Salvation by WHAT?

As I travel around the United States, I do visitations at 20-30 Churches every year, not to preach, but to worship, receive communion, fellowship and recharge my depleted spiritual batteries. What I observe is pews filled with people that don't act very much like Jesus.

What is wrong with this picture? I don't believe they are saved. They are among the throngs of people that claim to be Christians but have never done what the Scripture requires to be saved. They think they are saved, but they are not. We are not to judge people spiritually, that is God's job, but I ask them questions. For example: "tell me what you did to be saved." They talk about salvation by works, salvation by water baptism, salvation by joining the Church, salvation by growing up in a Christian home, everything but what Romans 10:9-10 requires.

I believe the Institutional Church has preached and taught from the Old Testament (the Old Testament does not end until after the cross) and told people all they have to do to be saved is say a simple prayer called the sinner's prayer. It goes like this "God I know I am a sinner, forgive me of my sins. I ask you to come into my heart and save me." Romans 10:9 says "... confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." They are not exactly the same are they? Prayer and confession are not the same thing. Confessing that Jesus is Lord is very different than asking Jesus to come into your heart.
The problem for Gentiles seeking salvation under the old covenant is the requirement for doing the feasts and sacrifices. It’s really a pain to build an altar and maintain all those animals for the daily sacrifice. Of course if you do the Law as today’s Jews do, not doing the whole Law, you bring the curse of Deuteronomy 28 on you. John the Baptizer preached “Repent and be Baptized,” so that’s easy enough. The requirement to be circumcised is also not a problem for Americans because most boys are circumcised when they are infants. But why would a Gentile want to become a Messianic Jew?

The death and resurrection of Jesus opens the New Covenant based on better promises. Romans 10:4 eliminates the requirement for the Feasts and sacrifices, as well as the other traditions added to the Law by the Jews. The rest of the Law is not repealed as noted by Paul in Romans 3:31. The test of Romans 10:9-13 sums up the requirement (see 1 John 4:7-15 for clarification. Read 1 Cor. 15:3-5 for Paul’s statement of the Gospel of Salvation (as opposed to the Gospel of the Kingdom). You will not find Paul’s Gospel in the Synoptic Gospels - it’s just not there, because Jesus was in the role of a Jewish Rabbi sent (only) to Jews who were under the Law.
If you are a Gentile, you do not need to become a Proselyte to be saved (read Acts 15:1-29). We are saved not by faith, but by grace THROUGH faith (Ephesians 2:4-9). Grace is not license to sin Romans 6:12-23.

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