-mindedness to say we accept him, as if we have any other avenue of salvation. Also, just accepting him as saviour implies that we can be saved without acknowledging God's authority and right to rule over us and that we can live any life we choose and still be saved. Denominational religion tells us that we can approach God on our terms and be saved. As it says in Judges 17:6 and 21:25, "when there is no king: every man does right in his own eyes". There must be an acknowledging of God's authority and right to rule over all of creation. In Philippians 2:9-11, it tells us that Jesus has been exalted by God and that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (also Ro.14:11). Isaiah 45:23-25 states, "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one (meaning Jesus) say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory". The purpose for Jesus coming to earth as the subsitutionary sacrifice had as much to do in restoring man back to the covering of God's authority as is did in saving man from the sentence of death. That was the purpose of Gethsemane, putting to death the self-willed, disobedient soul for the purpose of obeying the will of God. (see article on Gethsemane)
The bottom line is that God will bring all things under the covering of his authority (1Cor.15:28, Rev.22:3-5). Those who willingly submit and obey the gospel will inherit the promise of eternal life and family relationship with the Father. Those who do not will still bow down before him and acknowledge Jesus as Lord before they are condemned to eternal damnation (Ph.2:9-11, Rev.20:11-15). What choice are you going to make?
To those who are already saved by the blood of the precious Lamb of God, I say to you: When we preach salvation, we must preach it according to the whole gospel or else we will enter into the doctrines of men and denominational religion. That is spiritual death.
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