How are we truly saved ?

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Somebody wrote:
"I have known Christians who were saved by only calling on the name of Jesus."
 

Our Reply:


We just have to Disagree with that statement. If the statement is to be taken as a "stand-alone" statement (by itself), there is no conclusion other than that it is and MUST be false.

IF the ONLY thing that a person does is call on the name of Jesus and No Internal Transformation takes place, then the fact of a person calling on Jesus will NOT save them.

In order for a person to be saved, they MUST repent.

Here are a few verses that speak about our need to Repent

(Repentance simply means: changing your mind, and agreeing to walk in the opposite direction. In spiritual terms, repentance is changing your mind about God, going from rejecting Jesus Christ to accepting Him and what he did on the Cross for you and me).

 

Bible Verse
Matt 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Bible Verse
Marc 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Bible Verse
Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Bible Verse
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Bible Verse
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ?
Bible Verse
II Cor 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.


What then should we make of the verse that says that
"For every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." ????



We should remember that when Paul was writing, he was writing an entire letter (Romans - in this case), and we need to look at that verse in the Context of the Entire Book of Romans and Especially of the verses that come before it.

WE do have the division of the Bible books into verses today, so that we can find specific sections faster or easier, but the verse division did not exist in printed Bibles until the 1500s.

It is important that when we read the Bible, - especially if we have questions about a particular verse or chapter - that we are sure to ALSO read the Ten verses that come before, and the Ten verses that come afterwards the particular verse we are wondering about.

We must learn to attempt to understand the verses
in their Context, so that we can understand how they were originally intended to be understood.



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So  we need to ask ourselves, If a person were reading the scroll of Romans 10 in Early Christian times, What Else would a person who reads that verse

Bible Verse
Rom 10:13 "For every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."
have been previously exposed to...Prior to reading That verse, in the same scroll of Romans ????

They would have read in that section, in that same chapter, in Romans 10 - that Romans 10 gives a description of those who reject God:
Bible Verse
Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

It is NOT sufficient for a person to simply Call on the name of Jesus and be saved, IF by this - there is an ABSENCE of repentance.

In the Passage in Romans 10, it is clear that the person who is calling - in THAT passage - on the name of Jesus - is a person who 1) has repented and 2) has understood that they MUST place their faith in Jesus Christ only to the EXCLUSION of their own good works, and that the nature of their belief ...in this passage...is a belief UNTO SALVATION.


Take the first 3 verses that deal directly with this in Romans 10:
Bible Verse
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

So in fact, verse 13, which says
Bible Verse
Rom 10:13 "For every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

is preceeded by a Conditional Clause, of what is required before Verse 13 can take place:
Bible Verse
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,

Why is Verse 9 - or that clause in verse 9 that says
Bible Verse
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
so important ???

Because it refers to the fact of believing - in one's heart - in a Physical FLESH and BLOOD literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Another Passage in the Bible - about Jesus being God in the FLESH - speaks about this

 

Bible Verse
I John 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:


And Another Passage in the Bible - about Jesus being God in the FLESH - speaks about this:


I Tim 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

There are TWO (2) Kind of Belief about Jesus Christ: 

1)There is the kind of belief that does NOT save a person, and 

2) there is the kind of belief in Jesus Christ that DOES save a person.

Believing that Jesus Christ existed is not sufficient. But believing that Jesus Christ is
1) the Son of God who 2) came to die for our sins and 3) who came in the flesh to do this and 4) Died for our sins and 5) Rose again - THAT kind of belief IS sufficient unto Salvation.


So according to Romans 10, a person who is calling upon the name of Jesus in Verse 13 is ALSO a person who is a person who has believed that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and two points are clear about this:

1. If Jesus is being Raised from the Dead, it is clear that He successfully DIED for our sins, and the person accepting that He rose from the Dead would be understanding this, AND

2. IF Jesus is being Raised from the Dead, it is clear that He is Risen after He came IN THE FLESH.
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is NOT a Metaphor. It is something Literal. IT Actually happened, On Earth, in time and space - 2000 years Ago.


So, with THAT understanding of Romans 10 now clear, then IF a person believes those things about Jesus, then In response to those beliefs, then they would be able -through the power of the Holy Spirit - to allow the Holy Spirit to Save them, when - in Verse 13 - they Call upon the name of the Lord, and then - repenting or having repented - are Then saved.

Merely calling on the name of Jesus will NOT save a person, IF they do not Repent.

How Many Times have we heard this on TV or some cable network, that people say that they have called upon the name of Jesus, and yet they make NO MENTION of the fact that they Repented.

And WHY do they make no mention of this ????

Because they did NOT repent. THey called on the name of Jesus, but did not Repent.

But because they SAY that they called on the name of Jesus, others simply Presume that they are saved, which is Wrong !

We are told as Christians to TEST the Spirit, to evaluate and carefully evaluate each person at the moment in time that they are talking or communicating ...and making a claim that the HOLY spirit is speaking through them.

We are told to NOT take this for granted, to NOT believe that this is AUTOMATICALLY THE CASE, and to TEST THAT SPIRIT...to find out IF it is the HOLY Spirit that is TRULY speaking through that person or ....OR...if it is an UNHOLY Spirit that is speaking through that person.

People get on TV, say that they called on the name of Jesus, but give no witness either to their Repentance or to the NEED to repent.

Then Christians who are Biblically Told to
TEST The SPIRIT speaking through that person - DISOBEY God and the Bible by refusing to do this, and in that moment - by refusing to obey what the Bible tells them to do and test the Spiritual being speaking Through that person... - ACCEPT to become Deceived, into believing and accepting the FALSE teaching of that spirit who is speaking through the person on TV, where their own deception would Not had occured - if they had found out first IF that person on TV had Repented, and if they had Tested the Spirit that is speaking Through that teacher.

But because people do not do this, thousands of people are deceived, and thinking that they are saved when they are not - because they call on the name of Jesus but Refuse to Repent.


Those in that category are not saved, and what they are doing does not add up to salvation. It rather instead adds up to Blasphemy - because in Calling on the name of Jesus without Repentance, they go Against the Statements of Jesus himself, that they need to REPENT of their sins, in order to become saved.


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We are only saying these things in order to Make sure, that we are Biblically clear on what the Bible teaches. And please don't respond to us as if we had made this up. We do not make things up. If God says this clearly in the Bible, then we share this with you...

Maybe the person who was writing about this passage in the comment at the top of this page... meant all of these things as this passage in the Book of Romans in the New Testament teaches. But we could not take the chance to simply presume this...there are So Many people who believe that they are saved, when clearly their own life shows that they are
Not saved at all, and that they bear no spiritual fruit, because they have no spiritual fruit to bear, because they have never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, because they have never Repented.

Salvation always includes Repentance.



In Christ alone,

XOFC

 

 

 

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(XOFC Staff)