Explore the complexities of eternal salvation in today’s episode. Reflect on listener Trent’s intriguing query about selfless versus selfish reasonings behind one’s belief in Christ. Our hosts challenge the notion of different types of faith, emphasizing that the promise of Jesus is accessible to anyone who believes. Discover reassurance in the simplicity of genuine faith and the joy it brings.
00:00:00 Introduction to Eternal Salvation Discussion
The following is a listener-supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.
SPEAKER 02 :
When we believe for eternal salvation, is there a certain mindset or kind of belief? Do you have to believe unselfishly to be saved? This is a great question. We’re going to talk about it today here on Grace in Focus. And we’re just delighted that you joined us today, friend. This is the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We’ll be right back. It’s an annual conference, happens every May this year. The dates are May 19th through the 22nd. It’s held at a beautiful camp in North Texas. And all of the details are right there on our website, faithalone.org. If you’re a first-timer, we waive the registration fee. And all of the other details are right there on our website, faithalone.org. Now with today’s question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Mike Lee.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, we have a question from Trent today, one of our YouTube viewers. And he’s asking, in regard to eternal salvation, a fellow church member once told me that the first two times he believed on Christ for salvation, he didn’t get saved. Now, wait a minute. Yeah. Read that again. Yes, this church member told Trent that the first two times he believed on Christ for salvation, he didn’t get saved.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, he obviously didn’t believe in Christ for salvation, or he would have gotten saved, but okay, keep going.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let’s hear his reasons. He didn’t get saved because he believed for a selfish reason.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay, now what’s that?
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t know.
SPEAKER 01 :
Maybe because he wanted to spend eternity with the Lord? Maybe because he didn’t want to go to the lake of fire?
SPEAKER 03 :
Right, right.
SPEAKER 01 :
Those are selfish reasons. Okay, yeah, okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
It was the third time he believed with an unselfish motive that he really got saved. And so Trent is asking, how can anyone read John 3.16 and think I have to be selfless about believing on Christ to not perish but have everlasting life?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, yeah, I’m with Trent there. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him… Should not perish, but has everlasting life. How in the world can you say, no, you’ve got to believe in some special way?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right? I mean, really what Trent is talking about here that he heard is not much different than someone saying, well, the person believed intellectually.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 01 :
but they didn’t believe emotionally. Or they believed intellectually, but they didn’t believe willfully, right? Some people say there’s three components to faith. You’ve got to understand, you’ve got to accept, and you’ve got to trust. And they say the trust is the willful component. And there they bring in turning from your sins, surrendering to Christ, promising to serve in the rest of your life. And John 3.16 ends up being converted from whoever believes in him to whoever behaves in him. whoever perseveres in obedience until death. That’s not what Trent’s friend is talking about. But once you talk about believing selfishly and believing unselfishly.
SPEAKER 03 :
Or believing selflessly.
SPEAKER 01 :
Selflessly. It seems to me you’re going to strip people of assurance because how would you know that I believe the right way? In other words, what does it mean to believe unselfishly? Okay, it probably means he really doesn’t care whether he goes to the lake of fire or not. Well, I don’t think there would be a single person who was born again if the requirement is you really didn’t care whether you went to the lake of fire or spent eternity with the Lord. You’ve got to be neutral on those issues. Really? I don’t think so. When we read in Hebrews 12, 2, about Jesus going to the cross, He endured the cross, despising the shame for the joy set before Him. He went to the cross because He knew it was going to provide our redemption, and it was going to mean that there were going to be untold millions or billions in His kingdom. And that brought him great joy. And so he endured the cross, despising the shame. Well, we don’t believe in Christ because we have no interest in what he guarantees. We believe in Christ for what he promises.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. The issue is believe. It’s not how you believe, right, or the type of belief. It’s whether you believe in Jesus for everlasting life or not.
SPEAKER 01 :
Absolutely. In 1 John 2.25 it says, This is the promise he has promised us, eternal life. Paul talks about, in I believe it’s 2 Timothy 1.1, the promise of life. And there are a number of verses that talk about either the message of life or the promise of life. That’s the message of John 3.16, John 5.24, John 6.47, and John 11.25-27, so many other verses. The point is he promises everlasting life to the one who believes in him. So in order to believe in him, I have to believe that what I get is permanent. Whether you call that salvation or whether you call that everlasting life, either way, I know that once I’m saved, I’m always saved. If that’s not bringing you a certain amount of joy to know that you’re saved forever, there’s something wrong with you, right? You know, I did a talk recently on whether eternal rewards are selfish, and I said not in the sense that they’re greedy or that they’re expensive to anyone else. And the same thing with salvation. Having everlasting life, being saved forever, is not greedy, and it’s not at the expense of others. Jesus is provided for everyone. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John 129. Or 1 John 2, 2, he’s the propitiation, not only for our sins, but for the whole world. It’s not selfish for me to believe in Christ in the sense that everybody can have this. I’m not keeping someone else out. But if by that you mean it’s to my benefit, well, of course, in that sense, it’s selfish. But that’s not normally what we mean, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. Right, that’s not what we mean.
SPEAKER 01 :
What we mean by selfish, we mean you’re kind of greedy, you’re kind of pushing other people out of the way. No, I don’t know how Trent’s friend could say twice he believed selfishly. Right. I don’t even get what that would mean.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 01 :
GESseminary.org I’ve heard people say this kind of thing and say they only believe because they didn’t want to go to hell. Well, what’s wrong with believing because you don’t want to go to hell? Of course, you have to understand the other part of it, the positive part. You’re believing because what you get… is life forever with Jesus in his kingdom. It starts now before I even die, and I’m guaranteed I’m going to get a glorified body. I’m guaranteed I’m going to spend eternity forever with him. Lewis Barry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Seminary where I went, he famously said that there are 33 things that happen at the moment of faith. And he mentioned things like the new birth, the reception of the Spirit, baptism, being baptized into the body of Christ, being eternally secure, being sealed by the Holy Spirit, and receiving a spiritual gift that we’re citizens of heaven now, that we have a guaranteed place in his coming kingdom. And he listed 33 of these things because they produce great joy as we meditate on them. You see, we’re to our whole life retain that joy. It needs to start with joy. Haven’t you ever heard this, a new believer, and they shared their faith a lot because they had that joy that new believers have?
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. Yeah. I mean, knowing that we have everlasting life motivates us to be selfless to others. Does it mean if I believe and I get everlasting life, that means someone else doesn’t get it? Jesus has paid the price so that everyone can get everlasting life if they would just believe in him.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, I’ve never understood why we think that new believers should be more on fire for the Lord than people who’ve been walking with Christ for 40 or 50 years. If we are walking with him over time, then yes, he’ll grow sweeter over time. Not everybody walks with him, of course. They sometimes fall away and they experience the consequences like the prodigal son in Luke 15.
SPEAKER 03 :
But their eternal life is secure.
SPEAKER 01 :
But their eternal life is secure. You know, it seems to me that Trent is exactly right. There’s no special believing in Jesus. And when people say, whether they’re bringing it up because it’s selfish or unselfish, or whether they’re saying, well, they’re not truly committed or whatever, that’s work salvation. If I think somehow, if he thinks he believed, what was it, the first two times it didn’t take?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, he believed for a selfish reason.
SPEAKER 01 :
But didn’t he say the first two times he wasn’t really saved?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, he didn’t get saved.
SPEAKER 01 :
Even though I assume the guy thought he was saved temporarily, right? He at least thought for a while he was saved. This kind of reminds me of people who say they invited Jesus into their heart, but it didn’t take. And then finally, you know, it took. I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, now CRU, for four years. And we had a booklet, one of the 10 transferable booklets on how you could be sure. And I really didn’t use that booklet, I don’t think ever, at least hardly ever, because it didn’t make sense to me. Here’s what the booklet said. You’re going through doubts about your salvation. You’re not sure that you invited him in properly the first time. So here’s what you need to do. What do you think the answer was given in the booklet? Repeat the whole process again? Exactly. But do this the last time. Make sure this is you’re sincere. Make sure this is right. This is a once-for-all thing. And now you can be sure forever. Well, the problem with that is, okay, now let’s say a week later I’m going through doubts again. Then I do it one last time, one last time. And a month later, one last time, one last time. And what it leads to is instead of I’m inviting Christ into my life to be saved two or three hundred times because I’m never sure it’s taking, now I’m doing it two or three hundred times to have assurance because I’m not sure it’s taken. Either way, it’s nutty. And the same thing here. It’s not a matter of whether we’re selfish or unselfish. Of course, it’s in our best interest to spend eternity with the Lord rather than a lake of fire. You can’t get over that. It’s joyful to know that. And there’s no problem. God wants you to be joyful about that. In 1 John 4, 19, John says, “…we love him because we first loved us.” Well, part of that starts at the very moment when we believe in Christ for everlasting life, for our salvation. So, yeah, Trent’s exactly right. Let’s not psychoanalyze faith. Faith is, Zane Hodges, in his book, Absolutely Free, says, faith is just that, faith. The same way I believe that George Washington is the first president of the United States, I believe that Jesus guarantees my eternal destiny today. simply because I believe in him. It’s not some special kind of faith that leads to everlasting life. It’s faith in the right object.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right person here.
SPEAKER 01 :
The person of Jesus Christ and what he promises everlasting life. So really great question, Trent. Great comment. I appreciate you and appreciate what you’re saying. And Trent and all of us, let’s keep grace. Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Be our guest and subscribe to our 48-page magazine, six issues per year, also called Grace in Focus. It’s free by emailing your name and snail mail address to gesatfaithalone.org. That’s faithalone.org. Maybe you’ve got a question or comment or feedback. If so, please send us a message. Here’s our email address. It’s radio at faithalone.org. That’s radio at faithalone.org. And when you do, please make sure your question is as succinct and clear as possible. That would be a great big help. On our next episode, why do we need to forgive others in order to be forgiven? Please join us. And until then, let’s keep grace in focus.
SPEAKER 03 :
The preceding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.
