Can You Earn Salvation?

The Bible is very clear to say that there are no works that you can do, to earn your salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)

But what is Salvation? Essentially, it’s Christianese for “Getting right with God” or “Establishing relationship with one’s Creator.” Going a little deeper however, salvation is the preservation of one’s eternal spirit from God’s judgement of our sin. There is so much more explanation that can go on here, but suffice it to say, salvation is a very good thing – so says the Bible.

The Bible says we cannot earn our salvation. Nothing we can do, to make ourselves right with God and thus earn salvation. If you believe there is something that you can do to earn your way into good graces with God or that you can in any way contribute to your salvation, then you must equally believe, that if you do something wrong or mess up, then you could also lose that favor or grace from God. What a frightening prospect, because the alternative to salvation, no matter what you believe, isn’t good.

What if I were to tell you, that not only you can’t work your way to salvation, but that salvation is actually a free gift? Would you say, “that can’t possibly be true” or “of course I have to do something to earn God’s favor”? I’m telling you, it’s true. Let me show you:

* Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” – John 4:10
– What does living water have to do with anything? When you understand what’s going on in this text, it becomes clear that Jesus offers a woman truth and everlasting life.

* For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
– This should be self-explanatory.

* Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! – 2 Corinthians 9:15
– There we go again – God’s gift!

Salvation is a gift. You cannot earn the gift of salvation. But, what’s the catch?

No question here, there is a huge commitment required. You have to recognize that you do sin. You have to recognize that you cannot do life without God. And you have to confess that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior and you have to make him the LORD over your life believing that He died on the cross for your sin.

***Now, Wait a minute? You might be thinking now, that earlier you said salvation is to get right with God, but now you’re saying that you have to make Jesus the lord over my life. What gives?***

That’s absolutely a fair question. There are some organizations and religious groups out there that will deny what I’m about to tell you. What I’m about to tell you is biblical and it is truth. Will just read from the text of the Bible.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. – John 1:1

To understand what the Word is, I will read off to you another verse from later in this same text.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

Here we now understand that this Word that in the beginning was God, became flesh and dwelt among us and we “beheld His glory” meaning we saw him in person. This Word is Jesus. One last couplet of scriptures before we continue.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. – Colossians 1:15-16.

Note here please, that this statement is clearly stating that this person, who is the image of the invisible God (again, this is Jesus) created ALL THINGS. What these scriptures don’t say, is that God created one thing and then Jesus created the rest.¹ The reason why this is important is because MILLIONS of people in the U.S. and BILLIONS of people across the rest of the world, do not believe what I just conveyed to you. But again, I’m telling you, this is truth – don’t just take my word for it, read it yourself.

So, again, what about this confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and making him LORD over your life? To do something like that is incredibly hard for anyone to do. What is means is that you are ultimately having to turn control over to God/Jesus. It is hard, but it’s simple. It’s a choice. One that I hope you will make, because, Jesus, who is God, is absolutely amazing and he is faithful and in his own words, he is the only way.²

God willing, years from now, on that very last day, when you breath your last breath and your body gets buried and your spirit is released from your body – you will be judged by God. God rightly judges everyone and everyone will be judged according to the original law. God’s law. Exodus 20 So, now I ask the questions… Up to that very last point of your life, did you live your life perfectly? Did you live a sinless life? If you lived without sin – then this message isn’t for you, because you are perfect.  But if you are like all the rest of us – your answer, just like my answer is, NO! We are all human, and we all sin. God will look at the sin that you have committed and you would be judged. What’s shocking, is that you would deserve death, because you broke most if not all of his law, just like I have. However, if you gave your life over to Jesus at some point of your life, he will see what you did in your life, all the sin – BUT, God will also see that you accepted the blood of his Son, the blood of Jesus. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross, where he replaced the debt that you owe with the perfect life that he lived, and ultimately places HIS blood on the doorposts of your heart. This is called the passover, where God sees the sacrifice, which was made to make you holy in the eyes of God. Exodus 12:5-14 If you accepted God’s free gift and gave your life to Christ, your debt would have been paid in full and the judgement that you deserve, which is a death sentence, would be commuted, or “passed over”. What this means is that Jesus’ perfect life and righteousness serves as payment for our sin against God, his righteousness would be imputed on you³ and God could see you for whose you have become. His child. For that one reason, you would have everlasting life with God the Father and his Son, Jesus. WOW!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. – John 3:16 Hopefully, when you read this, it will speak to you more clearly, than it ever has before.

Through the blood of Christ, God paid it forward – he paid the debt for all humanity.  The question is, will you answer the call? Will you have the feast with Jesus? Luke 14:15-17

We have all been invited to the supper…  The feast…  Which is ETERNAL LIFE with Jesus Christ.  If you give Him a chance and ask him to be the Lord and Savior of your life, HE will make you whole. Relationship will be established between you and God.  Confess out loud with your mouth and with an open heart and call on the mighty name of Jesus. He is faithful and He loves you.  He desires a relationship with you…⁴ It’s a love story with a happily ever after. All because of His sacrifice and your willingness to turn to Jesus and make him the Lord over your life.

It is a free gift of grace and mercy and forgiveness. You just have to turn to Jesus and accept it.

If this blessed you, please leave a comment below. If you have questions or want to have a dialogue on what I have shown from scripture here, contact me directly – I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.

Email: info@godpaiditforward.com

1. NWT – New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses add the word “other” to make it – “created all other things.” – If you are a JW and wish to challenge this assertion, please contact me directly.  There is much more to this claim.
2. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. – John 14:6
3. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. – Romans 4:22-25
4. that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9