How do you get saved?

[GingerBeer]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing. Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you. Some say that you have to work out your own salvation. A few say everybody is saved. So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

 

[Strathos]

Accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior and do your best to avoid sin.

 

[Tree of Life]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing. Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you. Some say that you have to work out your own salvation. A few say everybody is saved. So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

God saves sinners. It is entirely a work of God. But this does not mean that sinners are entirely passive in their salvation. Sinners do choose God, respond to God, and repent of sin. God works through our wills and not against or over and above our wills. Yet God gets all the glory for salvation because it is He who renewed our wills and gave us the ability and strength to respond to Him.

So while I am not passive in my salvation, God alone get's the glory for my salvation. It is he who is working within me to will and to work for his good pleasure.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Look up "WILL BE saved" in Scripture* to start with. Remember EVERY WORD of GOD IS TRUTH. Not everyone will be saved, only a few(even though 'uncountable mulitudes' still few as written, few compared to the many not saved) . (too obvious?)

 

[Kevin Snow]

Salvation is by faith. So did you do anything when you believed in God? If that is doing something to you (it isn't doing anything to me) then we must be involved to have salvation. But as it is, it does not have anything to do with actually doing anything to be saved. If we had to do something to be saved then God would have said exactly what it is we must do but it says otherwise, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." God simply desires to give us salvation and mercy if we believe in him. This is an incredible thing!

 

[drjean]

Here's where my belief that all humans have the opportunity to be saved.

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:44

The Holy Spirit's work is what draws us to God. Without that "conviction" as it is called, no one comes to God.

Who is the Holy Spirit and what is His role in redemption? These questions have been especially important since the rise of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements in the last century. Along with a renewed interest in the person and work of the Holy Spirit has come increased confusion. In this series, R.C. Sproul cuts through the complexity, getting to the heart of the Bible’s teaching regarding the third person of the Trinity.

RC Sproul explains this. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/the_holy_spirit/regeneration-a-sovereign-act/?

(free teaching series) https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/the_holy_spirit/


I most certainly shy away from using the word "work" when it comes to accepting God's Gift of salvation, Jesus!

Titus 3:5: He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

John 11:5 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Little children brought by their parents sought eagerly to be with Jesus and were welcomed by Jesus.
They were not "convicted" of sin, were they ?

Jesus says unless we come to Him as little children , we will never see the Kingdom of God.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing.

They would be wrong. God does initiate and does get all of the glory though.

Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you.

As simple as it is, this is true, however it is incomplete, as in it does not give a bigger picture like an order of salvation, or the role of the Spirit in salvation.

Some say that you have to work out your own salvation.

Yes with fear and trembling, however I do believe this aspect to salvation applies not to regeneration, since it applies to those already saved, but to sanctification.

A few say everybody is saved.

They would be wrong. It is a mockery of the Holiness of God and the Justice of God and more or less reduces everything into meaninglessness...it's all just a show, entertainment for the Most High.

So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

"...purchased in its entirety by Christ’s redemptive activity, commences with God the Father’s irresistible summons to the spiritually dead elect sinner, normally issued in and by the proclamation of the gospel, to enter into fellowship with Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Christ, working by and with that summons, regenerates the spiritually dead elect sinner, enabling him thereby to repent of his sins and in faith to receive and to rest upon Christ alone for salvation, in which activity he is united to Jesus Christ. The moment he believes in Christ, God forgives him of all his sins and declares him righteous in his sight, definitively sanctifies him, adopts him into his family and seals him to the day of redemption with the indwelling Spirit of adoption. The sinner, now a Christian, begins to experience the lifelong process of progressive sanctification, throughout which time he also perseveres in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit, with the end and goal of this entire series of acts and processes being his glorification, into which state he is finally brought in the Eschaton at the return of Christ. At that point he will be fully conformed to the image of the Son of God, his summum bonum, and Christ will then be in the highest sense possible ‘the Firstborn among many brethren.’”​

[Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (Nashville: T. Nelson, 1998), 712.]

 

[Hermann Morr]

A) Don't sin against the Holy Spirit, that is, don't sin against Truth.
B) Honestly recognize you are a sinner
C) When Jesus will come for you at the end of your life, don't refuse him

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

"TODAY", IF you hear HIS VOICE, do not refuse Him - "do not rebel as they did in the wilderness, and perished. It will be much more sure judgment for those who rebel today than it was for those who rebelled in the wilderness, as written in Scripture.

Hebrews 3:15 As it has been said: "Today, if you hear His voice, do not ...
biblehub.com/hebrews/3-15.htm
Remember what it says: "Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled." English Standard Version

The Peril of Unbelief
12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving d]">[d]heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. 13 But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. 14 For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end, 15 while it is said,

“Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].”

16 For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies were scattered in the desert? 18 And to whom did He swear [an oath] that they would not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [those who would not listen to His word]? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest—the promised land] because of unbelief and an unwillingness to trust in God.

 

[GingerBeer]

God saves sinners. It is entirely a work of God. But this does not mean that sinners are entirely passive in their salvation. Sinners do choose God, respond to God, and repent of sin. God works through our wills and not against or over and above our wills. Yet God gets all the glory for salvation because it is He who renewed our wills and gave us the ability and strength to respond to Him.

So while I am not passive in my salvation, God alone get's the glory for my salvation. It is he who is working within me to will and to work for his good pleasure.

It looks as if you've taken the "or something else" choice. Is that right?

 

[Tree of Life]

It looks as if you've taken the "or something else" choice. Is that right?

I'm not sure. Actually, I wouldn't deny most of the bare statements that you've made because they are all Scriptural. I would deny that we are all saved.

We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (for it is God who works in us to will and work for his good pleasure).

We are called to repent and believe in order to receive forgiveness of sins.

So depending on which angle we're looking at it, these are true and wonderful statements.

But we must, at the end of the day, say that salvation is 100% a monergistic work of God for which he gets all the glory.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

I'm not sure. Actually, I wouldn't deny most of the bare statements that you've made because they are all Scriptural. I would deny that we are all saved.

We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (for it is God who works in us to will and work for his good pleasure).

We are called to repent and believe in order to receive forgiveness of sins.

So depending on which angle we're looking at it, these are true and wonderful statements.

But we must, at the end of the day, say that salvation is 100% a monergistic work of God for which he gets all the glory.

"True and wonderful statements", the "aroma of life" to those destined for eternal life.
The same statements the stench of death to those destined for judgment.

On Judgment Day (final judgment, eternal, no reprieve)
multitudes "claim" to have been saved,
thinking while they were alive they were saved, and being told they were by false teachers and others, deceptively. (or else, who tricked them?)

They are told by Jesus - go away to eternal judgment; all that you did you did for show, not obeying Me.

 

[SkyWriting]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing. Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you. Some say that you have to work out your own salvation. A few say everybody is saved. So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

Jesus died for everyone.

Your only task is to believe that
and if you are following God's
plans, then He did that part too.

 

[drjean]

Little children brought by their parents sought eagerly to be with Jesus and were welcomed by Jesus.
They were not "convicted" of sin, were they ?

Jesus says unless we come to Him as little children , we will never see the Kingdom of God.

You talking to me?

I put "conviction" in quote, right? And it modified the drawing / wooing of the Holy Spirit because that sense of drawing is a type of "conviction". Got it?

 

[Greg J.]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing. Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you. Some say that you have to work out your own salvation. A few say everybody is saved. So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

No, it is not true that you do nothing. People are referring to the fact that you cannot do enough to be saved on your own, and also by trying to understand and explain salvation as if they were able to have God's perspective (everything is under God's control, etc.). It is also not true that salvation is a free gift. It is not free in some different senses:

(1) it cost God the humiliation, torture, and death of his Son. This can also be thought of as, it cost God his life. Additionally Jesus suffered his whole life for us (Isaiah 53:3). It is essential that we remember those things when we are considering how "free" it was for us.

(2) It costs you your will. No longer can you do just whatever you please, because you're giving up the illusion that you are God of your own life. One must accept Jesus as her Lord—the one who has the right to tell you what to do and not do—and justly hold you accountable for doing what is right. On its own this might sound like a bad deal, so it needs to be understood that God is good—in fact, very, very good. He is love. It is his nature to sacrifice for the good of others. He cannot deny his nature. Everything he wants for you is what is best for you, even if it doesn't seem that way now. He knows how to run your life better than you. Eventually you will understand and wholeheartedly agree.

(3) It costs you your life. No longer can you live for yourself, but for him who died for you, even if it causes you to suffer or even gets you killed. (We are expected to be responsible stewards of our lives, however, since they do not belong to us—1 Corinthians 6:19-20.)

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15, 1984 NIV)

This is one explanation of what comprises believing in Jesus. If you do not genuinely and fully believe in Jesus, then the above will put you on the path to where God will grant you genuine faith in Him, by which you are saved.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1984 NIV)

If a person believes he or she is saved, but has not yielded to his Lordship (e.g., feels like they don't need to be obedient to God), then they have chosen to fall into the same category as demons.

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:19, 1984 NIV)

It is not actions you take that save you, but genuinely believing in God results in actions consistent with accepting his will over your own.

 

[bling]

Some people say it is all God's work and YOU don't do a thing. Some say you have to believe and repent and God will save you. Some say that you have to work out your own salvation. A few say everybody is saved. So how do you get saved and is it all God's work, some your own work, or something else?

It is something else.

Salvation is all from God, but God does not force it on you, so you have to just be willing to humbly accept God’s pure sacrificial charity as pure charity and God will shower you with undeserved gifts.

People will do almost anything to avoid taking pure sacrificial charity, yet that is what it is. Some will even say you cannot even accept God’s charity because that would be doing something, so it was given without being man’s choice (they did not choose to accept God’s charity as charity but it was virtually forced on them).

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:44

This is Truth, God's Word, and is sufficient. Be in Him, or seek to be, and Rest in Him !

(there is so much different from God's Word currently on the forum, and everywhere around us, be careful what you listen to (or listened to in the past) and test everything as He says)

 

[chuckpeterson]

vote

 

[drjean]

And it was Jesus, God, who drew those children to Himself