If you “call on the name of the Lord” in love (Matthew 22:37-38) and not hate (Matthew 8:29), you will be saved from your sins and eternal separation from God (Romans 10:13). Loving Jesus Christ is by accepting His deity and oneness with the Father (I John 4:2-3; John 10:30). Jesus’ Gospel is summarized in Titus 3:3-8, and above all Bible verses, we encourage you to read and believe Titus 3:3-8. Confidence in your salvation comes from a love for God and people (I John 3:18-19,21,23; Mark 12:29-31). Have confidence in justification on Judgment Day in knowing that you don’t need to be perfect (James 2:10): you just need to not “go on sinning deliberately” (Hebrews 10:26-27; I John 3:7).

Endorsements

Almost all Christians agree in our “The Gospel” section. Though many debate over confidence and justification, the Lutheran church, 3 other churches, and the Vatican say in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification that they agree in how real faith manifests itself through good works but that works aren’t required for justification by grace through faith. John Piper also speaks to how this paradox is because justification is both past and in the future.

Concepts

Salvation summary

The Gospel

All sin (Romans 3:23) against a perfect God (Matthew 5:48), deserving death instead of living sinfully with Perfection (Romans 6:23). God prefers that all live (II Peter 3:9); so, in grace and mercy (James 2:13), Jesus died on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8-9; Romans 3:24) as the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 4:15). He proved our Father resurrecting Him, defeating evil (I Corinthians 15:4-6,55-57). If we believe in Him instead of our own ego (Ephesians 2:8-9), we’ll have eternal life instead of condemnation (John 3:16-17) and live a great life of doing good works (Ephesians 2:10). This starts with repenting of all sins (I John 1:9), forgiving everyone (Matthew 6:14-15), and purification by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). The Greatest Commandments are to love God and people (Mark 12:29-31), which practically is fully understanding the Bible’s commands and doing them (John 14:15) in the name of God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20).

Core Doctrine

The required doctrine that all Christians must believe is Titus 3:3-8 because Titus 3:9-11 tells us what biblical laws are worth dividing over. I Corinthians 15:3-6 is also included because Paul says it is the Gospel of salvation (I Corinthians 15:1-2). It is very important to not add or subtract from core doctrine, for this is what determines if a person is truly saved or not:

Sinful Nature: We are sinners (Titus 3:3).
Love of God the Father: God the Father is good, kind, and loving (Titus 3:4).
Jesus is God: Jesus is a man and also is God, Lord, and Savior (Titus 3:4,6). This is known as the hypostatic nature, that Jesus was fully God and fully man.
Repentance through Mercy: He causes us to repent of our sins by His mercy, not our works (Titus 3:5).
Regeneration by the Spirit: The saving happens through regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
Holy Spirit is God: The Holy Spirit is also God (Titus 3:5-6) because the saving happens through the Spirit, and the Savior is Jesus.
Death, Burial, and Resurrection: Implicit in “pouring” (Titus 3:6) is how Paul also defines the Gospel of salvation (I Corinthians 15:1-2): Jesus died for our sins, was buried, was resurrected, and proved His resurrection (I Corinthians 15:3-6).
Eternal Life: We are justified so we can have eternal life (Titus 3:7).
Justified by Grace for Works: Justification happens only through God’s grace proven by works (Titus 3:7-8).

Confidence in Salvation

Confidence in our salvation comes from trying to obey Jesus.

There is no other way to heaven (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) because Jesus is the only person to never sin (Hebrews 4:15). Because God is perfect, He can’t accuse Jesus of anything and therefore accepts Him (John 8:46-47). Although we know we should obey Him, how should we feel when we keep sinning (Romans 7:24)? Obedience is not about being perfect before death (James 2:10): obedience is trying to keep every law (Romans 7:15-20), for those who practice righteousness are perfectly righteous like Jesus (I John 3:7; I John 2:28-29). Hell is for those who deliberately sin (Hebrews 10:26-27; I John 3:8). If you’re unsure if you’re actually sinning or not, be like Paul, who worked out his own salvation (Philippians 2:12) by testing his actions (II Corinthians 13:5), logically understanding if his accusers had evidence or hate (Acts 24:10,13).

Confidence is an assured heart, filled with love.

Ultimately, confidence is about that emotional feeling inside that doesn’t condemn you as a sinner (I John 3:21). This feeling is gained using the above section: trying to be obedient (I John 3:18-19). There will be times that your heart will condemn you for not fully being obedient, but know that God is stronger than those condemning feelings and that He will comfort you (I John 3:20) and help you succeed in your works (Philippians 1:6). This assurance is the same feeling of loving God and people (I John 5:2), for if you are loving, you are near God (I John 4:16). This nearness or abiding is confidence before God (I John 2:28; I John 4:17).

Justification

We’re justified by faith, not the law.

Many look to the moral law as a path for salvation (Romans 10:5), such as doing more good than evil, but this leads to boasting in one’s own abilities (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is not far away, held captive by an unknown list of works (Romans 10:6-7; Deuteronomy 30:11-14). Our justification comes from believing in Jesus (Romans 10:8-10) as a free gift of grace (Romans 3:24). Ironically, if one decides to stop working for his salvation (Romans 4:5), that would lead him to work from his salvation (Romans 2:13) because “saveable and justifiable faith” must include works (James 2:14,21,24). That’s why we were created in the first place (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:7-8). How do you know if your works are from faith or law? “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (II Corinthians 13:5).

Justification is both in the past and future.

“We have been justified [dikaiōthentes] in faith” (Romans 5:1,9) and “will be justified [dikaiōthēsē]” by our words and doing of the law (Matthew 12:36-37; Romans 2:13; John Piper’s opinion). Justification is like a financial trust: the trustor (God: John 1:3) gives property (grace: II Corinthians 9:8) to the trustee or heir (faithful: Romans 4:13) to disperse to the beneficiary (faithful: Romans 12:3,6) once the rules (law: Romans 2:13) are judged (judgment: Matthew 12:36-37) as obeyed (works: James 2:22). Jesus gave us an example of this: the trustor in grace (Matthew 25:14) gave property to the trustees or heirs (Matthew 25:15), along with a rule to make more (Matthew 25:16-17). After a while, the trustor judged some works as faithfully obedient, and they received the benefits (Matthew 25:21), yet he condemned the unfaithful’s lack of works (Matthew 25:25-26,30).

Full plan of salvation

As you grow in obedience to God, you should start to desire to learn more about God (Proverbs 9:10). The following is a chronological explanation of every aspect of God’s plan for filling heaven:

Trinity’s Nature: God is perfect (Matthew 5:48) and is the definition of love (I John 4:18). He was not created (John 1:3) but is eternal (Psalms 90:2). He exists as 3 co-eternal and co-equal Persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Titus 3:4-5,6).
Foreknowledge of Human Nature: God already knew that we would sin because free will naturally is selfish (Romans 3:11,23) but that we could be redeemed (Romans 8:29).
Creation and Bride: Jesus created all of space, time, and matter (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-2). He created humanity (Genesis 1:27) to be like His wife (Ephesians 5:27,31-32) living in a utopia called the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8).
The Fall and Original Sin: The first humans, Adam and Eve, were tricked by Satan into sinning (Genesis 3:4-5,6); so, God cursed His world and humanity (Genesis 3:16-19) to quicken our understanding of the consequences of disobedience (Galatians 3:10). This led to humanity’s “total depravity” or “original sin” nature (Romans 5:12; Psalms 51:5).
Justice and Hell: Justice requires fair punishment for this sin (Leviticus 24:17,19-20), for holiness can only exist after purification of wrongdoing (Hebrews 9:22). The system God created for paying is hell (Matthew 5:22,26).
Mercy and Grace: God wants no one to be eternally tortured (II Peter 3:9), for mercy is more powerful than justice (James 2:13). In mercy (Matthew 9:13), God created a plan of grace (Ephesians 2:7-8).
Predestination and Election: Before anyone did good or bad, God destined certain people to be elected for salvation (Romans 9:11; John 15:16) while others would be destined for wrath in hell, as an example of what not to do (Romans 9:22-23). Election can’t be based on works because even the best humans don’t naturally seek God (Romans 3:11).
Calling of Contrition: The elect are called to follow God’s will (Romans 8:28), starting with repenting of all sins (II Corinthians 7:10; Proverbs 28:13).
Old Covenant of a Kingdom of Priests: Before Jesus, people could atone for their sins by sacrificing animals (Leviticus 5:9-10). Whoever obeyed would become a priest to quicken the spiritual development of society (Exodus 19:6). This form of atonement was temporary (Hebrews 9:8-9), only for the body (Hebrews 9:10,13).
Incarnation: The Christ existed with and as God (John 1:1), and He took on a human form as Jesus (John 1:14,17).
Virgin Birth and Hypostatic Nature: The everlasting sacrifice must be perfect. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was seeded by the Father as a virgin (Luke 1:30-31,34-35). This meant that Jesus was fully God and fully man (John 1:1,14).
Jesus’ Death and Burial: The permanent plan of atonement was through Christ, for only He can purify our conscience (Hebrews 9:14). Because Jesus never sinned (Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 2:22), He infinitely paid the price of our sins (Hebrews 9:25,26) by shedding His own blood and dying (Romans 5:6). This death was proven by his grave being guarded for 3 days, from Good Friday to Easter (Matthew 27:63-66; Matthew 28:1).
Jesus’ Resurrection and Evidence: Jesus proved He actually was the only sinless God by resurrecting (Romans 1:4) and providing evidence (I Corinthians 15:4-8).
New Covenant of Faith: Now that Jesus paid for our sins, payment can come through a better plan (Hebrews 8:7,13): having faith in Jesus as Lord (John 14:1,6) in a New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15). This faith is from grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), taught by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 8:10), not mainly by people (Hebrews 8:11; I John 2:27).
Sealing of the Spirit: The moment we believe in Jesus is the moment the Holy Spirit starts to live inside of us (Ephesians 1:13). This seal assures our hearts that we really are saved (II Corinthians 1:22).
Redemption and Forgiveness: This small seed of faith (Matthew 17:20) is enough for Christ to redeem us from disobedience to the law (Galatians 3:10,13) by forgiving our sins (Hebrews 10:17-18; Colossians 1:14).
Reconciliation: Although sin put us “in bad standing” with God, with forgiveness comes a “good standing” (II Corinthians 5:18-19). As long as we obey Jesus, He is our friend (John 15:14-15).
Regeneration and Renewal through Sanctification: As our friend, Jesus fixes what was broken (Ezekiel 36:26) and teaches us all truth (Romans 12:2) with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17), for the purpose of committing ourselves to righteousness (Romans 6:19).
Baptism: The first step of our friendship with Jesus is to make a commitment before God to follow Him, which is done symbolically by being cleansed with water (I Peter 3:21; Matthew 28:19).
Fellowship and Communion: The next step is to find a church and spend time getting to know them (Hebrews 10:24-25). We should also eat bread and wine (grape juice) with them routinely to remember Jesus’ sacrifice (I Corinthians 11:24-26).
Justification by Grace for Works: The sign that a person actually accepted God’s grace, worthy to be called a friend of God, is doing good works (James 2:22-23). Justification is based in grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) and proven in works (James 2:24) because faith without works is dead (James 2:26).
End Times and Millennial Kingdom: At some point, our current dispensation of grace will end with the Antichrist trying to replace God (II Thessalonians 2:3-4), but the Lord will defeat him and initiate a 1000 year reign (Revelation 20:4).
Judgment Day: Everyone will eventually physically die (Hebrews 9:27), and Jesus will judge all of our sins (Matthew 12:36), sending us to heaven or hell (Matthew 25:46).
Restoration, Adoption, and Glorification: Once God justifies us on the Day of Judgment (Matthew 12:36-37), our sin nature will be eradicated (Romans 8:21), we’ll be adopted into God’s family (Romans 8:23), and we’ll receive a new body similar to the Christ (Philippians 3:21).
Eternal Dwelling: God’s new home will be with humanity (Revelation 21:3). Heaven will be on an improved earth (Revelation 21:1-2), everyone will get their own house or room (John 14:2), and there will be no more pain (Revelation 21:4).
Total Restoration: The Gospel will be preached to the dead in hell (I Peter 4:6), they will submit in faith to Jesus (Philippians 2:10-11), they will get out once their sins are paid for (Matthew 5:26), and their life will be restored in heaven (I Corinthians 15:22).

FAQ

Confidence

Shouldn’t our confidence come from being sealed, not obedience (Ephesians 1:13; II Corinthians 1:22)?

The Bible says the sealing is not what gives us confidence: it’s the Holy Spirit Himself (II Corinthians 1:22). It doesn’t say how the Spirit will “assure” us in this chapter, but it does in I John 3:18-19: through “loving in deed and in truth.”

Are we eternally secured (Romans 8:38-39)?

Also known as “preservation of the saints” or “once saved always saved”, God’s elect are eternally secured (Ephesians 4:30; John 3:16; Jude 24). We should be confident in our standing with God (Ephesians 3:11-12) because we only need to try to be righteous (I John 3:7; I John 2:28-29). We should not be arrogant in our eternal security, not assuming we are “right in our own eyes” (Proverbs 12:15), nor assume we 100% know our salvation is secured (I Corinthians 8:1-2). Instead, we should always be testing if our good works prove our faith (II Corinthians 13:5; James 2:26).

Does confidence come from “good standing” with a church?

God never said this. See What should Christians consider to be authoritative?

Is believing in Jesus enough (I John 5:12-13)?

Belief is enough only if you are confident (Hebrews 3:14), not just verbally saying it (Matthew 7:21). The context of this knowledge is one of confidence, not absolute assuredness. For example, the following verses say a person who believes in Jesus will have all of their prayers answered (I John 5:14-15), but implicit in “we” is that only the righteous will be heard by God (I Peter 3:12). Therefore, this confidence in our salvation is conditional on our real belief in Jesus through obedience (Matthew 7:21), not just verbally saying, “I believe in Jesus.”

Justification

Is salvation by “faith alone?”

From a purely logical perspective, “alone” means that no other concept is needed, yet all Protestants would agree that we’d need to at least repent (I John 1:9) and forgive (Matthew 6:15). The Bible is more logical when it says “not by faith alone” (James 2:24), yet we agree with Martin Luther and the heart of his message that works cannot buy our way into heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). Luther said, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” “Faith alone” is catchy but logically ambiguous, and those who use it could consider switching to, “We’re saved alone by faith that’s never alone.”

Isn’t James 2:14-26 talking about justification before people only?

Logically, if this was about justification before men, then many people would’ve saw Abraham’s deed, not just his son who already believed in him (James 2:21). The Lord through an angel actually says that the deed was done so that he could prove he fears God (Genesis 22:12) and be worthy of God’s blessing (Genesis 22:16-17). Even more directly, the start of the conversation of justification talks about salvation (James 2:14), not proving ourselves before men, which we shouldn’t be doing in the first place (Galatians 1:10).

How was Abraham justified (Romans 4:2; James 2:21)?

In both cases, “ex ergon edikaiothe” is used to say that Abraham was and was not justified by works. In both cases, belief in God is credited as righteousness (Romans 4:3; James 2:23), but in Romans justification is through faith, and in James, justification “was fulfilled” by faith. This proves that justification is both past (Romans 5:1) and future (Matthew 12:37; John Piper’s opinion).

Is justification from belief or repentance?

We believe both sides are saying the same thing, and should realize the mutual understanding of relying on God’s power over one’s own (Philippians 4:13). Free grace, cheap grace, and easy-believism, taught by Arminianists and Baptists, focus on that faith in Jesus is all that is needed for salvation (John 6:47) and not an iota of good works is necessary (Romans 3:28). This gift of grace is free (Ephesians 2:8), and you don’t need to work on your own power to maintain it (Romans 3:20). While you must repent of the sins you know of, you don’t need to repent of every sin, for that is a process. Lordship salvation, taught by Reformed Calvinists and Catholics, focuses on the teachings that if the faith was real (James 2:14), it would lead to the sacrifice (Luke 9:23) of fuller repentance (I John 1:8-9) and good works (James 2:17). You cannot “believe in Jesus” without repentance, and you cannot repent unless you believe in Jesus (Mark 1:15).

If we accept God’s grace, our future sins are forgiven, so, are we already justified?

We agree on 2 of the 3 major points of the theology of hyper-grace. We agree that, because God lives outside of time, He already forgave the sins of those who would accept God’s grace (I John 5:13,15). We also agree that it is impossible to choose sin if we accepted God’s grace (Romans 6:14), for that sin is not done by that person’s spirit’s desire, but by the sin nature dwelling within him (Romans 7:20). Even so, this sin must be repented of and confessed because it is still “owned” by you (I John 1:8). The saved children of the New Covenant are commanded to repent (I John 1:9-2:1).

Is Christ’s righteousness imputed, infused, or imparted (II Corinthians 5:21; I Corinthians 1:30)?

See how justification is both past and present (Romans 5:1; 2:13). The righteous requirement (Romans 8:4) is met starting as a gift of grace imputed as perfect righteousness (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 9:16). This graces continues as infusion of the Holy Spirit’s regeneration and impartation of His renewal (Titus 3:5) so we can do good works alongside faith (James 2:22-23).

Imputed righteousness–God’s grace crediting perfect righteousness, although we aren’t actually perfectly righteous yet (Romans 4:2-3,4-5)
Infused righteousness–God’s grace infusing righteousness over time through faith-based works so we can become perfectly righteous, also called regeneration (Titus 3:5)
Imparted righteousness–God’s grace giving us the ability to do faith-based works so we can become perfectly righteous, also called renewal (Titus 3:5)

Is sanctification included in justification or after it?

“[Jesus] saved us…by the washing of [sanctification]…(Titus 3:5). This question itself is loaded because there are 2 different concepts trying to be expressed in the same word “included”: that purifying of God vs humanity. Humanity’s sanctification is not “included” in the justifying abilities of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) of which our works have no power in saving ourselves (Romans 9:16), but God’s sanctification is “included” as a requirement to be justified on Judgment Day, because the forgiveness of sins is only given after the sanctifying or cleansing of the soul through the act of confessing sins (I John 1:9). Therefore, man’s sanctification is not included in justification, but God’s sanctification is included in justification.

Other

Is election conditional?

We support the unconditional election view because Paul directly says that election is not dependent on what a human does but purely on mercy (Romans 9:16). Conditional election says that God predestines based on seeing if they would do right or wrong (Romans 8:29-30; I Peter 1:1-2), but God’s purpose of election is showing his mercy, which is irrelevant of works (Romans 9:11; John 6:65). At that time, many believed the older deserves more, but God wanted to show people that God ultimately is the only Giver (Romans 9:12). For this reason, he chose to love Jacob despite his flaws, and hate Esau’s sins (Romans 9:13). Although this naturally sounds unfair (Romans 9:14), mercy is unfair (Romans 9:15; Matthew 20:12,15) because otherwise, we’d all permanently stay in hell (Romans 6:23).

Is atonement limited?

We support the unlimited atonement view. Jesus’ gift of eternal life is free for anyone who believes (John 3:16) because his atonement is available to anyone, not just the elect (I John 2:2; I Timothy 2:6; John 1:29). Because many people don’t accept Jesus’ gift, they pay for their own sins in hell (Matthew 5:26), meaning that His life was only given to “many” not “all” (Matthew 20:28; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:28). Jesus did not lose any that was given to Him (John 6:39), but all those who went to hell are lost because their soul dies (II Peter 3:7). Some say unlimited atonement is illogical because God wouldn’t pay for sins on the cross of people that have to pay in hell, but He’s paying for their future sins, after they accept Him in hell (I Peter 4:6) and are restored to life (I Corinthians 15:22).

Is God’s grace irresistible?

We support irresistible grace. Although people can resist God’s calling (Matthew 22:14), no one seeks Him (Romans 3:11). God’s mercy cannot be resisted by those chosen (Romans 9:18-19).