What Must I do to be Saved?

Psalms 81:1-16, "My people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me." (05/20/19)

In Point 1, we read more than 70 scripture passages saying that God wants to save everyone: the young, the old, the good, the bad, the wicked, and the righteous, both as individuals and as families, clans, tribes, and nations. We could have read many more passages, but even though that is a lovely point, we've seen the point, and it's time to move on.

Have you ever installed software on your computer? Usually there are at least two options, and you have to choose one:

□ Standard Installation (Recommended)
□ Custom Installation.

Standard Installation usually takes less time and is more successful for most people, which is why the software developers recommend that you choose it. The "recommended option" of the Bible is that you choose God's salvation.

Now we come to an unlovely point: You can reject God's plan for your salvation. This option is not recommended anywhere in the Bible, but it is clearly presented a few times (for example, in Joshua 24:15). Even when the option isn't made clear, however, many people insist on choosing it! We see over and over again that individuals and groups have rejected God and rejected salvation. God puts it this way in Psalms 81: "My people, Israel, you refused to listen, and you would have nothing to do with me!"

Isaiah 1:1-20, "They have forsaken the LORD ... they are utterly estranged." (05/21/19)

Have you ever been to a dairy at milking time? The farmer doesn't have to round up the cows, because they come to the barn all on their own. They know who they belong to and who is going to feed them and take care of them. Isaiah's message from God is that sometimes we aren't as smart as cows and donkeys! God loves to take care of his people, but he can't take care of people who have deserted him.

Jeremiah 2:1-20, "Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD?" (05/22/19)

If you don't understand why some people would reject God and the salvation that God offers, you're in good company. God doesn't understand it either. Look at vss. 9-11. "Nobody ever deserts their gods," he says. "Has anybody ever deserted their gods? And they are even real! So what's up with you guys deserting me, the real and only God?!"

Jeremiah is speaking to a nation headed for exile. They have turned their backs on God for so long that most of them can't or won't turn around. Their punishment is their own fault; they are punished by their sins.

Jeremiah 2:21-37, "Why then do my people say, 'We are free, we will come no more to you'?" (05/23/19)

Not only have God's people turned themselves into the people of other gods, but they deny it. Now they're in a bad situation, and apparently they think God should step in and save them, without any sign of repentance from them. "I don't think so," says God. "You've got plenty of gods! Let them save you!" Just as the people are free to desert God (vs. 31), God is free to let them do that. The prophets regularly get sarcastic on the subject of worthless, impotent idols, but this is a level of exasperation that I haven't often noticed.

Matthew 12:1-14, "The Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him." (05/24/19)

In our scripture from Isaiah on Tuesday, God says, "I can't stand the evil you do on your New Moon Festivals or on your Sabbaths and other times of worship. Stop doing wrong and learn to live right. See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help those in need." Jesus gives the same advice to the Pharisees when he quotes Hosea 6:6, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Unfortunately, they aren't interested either in mercy or in scripture, so they reject the word of God and make plans to kill Jesus.

Jeremiah 11:1-14, "They have gone after other gods to serve them ... I will not listen when they call to me." (05/27/19)

We're studying Micah in Sunday School, and Micah sounds a lot like Jeremiah. This is because the prophets bring a consistent message: "The LORD says, 'You, my people, have deserted me for other gods and disobeyed my commandments, and now you are in trouble.'" The important part of this for Point 2 of our study is that it certainly appears to be possible for God's people to disobey and desert God. Of course, the downside of that is that it gets us into trouble.

Jeremiah 18:1-17, "My people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods." (05/28/19)

Jeremiah compares God and the people of God to a potter and the clay of the potter. Potters can dispose of the pots they are making at several different stages. Maybe the clay isn't taking the right shape; the potter beats it back into a lump and reforms it. In vss. 7-11, God says that if the people would stop sinning, he would change his mind, presumably to take them back and reform them. Sometimes the pot breaks during firing, and it's just a pile of worthless shards; the potter abandons it and starts over. In vs. 12-17, God gloomily predicts that his people are going to turn their back on him and worship idols, and in that case he will abandon them like a broken pot.

Isaiah 30:1-11, "They are a race of rebels... who will not listen to the LORD's instruction. (05/29/19)

It's bad enough that God's people have decided to rely on Egypt, a fragile reed, instead of God, a rock. But then they tell the prophet Jeremiah, "Don't even talk to us about God!" They are a race of rebels who will not listen to the LORD's instruction; clearly it's possible to rebel against God's plans.

Hebrews 12:14-29, "See that you do not refuse him who is speaking." (05/30/19)

The author of Hebrews is writing to Jewish Christians to affirm and strengthen their faith, both by presenting the Gospel message and by quoting extensively from the Old Testament to show how Jesus fulfills the scriptures. Hebrews can be difficult to read if you aren't familiar with the Old Testament, as we saw in our earlier study of that book. However, the main point for our current study is that the author reminds the readers that their ancestors "did not escape, when they refused to obey the one who spoke to them at Mount Sinai," and asks, logically enough, "Do you think you can possibly escape, if you refuse to obey the one who speaks to you from heaven?" The author assumes that we can disobey God and that there are bad consequences of disobedience.

Deuteronomy 31:14-29, "I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods." (05/31/19)

Forty years after leaving Egypt, the children of Israel are about to leave the desert and enter the promised land. So far, their record is not promising. It seems like every time they turned around, they were worshiping calves, grumbling against the LORD, or whining about the lack of all the comforts they enjoyed as slaves in Egypt. When God says, "They're going to turn to other gods, and then I'll just ignore them," God isn't putting a curse on them, he's just discouraged and grumpy. Since God himself is saying that "Israel will reject me," I think we are safe in assuming that we can reject God if we want to, no matter how bad an idea that may be. (By the way, the Song of Moses is found in Deuteronomy 31:30 – 32:44.)

Jeremiah 4:1-18, "She has rebelled against me, declares the LORD" (06/03/19)

Jeremiah is speaking to the people of Judah just before they are sent into exile for rebelling against God. They are stubborn and disobedient, but they can't say they weren't warned. We saw on Friday that even as far back as the time of Moses, God was warning them not to follow other gods or they would be in such trouble that he would even ignore them if they did call on him.

I think the most important verse in this passage is the last one: "It's your own fault that you will be punished." We spent several weeks looking at the scriptural basis for the idea that God wants to save everyone, and even while Jeremiah is delivering a message of doom, God says, "There is still time for you to be saved." If you don't want to be saved, that's possible, but then it's your own fault when you are punished.

Joshua 24:14-16; Judges 2:6-15, 8:32-34, "The people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals." (06/04/19)

Apparently "never" comes in about a generation, 25 or 30 years. When Joshua led the children of Israel into the promised land, he got everybody together and gave them a choice between God and gods. They all chose God, but within a few decades of Joshua's death, they started worshiping other gods. God raised up a series of judges, Gideon for example, and during the lifetime of each judge the people would worship God. As soon as the judge died, they went back to their bad old ways. They chose to reject God.

Matthew 12:22-32, "It is only by Beelzebul ... that this man casts out demons." (06/05/19)

When Jesus casts out a demon, the Pharisees say that he does it using the power of the head demon, Beelzebul. Jesus makes two counterarguments. First, it's a silly idea that the head demon would be in the business of casting out demons. Second, if Jesus himself can only cast out demons with the aid of Beelzebul, it stands to reason that the followers of the Pharisees who cast out demons also do it with the aid of Beelzebul. But that isn't what he really wants to talk about. What he wants to talk about is that a person who attributes the work of the Holy Spirit to Beelzebul or any other demon is so out of touch with God that he can't be forgiven. I think most pastors and scholars say that this doesn't rule out repentance and readmission to the presence of God, and I agree. Unfortunately, repentance is required for readmission, and anyone who is seriously out of touch with God probably doesn't see the need for repentance; Catch-22.

Jeremiah 5:20-31, "What will you do when the end comes?" (06/06/19)

When God's own people turn their backs on God; God can't help them on the day of disaster. False priests and prophets say, "Don't worry, be happy," but real prophets say, "Turn around before it's too late."

2 Peter 2:1-22, "Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray." (06/07/19)

Peter is on a roll giving examples of wicked behavior that he wants his readers to avoid. (Note that I want my readers to avoid them, too.) However, he's not talking about people who have never believed, he's talking about former believers! Look carefully at vss. 20-21. Peter is talking about people who learned about Jesus Christ and escaped the filthy things of this world, but who then "turned their backs on the holy commandments that they were given." Here we have a clear example of people – apparently Peter knows some of them – who have rejected God's plan for their salvation.

Deuteronomy 32:15-21, 36-44, "They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols." (06/10/19)

I don't know about you, but I remember words to songs that I learned 60 years ago, even though I can't remember what I was doing yesterday. Today we read part of the Song of Moses, which was put into song precisely so that people would remember it. I don't know whether the children of Israel remembered the words, but it's really clear that they forgot to do what the song said they should! They were unfaithful, they turned away from God to other gods, and they got into trouble. Turning away from God is possible but not recommended.

Joshua 22:9-34, The people of Reuben are accused of rebellion against the LORD. (06/11/19)

Here's a story that we haven't read in a long time. When Moses led the children of Israel to the Jordan River, right across the river from the promised land, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh looked around and decided they liked it there. They asked Moses if they could have that land instead of property across the river, and he said, sure, as long as the men came along for the battles and acted as the shock troops. Later, those tribes became concerned that if they didn't live in the promised land proper, the rest of the nation would decide they didn't belong. They built an altar of witness as a reminder of their joint history with the other tribes. The other tribes misinterpreted the altar and got upset.

In Point 1 of this study on salvation, we saw that a group can be saved, apparently even if some members of the group are just along for the ride. Today we see that the children of Israel certainly believed that a group can also reject God and suffer the consequences, apparently even if some members of the group weren't directly responsible. Take a good look at vss. 16 and 18. The nine and a half tribes west of the Jordan are concerned that the supposed rejection of God by the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan will result in the punishment of the whole nation.

Micah 6:1-16, "O my people, what have I done to you? ... Answer me!" (06/12/19)

Micah 6:8 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible, as we saw in an earlier study. We're a lot less happy about the other verses in the passage, which tell us what we're doing wrong and how God is going to punish us for it. This is a courtroom scene. Vss. 1-2 call the court to order. Vss. 3-5 present God's side of the case. Vss. 6-9 seem to me to be a statement of the law that has been violated. Vss. 10-12 and 16a present the evidence against Jerusalem, and vss. 13-15 and 16b give the sentence. However, the main point for our current study is that this is a case against the people as a whole, who have followed the sins of Omri and Ahab, in particular, the worship of idols and Baal, the primary god of the Philistines.

Jude 1:7-25, "There will be those who ... follow their own godless lusts." (06/13/19)

Jude is writing to Christians and about Christians – or at least about former Christians! They may even be family members, like Cain, or people who have shared meals with us. Note that they are dead trees, not unsprouted seeds, or unproductive clouds, not empty skies. They seem to be former members of the community who have fallen away. But there's worse to come: we have to be careful that they don't lead us to fall away. Instead, we need to be vigilant to rescue any weaker believers who are in danger of coming under their influence to be led away from God.

Luke 7:17-30, "The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves." (06/14/19)

There is no clearer statement that you can reject God's plan for your salvation than Luke 7:30. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were the most devout, knowledgeable, and religious people of their time, but they rejected God's purpose for themselves. If it could happen to them, it could happen to anybody, so stay alert.

1 Samuel 15:1-23, "Saul ... has turned back from following me." (06/17/19)

In Point 1 of this study, we saw that God wants to save people both in groups and as individuals. So far in Point 2, we've seen that groups can also reject God's plan by rebellion, disobedience, worshipping other gods, disbelief, and so on. There are also examples in both the Old and New Testaments of individuals who reject God's plan. King Saul disobeyed God, and the prophet Samuel informed him – after arguing with God about this point, apparently – that God considers disobedience to be just as bad as idolatry.

2 Kings 17:1-17, "They went after false idols and became false." (06/18/19)

Hoshea was the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was the last because in the ninth year of his reign the Assyrians overran the capital city of Samaria, deported virtually everybody who survived the war, and imported other defeated peoples into the land. The Bible attributes this series of events to the working of God in history: "All of this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had rescued them from Egypt, where they had been slaves; they rejected the solemn agreement he had made with their ancestors."

Acts 13:1-12, "Elymas opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith." (06/19/19)

The story of Barnabas, Saul, Sergius Paulus, and Elymas is instructive. Sergius Paulus ended up having faith in the Lord; however, both Elymas and Paul seem to have been convinced that Elymas could have turned Sergius Paulus away from belief. Be a good influence on your friends; don't let them be a bad influence on you.

Jeremiah 8:4-13, "I have ... listened, but ... no man relents of his evil." (06/20/19)

God is angry at the people of the southern kingdom of Judah for two reasons. First, they have rejected him and done what is wrong, and second, they won't admit it. It's really hard to repent and be saved if you embrace your sins and continually reject God's plans for you.

Jeremiah 15:1-9, "You have rejected me, says the LORD; ... I am weary of relenting." (06/21/19)

Even by the standards of bad kings, Manasseh was evil (2 Kings 21:1-18), and his son Amon followed in his footsteps (2 Kings 21:18-26). Amon's son Josiah was an excellent king who carried out many reforms (2 Kings 22:1-23:25); however, it was too late (2 Kings 23:26-27), and in any case his son Jehoiakim went back to the bad old ways (2 Kings 23:34-27).

By that time, God had had enough of rebellion, necromancy, idolatry, worship of pagan gods, and child sacrifice. The people needed an unforgettable lesson, and God decided to exile them from the promised land. God tells Jeremiah that he wouldn't change his mind "even if Moses and Samuel were here, praying with you." People who reject God's plan for salvation long enough discover that God may have an alternative plan.

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

Copyright 2019, 2020 and 2021 by Regina L. Hunter. All rights reserved. This page has been prepared for the web site by RPB.

Opinions expressed on this page are solely those of the author, Regina Hunter, and may or may not be shared by the sponsors or the Bible-study participants. Thanks to the Holy Spirit for any useful ideas presented here, and thanks to all the readers for their support and enthusiasm. All errors are, of course, the sole responsibility of the author.

Our Sponsors:

St. John's United Methodist Church, "Transforming Lives Through Christ."
2626 Arizona NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110

St. John's Music Ministries now has a YouTube channel, bringing you free concerts and choral music. Check it out!

Traditional worship services are held Sundays at 8:15 and 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. Casual worship services are held Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in the Family Life Center. Jazz Vespers are held monthly on the second Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. St. John's feels especially called to the worship of God and to the service of our neighbors through our music program.

Storm Dragon Software^TM

Ducks in a Row, Inc.

This website is supported in part by the generosity of Mrs. J. Jordan.