What is Essential?
There are many today who will tell you that all you have to do is believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you will be saved. While those two things are indeed absolutely essential to being saved (Romans 10:9-10), the all-important question is, are they indeed the only two essential requirements in order to be saved like so many claim? If you are someone who believes that they are, and your eternal destination is at all important to you, then please take the time to consider each of the following statements and the Scriptures which accompany them (Acts 17:11).
Flour is not all that is essential for pancakes. Belief is not all that is essential for salvation.
· Satan believes in God, for he speaks of Him as existing (Genesis 3:1-5).
· Satan also believes God is powerful – far more powerful than he is (Job 1:6-10).
· Satan’s demonic servants believe in God as well – and tremble (James 2:19).
· Satan’s demonic servants also believe, – yes KNOW – that God is all-powerful (Mark 5:1-13).
· Satan’s demonic servants not only believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but also confessed the same on numerous occasions (Matthew 8:28-29, Luke 4:33-35, 40-41).
While confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart that Jesus is Lord are both essential to being saved, they are certainly not the only two items that are essential to salvation as these Biblical examples undeniably prove. If they were, then both Satan and his demons would be headed for heaven for all eternity – which they are not (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10). We see this same Biblical pattern of those who confessed Jesus as Lord and obviously believed in their hearts, but still were not saved simply by those two essential elements alone, in several other Scriptures as well. For example:
- The highly devout and zealously religious folks listed in Matthew 7:21-23 called Jesus “Lord.” They obviously believed – look at the list of good works they did in His name! But what did Jesus say to them in vs. 23? “I never knew you; depart from Me.” Why? Because even though they had believed in and confessed Him as Lord, they still hadn’t done the other things that were just as essential to their salvation as those two were (Vss. 21, 24-27).
- Saul of Tarsus, on his way into Damascus, both called Jesus “Lord,” and showed his deeply heart-felt faith/belief by his very obediently following Jesus’ instructions (Acts 9:1-8; See Hebrews, chapter 11). If those two things alone were all that were necessary in order to be saved, then at that point he would have been. However; we know he wasn’t, because even after doing those two things – plus praying hard over the course of three days without food or drink (Vss. 9-11) – he was still in his sins (Acts 22:12-16), not yet being forgiven, or hence saved.
- Even though King Agrippa knew all about Jesus and believed all that the prophets had written about Him, both the Apostle Paul as well as Agrippa himself knew that those things alone did not make him a Christian (Acts 26:1-28).
Belief and confession can be likened to an engine and a transmission. It is safe to say that he who has an engine and a transmission can drive his car to his intended destination. This is because without both an engine and a transmission, the car will certainly not get him where he intends to go. However, while those two items are absolutely essential to driving his car there, they are certainly not the only two essential elements that are. Tires, framework, and fuel are all just as necessary to his intended travel and destination arrival.
Yes, belief and confession are salvation-essential just as the Bible says (Romans 10:9-10). However, there are several other just as salvation-essential items which cannot be left out, neglected, or overlooked if one is to be truly saved, instead of tragically surprised, when they come before the Lord Jesus on Judgement Day (Matthew 7:21-23).
If you are serious about the safe arrival of your eternal soul to its intended heavenly destination on that day, then please come, and see, and study, and worship with us this coming Lord’s Day. Ask questions. Get full Biblical answers!
For a free and further Bible Study on this subject, please go to https://godswordistruth.org/bible-studies and click on the study entitled: “Complete List Of Biblical Components Necessary For Salvation” in the fourth set of studies in that section. Also, for much more information and Biblical insight, please listen to the full length audio sermon from which the above article was actually taken, at: https://soundcloud.com/user-640047687/044-is-satan-a-christian-4-28-19-am.