Amazing Grace

When did salvation become so complicated? The girls and I were talking this weekend about how to know when your child is ready to "get saved." Hubby and I went through this when the boys were wanting to get baptized. Our questioning came when we weren't sure if they would be able to answer the church leader's questions correctly. So it got me thinking.

Let's say you live in a place that has no churches and you've never even heard of God or Jesus. One day someone drops a Bible in your lap. If you simply read it (never having heard things like "the sinner's prayer" or “ask Jesus into your heart” or “pray to receive Christ”) what would you do to have eternal life?

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:14-18 (emphasis mine)

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Let’s go to a conventional church setting…A person walks the aisle and talks with a pastor. The pastor leads this person in the “sinner’s prayer”. Does the prayer save that person? Or was the person saved before he/she even took the first step toward the altar? That person believes the message of the gospel in his/her heart. The step and the prayer are works. Works don’t save us. Works are a product of our salvation. Works are a result of a love for God and a desire to please Him.

Galatians 2:16
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 10:9-13
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

We’ve made salvation complicated to fit our standards of protocol. So that we can look back and say, “Oh yes, on this day and at this place, I asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me.”

Eternal life (salvation) is based on faith in Jesus Christ who was sinless yet humbly gave His life to be mercilessly taken to pay the penalty for our sins.

So where does that leave us when it comes to our children? Romans 10:14-15 says, But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

We need to tell them of the gracious, unrelenting love of the Savior and their need for Him.

Luke 18:17
[Jesus said,] “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”