What Must I do to be Saved?

Matthew 19:23-30 (02/15/21)

As we have seen in the earlier portions of this study, the New Testament continues the Old Testament theme of salvation as saving our physical lives and health and giving us the abundance we need to be comfortable and content. For the first time, we also see frequent and unambiguous promises of life that is "eternal" or "everlasting" (usually the same word in Greek).

What we don't see in the NT (except in Athens, Acts 17) are people asking Jesus and the apostles, "What are you talking about?" The period of about 400 years between the latest books of the Old Testament and the earliest books of the New Testament saw the rich development of the idea of eternal life, usually along with eternal reward or punishment. Even the Sadducees, who rejected the idea, were familiar with it.

Notice in today's reading how surprised the disciples were, however, at the idea that the rich would have a difficult time being saved. Standard OT theology said that if you were rich, you were blessed by God, which meant you were a faithful and upright person. If you were poor or suffering, you were not blessed by God, which meant you were an unfaithful and unrighteous person. So if the rich can't be saved, who can?

Matthew 25:31-46 (02/16/21)

Of course, the downside of eternal life is that you may not be happy with where you are living. As I've mentioned before, the eternal fire was actually prepared for the Devil and his angels, not for people (vs. 41). People only go there if they earn the privilege ("the wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23). Now, I know that not everyone accepts the idea of eternal punishment. It's not something I'm prepared to argue about either way, except to point out that you have to ignore a fair amount of scripture, not to mention 2000 years of Church tradition, in order to reject it.

John 3:1-21 (02/17/21)

As a Pharisee, Nicodemus isn't questioning the idea of eternal life; he's just a little confused about how it's going to work (vs. 4, 9). We've talked before about the pun in John 3:8.

John 3:22-36 (02/18/21)

We've talked before about "quotation marks" in Greek. There's a mark showing that a quote is about to begin (it's actually a word, hoti ), but no mark showing that the quote is ended. Usually this is not problem, because the context clearly shows who is speaking. John has a tendency to quote a speaker (usually Jesus, but not always) and then explain the speaker's remarks, so it can be difficult to see where the change occurs. If you read more than one or two translations (which you should), you'll see that they don't always agree about who is saying what.

In this passage, for example, I personally would end the remarks of John the Baptist with vs. 30, as does the English Standard Version. The Weymouth New Testament ends his remarks with vs. 34. The World English Bible ends with vs. 36. It doesn't matter, except to show us that we shouldn't be too dogmatic about these things.

By the way, I'm assuming that you are reading carefully and finding the references to eternal life all on your own, whether I point them out to you or not.

John 4:13-36 (02/19/21)

We're still in John, but here there's no question about who's saying what. Jesus, the Samaritan woman, and the disciples are identified each time they speak. I like the way the story begins and ends with eternal life.

John 5:19-40 (02/22/21)

One thing I never noticed before is that about half the mentions of eternal life in the New Testament (and thus probably in the Bible) are in John and the letters of John. John wrote much later than the other Gospel writers. They tend to concentrate on what Jesus said and did; John tends to concentrate on what Jesus' words and deeds meant.

On vs. 20 and reading more than one translation: Whoa! In the World English Bible, the Father "has affection for" the Son. What?? I checked more than 30 translations, and this is the only one that doesn't have "The Father loves the Son." The verb for love used here is phileo, and I'm sure at some point you've heard a sermon about the "difference" between phileo and agapeo in John 21:15-17. But you should compare this verse, 5:20, with John 3:35, which is almost exactly the same except that it uses agapeo. We talked before about the difference (or lack thereof) between agapeo and phileo, and there are a few more examples in that study tip. I don't see any difference, and apparently neither do the vast majority of translators.

John 6:24-40 (02/23/21)

I find this passage to be funny, sad, and full of irony. The previous day, Jesus had fed 5000 men, plus women and children, with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-10). Now those same people (John 6:22-25) are asking for a sign. Were they really that clueless? Are we?

By the way, in vs. 27 "has sealed him" is literally correct, but more idiomatically we would say, "has set his seal on him."

John 6:41-59 (02/24/21)

The part of this I understand: "he who believes in me has eternal life." The part I don't understand: everything else. I really sympathize with Jesus' listeners in the synagogue in Capernaum. With 2,000 years of Christian preaching and teaching supporting me, I'm not sure I really understand this yet. They were hearing it for the first time, so no wonder they didn't get it. John Wesley says, "Eating his flesh is only another expression for believing." He's probably right, although Jesus' examples usually make his main idea easier to understand, and not harder.

John 6:60-71 (02/25/21)

We usually talk about Jesus' disciples as if there were only twelve of them. In fact, there were a lot more, sometimes more, sometimes fewer. It's like being a college student: the number of students who start is greater than the number who graduate, and the number of students who graduate is much greater than the number who go on to become famous (or infamous) alumni. Today we see some disciples who dropped out because they thought the course work was too difficult.

John 10:24-39 (02/26/21)

Yeterday's scripture email was sent out very late; thanks to alert reader Mike S. for reminding me that I have other things to do than watch YouTube. I do have a good and important reason for watching YouTube, but nevertheless, I should have been sending the scripture lesson.

One of the videos I watched is actually (although accidentally) pertinent to today's scripture. A guy is swimming at the pool at his own apartment building, which has a monthly rental of $1600. Some bystander decides he looks suspicious and calls the cops. Cop says, "Do you live here?" Guy shows the cop his key. Cop says, "What's your address?" Guy says, "I just showed you my key!" Assistant manager (who later gets fired for this) asks guy to leave the pool instead of confirming that he lives there, on the grounds that she can ask anyone to leave the pool.

This guy and Jesus are on exactly the same page. "I just answered your question! Weren't you listening?" Guy gets asked to leave the pool; Jesus gets run out of town. "Why do I have to leave the pool? I live here." "For which of my good works do you want to stone me?"

John 12:20-26, 12:42-50 (03/01/21)

By now you have noticed that the New Testament does not argue for eternal life; it just assumes eternal life. Maybe I already said that. Instead of saying it 21 times, I am assuming that you are reading the scripture and noticing that for the past two weeks and the next two weeks and a day, every scripture passage we read contains one or two references to eternal life.

So meantime let's review our basic study tools and habits.

First, you must get yourself a good, modern translation with study notes and cross references. Get one that is unrelated to the translation you currently read; you can find the translation families on Google. The more you read two or more unrelated translations, the better you will understand what it says.
Second, you have to read the Bible for yourself. Don't take my word, or your Sunday School teacher's word, or your pastor or rabbi's word for what's in the Bible, because we make mistakes. Read it for yourself!
Obviously, the best translation for you is one that you will read. Before you buy, check them out in a library or at Bible Gateway. Or at least see the comments in our archive or those of Ken Collins.
Love God; love your neighbor. That way you don't have to worry about whether you understand the puzzling verses.

John 17:1-5; 1 John 1:1-4, 3:11-15 (03/02/21)

One of the very early Gnostic heresies was that Jesus Christ wasn't present in a human body, he just appeared to be – sort of like a hi-res 1st-century hologram. This is probably why John emphasizes that he and others have heard Jesus, have seen him with their own eyes, and have touched and felt him with their own hands. He was really real. John is too full of loving kindness to say, "Are you people crazy?" which is what Paul would have said if he had lived long enough to see this heresy (see Galatians 3:1-3). John says instead, "love God; love your neighbor."

1 John 2:20-25, 5:6-21 (03/03/21)

Hey! You know that I'm always telling you to read a couple of independent translations of the Bible, right? And under your breath, you no doubt reply, "So how am I supposed to know if they're independent?" Voila! Cool chart, huh? Unless you have a 30" monitor, you'll probably have to zoom in.

1 John 5:14-15 gives us a critical detail about prayer: "if we ask anything according to his will, ... we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him." People get confused about this. Jesus says in Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you." Well, I asked for a Ferrari, and it's not sitting in my driveway! What gives? As Jesus repeatedly explained in John 14:13-14, 15:16, 16:23-26, we're only going to get what is asked in his name. Jesus always put God the Father's will above his own, and the "name" is equivalent to the person, so if we ask for something that Jesus wouldn't ask for, we probably aren't going to get it. You can ask for anything you want; just remember that sometimes the answer will be "No."

p.s. I didn't actually ask for a Ferrari. I asked for $5 billion. Didn't get that, either.

Acts 13:42-52 (03/04/21)

All of the apostles, and all the New Testament writers except for Luke, were Jews, as were multitudes of ordinary disciples and converts to the Way. Now Paul and Barnabas are preaching at the synagogue in Antioch, and notice that the "Jews" include two groups. In vss. 42-43, "many of the Jews" followed Paul and Barbabas, but in vs. 45, "the Jews" were opposed to them. It's important to remember that NT Jews included everybody who wasn't a Gentile. They didn't all think the same way or believe the same things, as we've seen with the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Romans 2:1-12 (03/05/21)

Fellow-reader Pamela L. wrote the other day, and it turns out that she saved me the trouble of writing a study tip for today. Here's part of what she said:

eternal life of some sort

Thanks, Pamela!

Romans 5:6-21 (03/08/21)

In vs. 21, "as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," the righteousness is Christ's, not ours. The only righteousness we have, really, is that imputed to us through our faith in Christ, the one righteous person (vs. 18).

Also note that in vs. 12, Paul says that what passes to us from Adam is death, not sin. You might be surprised to learn that no one had even thought of sin passing to us from Adam until Augustine came up with the idea of "original sin" in the 4th century. Now essentially the entire Western Church accepts the idea of original sin; hence infant baptism and a lot of other doctrines. The Eastern Church has the idea of "original death," i.e., what you inherit from Adam and Eve is death.

My personal position is that original sin is completely irrelevant to me, because I have committed so many sins of my very own.

Romans 6:1-23 (03/09/21)

Paul's letters are difficult reading, no doubt about it. This is partly because he'll discuss one single point for two or three chapters, whereas we tend to read only one chapter at a time. The hint here is right in verse 1: "What shall we say then?" That's pretty clearly not the beginning of what he's talking about! Always make sure you are reading the entire context, which sometimes can go on for several chapters or even books. In the true spirit of do as I say, not as I do, I'm giving you today's reading out of context (MWAHahahaha!).

Anyway, the meat of what he's saying here, for our purposes, is that if you have eternal life in Christ, you better not be living it in sin! Plus, of course, we get one of the most famous verses in the Bible: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord," which was #29 in our Bible Gateway Countdown.

Galatians 6:1-10; Micah 6:8 (03/10/21)

As a reminder, you're supposed to be especially noticing what the scripture readings are saying about eternal life. So today you get a second reminder, which is that you need a Bible with cross-references. The actual study tip for today is this great anthem sung by the St. John's virtual choir, "Let Us Not Become Weary," which cross-references Galatians 6:9-10 with Micah 6:8. When we ask Paul, "What do you mean by 'doing good'?", we get an answer from his friend Micah.

1 Timothy 1:15-17, 6:7-19 (03/11/21)

Every once in a while Paul is so overcome with the goodness and mercy and glory of God that he just breaks out with a doxology ("word of glory") in the middle of some other topic. We see two of these here, in 1 Timothy 1:17 and in 1 Timothy 6:15-16. Especially in Ch. 6, Paul is talking about money and riches, bursts out with the doxology, and then goes back to money and riches. Both of these doxologies are closely connected with God's gift of eternal life.

By the way, I suspect you are wealthy, because you have a computer. You and I need to be careful about how we use our money. Is it for our own aggrandizement (vss. 8-10) or for the glory of God (vss. 17-19)?

Titus 1:1-4, 3:1-8 (03/12/21)

Paul writes to Titus, one of his trainees, to remind Titus of how he's supposed to be directing the churches in his care. One of the important messages that Titus must deliver, of course, is about eternal life. Paul makes two points. First, eternal life was promised before time began, which sort of makes sense if it truly is "eternal." Second – and I think we miss this part all too often – that our eternal lives are gifts given with the expectation that we'll use the time to do good works. We didn't earn the gift, and we aren't paying it back, because we can't; nevertheless good works are expected from those who have received the gift. If I give you a potted plant, I'm sort of assuming that you'll water it.

Jude 1:19-25 (03/15/21)

This little subsection on God's desire that we have eternal life ends with a note from Jude, who reminds us that only the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ brings us to eternal life. We need to show that mercy to others, as well. "Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

Matthew 18:1-11; Mark 3:28-30, Eternal fire or damnation is an option (Not Recommended). (03/16/21)

We've been reading about eternal life for a few weeks, but there are other options (not recommended), such as eternal fire or eternal condemnation. The word for "eternal" is the same.

Many sermons have been preached, and much ink spilled, on what the unforgiveable sin of Mark 3:29 might be, but John Wesley's comment on vs. 30 (very slightly updated for easier reading) is this:

"Isn't it astonishing that men who have ever read these words should doubt what is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost? Can any words declare more plainly that it is 'the ascribing those miracles to the power of the devil which Christ wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost?'"
2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:5, The weight of glory and a house not made with hands are also eternal. (03/17/21)

In addition to eternal life, Paul says we expect an eternal weight of glory and an eternal house, not made with hands. I suspect that in talking about "the earthly house of our tent" and "the house not made with hands," Paul is referring to our current and glorified bodies, although I could be wrong.

Hmm... I seem to be channeling John Wesley again, because he says the same thing. Never underestimate the importance of Sunday school and vacation Bible school for children, because apparently somebody taught me this kind of Wesleyan thought pattern before I was old enough to remember it.

Hebrews 5:5-10; 9:11-15; Isaiah 35:4-10, 45:17-19, Salvation; Redemption and Inheritance; and joy are eternal. (03/18/21)

Sometimes you'll hear a devoted Christian wonder what on earth we're going to be doing in heaven. Won't sitting around and worshipping God get old after a few thousand years? Don't worry: it will be fine. Jesus tells us in John 5:15 that God never stops working and neither does he, so I expect there will be assignments for us, too. Even though we don't know for sure what we will do, we do know that our salvation, our redemption, and our joy will be eternal.

Deuteronomy 33:26-29; 1 Chronicles 16:23-36, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen! (03/19/21)

Of course, anyone able to offer a promise of eternal life – or eternal joy, salvation, redemption, or anything else – must be intrinsically eternal, and we see that in God. We'll finish off this section of our study with a series of affirmations of God's eternal nature, power, goodness, and love.

By the way, Jeshuran is a rare, symbolic name for Jerusalem. It's related to a word that means upright, pleasant, or prosperous.

Hebrews 1:1-12, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen! (03/22/21)

As we learned in our earlier study of Hebrews,* the writer quotes many passages of scripture (our Old Testament) to support each point that he makes. At the very beginning of the book, his point is that Jesus is both divine and eternal. And by the way, that makes him superior to any angel.

* Check out the cool graphic.

Romans 1:18-25, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen! (03/23/21)

Paul says that it's silly to worship either (1) something that you made, or (2) something that has a shorter life span than you do! However, for our present study, the most important part of what he says is that "what can be known about God is plain ... For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made."

Psalms 90:1-6; 106:47-48, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen! (03/24/21)

"From everlasting to everlasting" is another way of saying that God is eternal.

Isaiah 9:6-7; 40:27-31, 60:16-22, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen! (03/25/21)

Our God is an everlasting God! Amen!

That's what Isaiah says, but since this is a Bible study, I'll just point out how he says it: in couplets. Notice how nearly everything is said twice in slightly different words. This is how the prophets thought, apparently, because it's an extremely common form throughout the prophetic books.

Psalms 111:1-10, 117:1-2, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen! (03/26/21)

We end this portion of our study on salvation with Psalm 117, the shortest chapter in the Bible. Praise the LORD!

More of What Must I do to be Saved

Point 1: God Wants to Save Everybody

Introduction

God Wants to Save Everybody - Corporately

God Wants to Save Everybody - Individually

Sometimes It's Hard to Separate Corporate and Individual Salvation

Point 2: You Can Reject God's Plan for Your Salvation (Not Recommended)

Examples in Scripture

More Examples in Scripture

Point 3: God’s Plan for Your Salvation is Broader than You Think

God Wants to Save Your Physical Life and Health

God Wants to Save Your Physical Life and Health (continued)

God Wants to Give You Abundant Life

God Wants You to Have Eternal Life

Point 4: How the Bible Answers the Question

Love God and Your Neighbor

Sin No More, Do Good, Love One Another

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