If The World Ended Right Now, Would You Be Saved? Eph 2:1-10

The very moment a person believes in Jesus for Eternal Life (God's free gift) they cross over from death to life.

They do not have to wait for the world to end or their physical death.

Mercy Shown said:

Salvation is by grace, through faith — and even that is called “the gift of God.” Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

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It is true that salvation is by grace.

How do our faith and works maintain our salvation by grace until we are approved to enter eternal life after we die?

Jesus states very plainly what his followers must do on earth in order to enter eternal life after they die.

Matthew 19:16-19
Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. 19 Honor your father and mother. Also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

A person does not have faith in Jesus Christ unless he obeys Jesus Christ's commandments.

He does not believe in Jesus Christ unless he obeys Jesus Christ's commandments.

Obeying God's commandments until our death will make us acceptable for eternal life.

Loving our neighbor until our death will make us acceptable for eternal life.

So, we need to align our understanding about grace, faith, and good works to fit our end goal, which is eternal life with God.

Mercy Shown said:

Eph 2: 1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If you are worried about your salvation, hear the good news of Epistle to the Ephesians 2:1–10.

Paul does not begin by telling us to try harder. He does not say, “You were struggling and needed improvement.” He says something far more radical: “You were dead.” Not weak. Not confused. Not mostly alive with a few bad habits. Dead in trespasses and sins.

Dead people do not debate techniques for self-resuscitation.

And yet look at us. We argue about baptism — dunking vs. pouring vs. sprinkling — as though the precise amount of water determines eternal life. We debate holy days, music styles, food, and drink, as though heaven is secured by liturgical precision or dietary discipline. We divide over beverages, calendars, and worship formats as if Christ were waiting for us to get the details right before He decides to save us.

But Ephesians says we were spiritually lifeless. We “walked according to the course of this world.” We were enslaved to desires. We were, by nature, children of wrath. That means salvation was never about fine-tuning our religious behavior. It was about resurrection.

Then comes the hinge of hope: “But God…”

“But God, being rich in mercy…”
“But God… because of the great love with which He loved us…”

When we were dead, He made us alive together with Christ.

Notice the direction of movement. We were not reaching up. We were being raised. We were not negotiating terms. We were being rescued. Grace is not God helping the willing; it is God awakening the dead.

And why did He make us alive?

The text gives the reasons:

1. Because He is rich in mercy.
2. Because of His great love.
3. To show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
4. So that we might walk in the good works He prepared beforehand — not to earn life, but because we now have life.

None of those reasons are:
“Because we were baptized correctly.”
“Because we kept the right day.”
“Because we avoided the wrong beverage.”
“Because our music passed inspection.”

Salvation is by grace, through faith — and even that is called “the gift of God.” Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

If you are anxious about your salvation, look away from yourself. Look to the One who raises the dead. Your hope is not in the strength of your grip on Him, but in the strength of His mercy toward you.

The good news is not that you have finally gotten serious enough.
The good news is that God is rich in mercy.
And He makes the dead alive.

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The world is not ending this very instant, for most people, so for most people the question is pretty pointless. And there is far more to Christianity than narcissistic navel-gazing about whether one is “saved”, or not. The Christian life is not primarily about being saved. The Gospel is primarily about the Βασιλεια του Θεου - the Reign, Rule, Kingdom & Kingship of God; & thus, of Christ. Salvation is a result of that.

Salvation is a three-stage process, not a single finished event in the past. It is

- a past event
- a present way of life, happening now
- a hope to be fulfilled in the future.

“- None of those reasons are:
“Because we were baptized correctly.””

Baptism is obviously not a reason why God made people alive; denying that Baptism is a reason God has made us alive, is a straw man. The fact remains that Baptism saves, according to 1 Peter 3.21. Baptism is a means by which salvation comes. It is not the Author of Salvation, any more than the Bible is; but both the Bible, & Baptism, are among the created means by which God works to real-ise the salvation of the members of the community of salvation AKA the Church.

Mercy Shown said:

The Gospel certainly proclaims the reign and kingship of God, but Scripture does not separate that reign from the decisive, finished saving work of Christ. Hebrews 10:14 states plainly, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” The sacrifice of Christ is not an incomplete installment in a three-stage uncertainty; it is a completed, once-for-all atonement that perfects His people in God’s sight. Believers still grow in holiness, but their standing before God rests on a finished work, not an ongoing process that determines whether they will finally be saved.

The apostle John goes even further by grounding salvation in assurance, not ambiguity. 1 John 5:13 declares, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Salvation is not narcissistic navel-gazing; it is confidence in the promise of God. Again he writes, “By this we know that we have passed from death to life” (1 John 3:14). The language is decisive—passed from death to life—not waiting anxiously to see how the process concludes.

As for baptism, Scripture must be interpreted in light of Scripture. While 1 Peter 3:21 says, “Baptism… now saves you,” Peter immediately clarifies, “not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but the appeal of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The saving power is not in the water but in Christ’s resurrection and the faith that appeals to God through Him. The consistent testimony of the New Testament is that Christ alone saves. Acts 4:12 says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Romans 10:13 adds, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It does not say, “whoever is baptized,” but “whoever calls.” Baptism is a commanded sign and testimony of union with Christ, but it is Christ Himself—crucified and risen—who is the Author and Finisher of our salvation.

Therefore, the Kingdom of God is not opposed to personal salvation; it is established through the saving work of the King. And that salvation rests not in rites, processes, or ecclesial mediation, but in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ and the sure promise of God to all who believe.

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Nothing in that text rescinds the Word of God that tells us that Baptism saves. What Peter tells us is that it is not the physical act of washing away dirt that saves us, but the spiritual work, the work of God which saves us through Baptism. Water is only a sign of the sacrament. Justyn Martyr stated it well, Chapter 61, Apologies circa 157 A.D.:

Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, Unless you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. John 3:5 Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs, is manifest to all. And how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by Esaias the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus speaks: Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from your souls; learn to do well; judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, says the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool; and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. But if you refuse and rebel, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Isaiah 1:16-20
And for this [rite] we have learned from the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe; he who leads to the laver the person that is to be washed calling him by this name alone. For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God; and if any one dare to say that there is a name, he raves with a hopeless madness. And this washing is called illumination, because they who learn these things are illuminated in their understandings. And in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Ghost, who through the prophets foretold all things about Jesus, he who is illuminated is washed.