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There ought to be agreement on when sinners are saved. There can be, when hearts are open to all the Bible says about how and when sinners are saved. False hope thrives when false teaching flourishes about when sinners are saved.

Agreement on what the Bible teaches about when sinners are saved will not come by using the ecumenical approach of agreeing to disagree. Agreement will not come by simply accepting everyone as being sincere in their differences. Sincerely believing I am saved is not the same as actually being saved. We can be misinformed and deceived (Acts 26:9). So, we must have clear eyes and open hearts to receive truth on every revealed subject, including how and when sinners are saved.

God’s word can be understood correctly on this subject (Eph. 3:3-5; 5:17). We will make little progress toward unity if we cannot agree on this Bible subject. We can correctly understand and follow God’s word about being saved. The word of faith which the apostles preached is not above or beyond our grasp (Rom. 10:6-8). Truth is the only basis for confident unity with God and with His people, and we can know the truth He gave us (Eph. 4:3-6; Jno. 8:31-32).

Here are some of the answers religious people give to the question, “When are sinners saved?” They cannot all be correct. The full, complete Bible answer is the current one. Leaving portions of God’s answer out is not only misleading, it is false and spiritually deadly.

1. “Sinners are saved when sinners believe.” This is the faith only view of salvation. By quoting John 3:16 they believe they have exhausted the plan of salvation. They have not (Jas. 2:24).

2. “Sinners are saved when they believe, repent and trust in Jesus alone to save them.” This answer says that “saving faith” means repenting and trusting in Jesus alone to save (“You Can Be 100% Sure Of Eternal Life”). This view says if you do anything to help save yourself (like being baptized), then you are not trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation. If that is true, then it necessarily follows that obeying the command to repent also forfeits one’s trust in Jesus alone to save (Lk. 13:3, 5; Acts 17:30).

3. “Sinners are saved when they believe Jesus is Lord and confess God raised Him from the dead.” This conclusion is drawn from Romans 10:9-10. Without a doubt, faith and its confession are essential to be saved. This verse says so. Faith and its confession are “unto” (in the direction of, in order to) salvation. Without them, one remains lost in sin. But, what about repentance and baptism (Acts 2:37-38)?

4. “Sinners are saved when, by faith, they obey all the Lord’s commands for salvation.” This is the Bible answer. Sinners are commanded to believe in Jesus Christ (Jno. 8:23-24), to confess faith in Him (Rom. 10:9-10), to repent of sins (Acts 17:30), and to be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:37-38; 22:16). Jesus saves sinners when they believe and obey everything God’s word tells them to do to be saved. Until then, sinners remain lost (Acts 2:40-41).

Let us unite on the Bible plan of salvation. We must accept all the Scriptures say about how and when sinners are saved. We corrupt the gospel and doom ourselves if we leave out any part of it (Gal. 1:6-9). We please God when we lay aside every distortion of His word and unite on all of it. 

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