Salvation - what is the key to Eternal Life?

The question of SALVATION: 

“What must I do in order to attain eternal life?”

Let’s first look at what Jesus said the KEY to salvation is and then we’ll see what the other prophets said in the Torah and we’ll confirm it with other scripture.  Please note, my references from the New Testament will not be based on what Paul said or what someone else said the key to eternal life is – I will base references purely on what Jesus himself taught as per his own words as taken from the four canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

There will be three (3) parts to this chapter because of the high significance of this topic.

Part 1

The Prophets’ and Jesus advise per his own words about the Key to eternal life/salvation. 

1.         Matthew 19: 16-17 “It was then that a young man approached him and asked, “Master, what good work must I do to attain eternal life?”  Jesus answered “Why do you ask me about what is good?  Only one is Good.  If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments.”

Many believe that in order to attain salvation one NEEDS to accept Jesus as their personal savior and that’s it.  Here a young man is asking such a crucial question about eternal life and what one must do to attain it.  This is such an important question as indeed every human soul would like to know what one must do to attain eternal life – and would like to know the answer from Jesus very own mouth.  Jesus said KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!!!!!  He didn’t say – don’t worry, son, soon I will die for your sins and you’ll be right.  Did Jesus say that????  NO!!  HE said keep the commandments and you will attain eternal life!! 

2.         Mark 10:17 – 22  “ Just as Jesus was setting out on his journey again, a man ran up, knelt before him and asked, “ Good master, what must I do to receive eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments: Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honor your father and mother”.  The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood…”

Jesus is clear on the criteria to attain eternal life yet again: KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS.  Why would he mislead the masses about such an important question?  This is a key question that every soul asks and wants to know the clear- cut answer.  And the answer is clear and unambiguous!!!  Keep the commandments.  Did Jesus say otherwise? Did Jesus say accept me as your personal savior? 

3.         John 17: 3-4 “And eternal life means knowing You the ONLY true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent.  I have shown your glory on earth, I have finished the work you gave me to do.”

Jesus is praying to God, here.  And he clearly states what eternal life pertains.  Knowing the one true God and also knowing Jesus whom God sent.  Jesus refers to God in clear distinction to himself and he glorifies God - as all other prophets did.

4.         John 5:24 “Those who hear my words and believe in Him who sent me, have eternal life”

Jesus is always pointing to God; the One who sent him.  Knowing the One true God and keeping his commandments is the KEY to eternal life.  Jesus clearly set that example through his own life.  Jesus KNEW the One true God and he kept His commandments.  He didn’t say, “Pray to me and my blood will give you eternal life” Jesus himself never taught that he was the KEY to the salvation of humanity.  He taught that salvation or the key to achieving eternal life is to believe in God, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth and love Him by keeping His commandments. 

5.         Isaiah 43:10-11 “You are my witnesses says Yahweh, you are my servants whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He: before me no god was formed, neither will there be one after me.  I, I am Yahweh, there is no savior but me.”

God himself through the prophet Isaiah is reiterating the words of Jesus about the key to salvation and who the savior is.  God says the He is the ONLY savior.  His servants must know, believe and understand that God is the ONLY God.  There is no other god but God. This is the same message that Jesus bought to humanity. 

6.         Psalms 15:1-5 “O lord, who will dwell in your tent and reside on your holy mount?  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right; who speaks truth from his heart and controls his words; who looks down on evildoers but highly esteems God’s servants; who at all costs stand by a pledged word; who does not lend money at interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent.  He who does all this will never be shaken.”

God clearly lays out some of the criteria for whomever wishes to dwell in His tent and reside on His holy mount – the criteria has a lot of action words of do’s and don’ts – essentially commandments.  God is basically saying – if you do these things – you will dwell with me.  He doesn’t say – if you believe in Jesus as your personal savior you will dwell in my tent – he is saying – if you follow my commandments – you will attain eternal life.  The criterion is clear.

7.         John 8:51 “I am telling you the truth, whoever obeys my teachings will never die…” 

So what do we have to do in order to ‘NEVER DIE’?  “Obey Jesus’ teachings” that’s where our salvation lies; what was Jesus’ fundamental teachings?  “Repent and Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength and keep his commandments.  Follow this teaching and you will attain eternal life.  Was Noah, Abraham, Isaac, David, Jacob, Isaiah, Solomon, Jesus’ disciples and every other human being on the face of this earth prior to Jesus Christ – capable of following this formula? 

8.         Isaiah 30:15 “For thus said the Lord, Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel; “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…”

Here God says that in REPENTANCE is one’s salvation.  How to get saved? Repent.    Think about that for a while…When John the Baptist was preaching – REPENT for the kingdom of God is near – Jesus hadn't died yet “for the sins of the world” yet people were very capable of repenting and changing and keeping God’s commandments prior to Jesus supposed death.  The fact that the teaching of repentance is taken from the Old Testament – prior to Jesus advent – clearly proves that people were very capable of being ‘saved’ as CLEARLY salvation for humanity was still possible then as it is today.

And salvation lay and still lies in REPENTENCE, loving and knowing God by keeping his commandments.

This doctrine that Jesus died for the sins of the world… and it is because of this death that we are saved… makes no sense.  Can I repent, love God and keep his commandments without the blood of Jesus?  CAN I?  THINK ABOUT THAT.

PART 2

Is salvation in the ‘sacrificial blood’ of Jesus 

or

in my sincere personal repentance?

 

1.         Psalms 52: 18-19 “You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, you would not delight in it.  O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart you will not despise”

Here Prophet David clearly points out that a sacrifice is not pleasurable.  God wants our heart.  What is the point of a sacrifice if the heart is not repentant?  Forgiveness is attained by repentant heart – not sacrifice. That's easy to understand.  So who came up with this teaching of Jesus being the sacrifice and through this sacrifice forgiveness is achieved and not by personal repentance? 

2.        Jeremiah 31:30 NKJV “But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge”

So how can it be that Jesus died for our sins in contradiction to God’s word that states personal responsibility of ones actions in the Old Testament?

3.       2 Chronicles 25:4 NKJV “The LORD commanded, saying, ‘The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin’ ”

Here the emphasis on personal responsibility for your own actions is highlighted.  Your sins are on your own neck. 

4.       Ezekiel 18:20 NKJV “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father; neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him”                                                                

Again the Bible tells us that everyone is responsible for his own actions – no one is going to pay for someone else’s sins.  You need to repent for your own sins and do good deeds to balance out your bad deeds. 

Did Jesus contradict the teachings of the Old Testament by supposedly “paying” for our sins?  Or did other people who came after Jesus attribute such teachings to Jesus?

5.       Deuteronomy 24:16 NKJV “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Again the emphasis here in God’s command is of personal responsibility for one’s own sins.   The basic concept is that of personal responsibility – yet – how can one reconcile God clearly emphasizing personal responsibility of ones sins – yet the same God contradicting his own law by holding all of humanity under a curse because of one man’s sin? 

We will analyse this doctrine where humanity is being held responsible for the sin of Adam and this responsibility for our father’s sin (obvious and CLEAR contradiction to the concept of personal responsibility) necessitated the doctrine of the sacrificial death of the “son” of God.

6.       Matt 5:17-18 “Do not think that I have come to remove the law and the prophets.  I have come to fulfill them.  I tell you this; as long as the heaven and the earth last, not one letter of the law will change until it is fulfilled”

Jesus did not come to remove the above laws and the prophets.  How come the doctrines in most churches today contradict all the above scriptures that clearly state personal responsibility for one’s actions?  And on whose authority did these doctrines come about?  And how did these doctrines get attributed to Jesus when Jesus clearly says that he did not come to remove the law and the prophets? 

PART 3Quick analysis of the doctrine of the original sin

Let us put the doctrine of the original sin in simple terms:  I was being held ransom by God because my ancestral father ate an apple and now I am set free from the curse of my father’s sin because someone else took responsibility for it.  So what was the point of all of that if I'm still sinful?  So something is wrong here. It was never my fault to begin with as I didn't tell Adam to disobey God and I had no part in Adams sins – and presently I am not even accountable for my own sins because now Jesus is - but unfortunately this theology of no accountability hasn't removed/purified me of the problem of sinning. This is evident in the life of every single human being today. 

Can anyone attest that the “curse” of the original sin has been lifted from them after they “received Jesus as their personal saviour”?  I doubt it – as evidence shows they are still sinning.  So what happened? 

So I am back to square one regardless of what ‘supposedly’ transpired with the death of Jesus - I am still in the same boat that every other human being was in before the time of Jesus.  And that boat is:  We constantly need to repent to attain forgiveness till we die because we are still sinning!!  So what value did Jesus death add to this process?  How does his death make the process of repenting and becoming a better person a more effective process than it was before?

In the next chapter we’ll see if this theology of the original sin is in accordance with scripture and Jesus own words but first let’s have a brief look at the sacrificial system that many think allude to Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice to bring about forgiveness for all of humanity.

Another question to pose is – are we born with Adam’s curse or does this curse kick in at a certain age when we are ‘personally responsible”?  Do all children who die go straight to hell because they are born cursed? At what age does this curse get activated?  I appeal to the logic of the truth seeker.  Does it make sense that an innocent 6month old baby is condemned and held responsible for the sin of Adam? 

Didn't Jesus say unless you become like little children you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven?  But they are cursed.  Or are they not? 

 The sacrificial system :  

Is Jesus the Lamb or the High Priest?  Which one?  The priest kills the lamb – so he is both the lamb and the priest? So on earth he was the lamb and in heaven he is the priest?

Obviously there was an elaborate sacrificial system that the Jewish people had within the temple of the Lord.  The high priests used to sacrifice animals on behalf of the people as an outward demonstration of the inward repentance.  Finer details of the sacrificial system can be found in the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament.

The sacrificial system was an outward demonstration of the inward repentance of the heart.  Putting in the effort to get a lamb and slaughtering it – was symbolic of death to the sin and repenting and starting a new life in obedience to God. The value is NOT in the sacrifice itself – rather it is in the repentance of the heart.  The sacrifice is just a SYMBOL and an outward DEMONSTRATION of what was taking place inside the heart.  

The sacrificial system was a ritual put in place to help demonstrate and give meaning to the inner heart change of repentance of one’s sins – there is no value in the sacrifice itself.  The value was in what was taking place in the heart.  The value was in the REPENTANCE and CHANGE of heart in OBEDIENCE to God’s commandments. 

Some may argue that the reason why Jesus came was so that we wouldn't have to slaughter lambs any more.  Jesus came to put a stop to the sacrificial rituals.  We still need to repent but don’t need to go get a lamb to show our repentance – rather than the inconvenience of killing lambs and possibly reducing the lamb population and having to deal with all the gruesome messy bloodiness – let’s kill someone instead and say that this human lamb takes away the sins of the world.  Well…unfortunately it hasn't. 

I'm looking around and I still see a lot of fornicating, adulterating, lying, back-biting, thieving, drunkard, gambling Christians who are a long way from the result of the lamb taking away their sins. 

So what sins did Jesus take away?  Did he take away the consequences of our sins?  Cause he sure didn't take away my ability to sin.  I am still sinning so the CURSE OF ADAM IS ALIVE AND WELL in every human – which now makes me sad to say “WHAT WAS THE POINT OF JESUS DYING?”

Can someone else say sorry for my sins and make me a better person without my repenting and making an effort to be a better person by following God’s commandments? 

 If you steal, you still go to jail.  If you commit fornication or adultery – you may get AIDS and a divorce (or even worse killed); whatever you do you will still face the consequences.  Unless and ONLY when you sincerely PERSONALLY repent for YOUR OWN sins – God will forgive you and may preserve you from the consequences. 

Forgiveness is attained by personal repentance of one’s own sins – NOT sacrifice.  Being purified is not the same as being forgiven.  Forgiveness does not remove the disease that caused you to sin in the first place. Being purified from the disease that caused you to commit the sins in the first place is a life long journey.  Purification takes you to the next level in nearness to God– a journey which you have to personally take. No one can take it for you. 

In the later chapter of this book we will study Isaiah chapter 53 along with other scriptures – which many Christians believe is the prophetic proof that Jesus did indeed die for our sins and his death not only attained our forgiveness but also our purification. (Purification as defined means the problem of sin cured (Adam’s curse, apparently). 

So through this death every Christian is not just forgiven but rather is forever cured from the sins which every human commits daily whether it is in the heart, in ones thoughts, through ones actions – or lack of actions. There is obvious proof that this teaching can’t be true based on evidence of every Christians daily life who can’t testify to being sinless regardless if they accepted Christ as their personal saviour - but for arguments sake we shall analyse this doctrine with scriptural evidence.

CONCLUSION:

Salvation is in obeying God's commandments and repenting when we disobey.   It does not lie on someone else to take that journey for you - it is very much a personal journey.  Intercession is different from taking on a person's sin and making it your own.   The teaching of salvation by sacrifice is not consistent with scripture.    Please read my post titled:  A closer look at the Ransom Dogma.  This post compliments and in some cases overlaps that post.