Do I Need to Do Something Extra To Be Saved?

Short Answer Version

No. The good news is that believing in Jesus will get you saved all by itself. Remember that the work Jesus did on the cross is the thing that saves you, and faith is the only thing necessary on your part.

It is a common occurrence for an organized group of well-intentioned Jesus followers to add something else to the good news. Don’t get too confused or upset if you are exposed to people like that.

Obviously, if someone tells you that you must believe in Jesus and then do something wacky, like jump up in the air three times, you can probably tell that they are adding something to the free offer Jesus gives.

Sometimes it is not so easy to tell. Groups can subtly add an action or belief, unnecessary for salvation to the good news. It is not worth arguing about, but it is worth knowing about it. If it seems suspicious, like something very difficult to do, proceed with caution.

Long Answer Version

According to the apostle Paul, salvation is a gift we cannot earn, that we access only by faith, and even that is not from our own "steam", it is a gift from God too.

In other places the Bible can seem to add an extra element or two. But it is a wrong interpretation that the added elements are required for salvation.

One scripture passage says we will be saved if we believe and also confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. That is true. But as you will see, it is also true that the first part of that statement, believing, is the one and only requirement for being saved. The rest is just what saved people do.

When people tell you that in order to be saved, you must do certain good works, like confessing Jesus with your mouth, it is usually an honest mistake. It can be caused by misunderstanding the Bible passage, as well as the best ways to interpret Bible passages.

In this case, at least ten other verses say that believing is all that is necessary, so this verse should be interpreted in light of the other verses. The best interpretation of a passage is usually the one that does not conflict with other scriptures.

The teaching that if you believe in Jesus, you must also confess verbally is not merely poor interpretation. It is also an "association fallacy" in the field of logic.

This mistaken interpretation is illogical and therefore contrary to a reasonable understanding of the passage.

Common sense enters into the picture too. It cannot be true that saying something out loud is an extra thing we must do to be saved. Surely, a person without speech ability is not disqualified from salvation because they cannot confess with their mouth.

Believe in Jesus. Then go ahead and confess with your mouth that He is Lord. Anyone who gets saved is more than likely to inform other people about Jesus as Lord out of sheer enthusiasm.

Just keep in mind that if a person believes, they are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross alone.

We are saved as a result of God’s grace through faith. “Grace” is like giving love or a gift to someone who doesn’t deserve it.

God has grace so we receive his love and gifts when we don't deserve them. In the original New Testament language, "grace" and "gift" have the same root word.

A further definition of grace, is "undeserved love" or "unmerited favor."

None of us deserve His gift of salvation. That is what makes it so special. With God, faith is enough. Even faith is not an action that earns our salvation. It is an act of receiving.

If I handed you a check for my life savings, which I earned through decades of hard work, and you simply reached out your hand and took it, would that act of accepting the gift be the work that earned the money? Obviously not.

Some people, even whole religions, believe we get into heaven by doing good works, thereby earning our way. The great news is we don’t do good works to get saved, but we do them because we ARE saved. We are so thankful for His salvation that good works just naturally flow out of us.

It is a privilege to do good works. If someone says, “unless you do good works, along with believing, you won’t be saved.” Don’t listen to them. But do lots of good works anyway because it makes God happy when we do. (And, by the way, it does not make God unhappy when we don't do good works.) So, when we have opportunities to do good works, we should do so with delight.

Jesus spoke about God being a father who loves and does good things for His children. However, we must understand the fatherhood of God in a way that strips it of similarities to many imperfect human parental behaviors.

Human parents can have many attributes that are nothing like those of God. Human parents can be unhappy for selfish reasons when their children do bad things, or fail to do good things. This is even true if they think their reaction is in the child's best interest. God has no selfishness in Him.

God enjoys seeing us prosper and thrive in ways that are the result of doing good. It also makes Him happy to see others blessed by the good we do to them.

Unlike human parents, He does not become unhappy when we fail, or do things He doesn't like. He does not withhold His love as a punishment as some parents do. He does not punish His children to release His frustration or anger.

Human parents can be controlling and manipulative. Somehow, many religions project onto their picture of God this and other imperfect behaviors of human parents. The religions use this to control and manipulate their adherents for their own ends.

Other religions project their inner wishes to have permissive parents who didn't mind their children being rebellious or wild. A permissive parent like this deprives their children of protection.

Some parents are overly protective because they can't see the actual dangers to the child. This human limitation can be projected onto God, in making Him seem overly protective. But when God protects us, He can see the actual dangers. He is appropriately protective, not overly or underly protective.

You can't get to heaven on the basis of picturing God as a human parent, wanting you to earn their affection through good behavior.

If you can’t get to Heaven by working, neither can you prevent yourself from getting to Heaven by not working. This is a sensible concept. At the same time, good works tell us our faith is real. That is the same faith that invited God to save us.

If someone tells you, “Believe and also confess all your sins to God every day or you will lose your salvation”, don’t buy it. Nobody could remember all their sins to confess, so we would all be disqualified.

Failure to do the good work of confessing your sins to God will not disqualify you from salvation. But confessing our sins to God is a great thing to do.

John wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That is one of my favorite passages. When I have sinned and don’t feel very clean, this simple, humble act releases God’s promise to cleanse me from ALL unrighteousness.

Baptism is an element that is associated with becoming saved in many parts of the New Testament. Mark 16:16 says "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." It is interesting to ask why "and is not baptized" is left out of the second half of this verse. The fact that it is missing implies condemnation does not hinge on neglecting to get baptized.

This is one of those "believe and also" passages that come from good intentions. But when misinterpreted it is out of sync with both good reasoning and with the majority of other similar texts .

"Believe and also" passages like this one are not bad. Unlearned people are interpreting them incorrectly.

By all means, if you believe, GET BAPTIZED. Especially, if you prefer to attend a denomination that stresses this act. Do so in the way that they recommend.

Baptism is good for you, but it will not earn your salvation, nor does it prove to people you are saved. It is an outward symbol of an inward decision and the ensuing spiritual event of becoming born again.

When you are a believer, the Bible says you have already passed out of death and into life. You are able to "taste of the heavenly gift" now. That is enough to be thankful for to the point of motivation towards good works, confessing sins, and all the other things that do not earn our salvation, but are great to do.

Think about that for a moment. The order of the process is not, get saved, live out the rest of your years, then enter the kingdom. It is: get saved, immediately enter the kingdom, then live out your years in kingdom living, and experience higher levels of the kingdom's glory forever thereafter.

Some well-intentioned believers will tell you it is not enough to believe in Jesus as your Savior to receive entrance to heaven, you must also believe in Him as your Lord.

Those people are a little off base. But they are telling you to do something that is very worthwhile.

When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, it means you let Him be the pilot of the “airplane” you call your life. You admit He is higher than you, and you trust Him to lead you.

It is in every way good to accept Jesus as not only your Savior, but also your Lord. Everyone would benefit from it. There is never a downside to doing it.

Believing in and treating Him as your Lord, is the appropriate thing to do and will bring much blessing to you. So, do it, even if it is not required.

It is not a good work that saves you. The good work of Jesus your Lord saves you. He is called "the author and finisher" of our faith and salvation.

He starts your salvation by giving you new birth spiritually. Then He finishes it throughout your life by developing a rich friendship with you making you a better, more spiritually in-tune person. The more you recognize Him as your Lord, the better your life will be.

There are many other variations of the error that adds something to the good news. Some are pretty wild, more so than jumping up and down, which is not really a thing. It was a joke.

You are excused from all kinds of weird gyrations people say will make you saved. Just believe in Jesus and don’t accept any counterfeits.

For new believers, it is common to wonder if they could disqualify themselves from salvation by sinning too much, avoiding good works, lacking faith, being angry at God, or even turning their backs on Him. My response is always "Why would you want to?"

I went through this fear when I was a new believer. I didn't know all the reassuring scriptures that would have calmed my worries.

Unfortunately, the unhealthy messages of evil in our world along with our emotional and psychological hang-ups can cause us to think wrongly. The inner struggles and conflicts can be difficult to process our way through on our own. But, they are not difficult for God to untangle if we go to Him for relationship and help in the matter.

If you believe in Jesus for salvation, understand that a part of the package is His ability to save us from our own unwise or self-destructive thinking. He is always there working in us who believe in Him, even if we are trying to work out our own salvation and seemingly failing to do so.

There is nothing extra we must do to be saved. Thereby failing to do something extra cannot disqualify us from salvation. There are a number of passages in scripture that people have taken to say that a person can lose their salvation for one reason or another. I believe that the verses that can be taken that you will always remain saved are far more numerous, clearer, and stronger. However, because of the passages to the contrary, I must admit the Bible is not 100% conclusive on the subject.

Since we can't work our way to heaven, we can't be disqualified by not doing a work that we thought might earn our way to heaven.

This is an important thing to understand, whether the answer is "you can" or "you can't", the way we live our lives should be no different on that basis. If either is true, we are told to be obedient children of God, conform ourselves to Jesus, be holy in all our conduct, make sure we are saved by noting our desire to follow Jesus, do good, and love others.

The apostle Peter said: "brothers and sisters, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never stumble: for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." In a sense this means that even if you believe you were called and elected by God to be saved, you should do the work of making sure it is the case.

Similarly, the apostle Paul said, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?

The Old Testament focuses on salvation by works more than the New Testament, which teaches salvation by grace. Before Jesus, the scriptures seemed like we must live holy lives to experience full salvation.

It was a different covenant that God had made with people. I consider it possible that God's plan was to show them that getting into heaven by works alone rarely if ever works! But living a life of good works produces blessing, love, good character, and happy lives on earth.

The New Testament backs this theory up, in passages like Romans 3:20 that says "because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the law a righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe".

Jesus proclaimed at the Last Supper that the new covenant, was based on His blood (a synonym for His sacrificial atoning death that earned our salvation).

Some believers sense a personal need to fear that they could fail to get to heaven. Maybe it helps them psychologically feel more motivated to walk close to Jesus all their lives. I can't fault people for wanting more motivation to follow Jesus, as long as they don't let fear, guilt, discouragement, unworthiness, or unbelief take over due to unbalanced thinking.

Allow me to suggest to you that some people feel the need for corrective discipline such as what loving parents would do and expect that from God to keep them on track. There may be value to that way of thinking, but not in terms of being saved or getting into heaven. In my heart and mind, I am motivated more by the knowledge of God's love and the lengths to which He went to provide salvation to me. Good parents chasten their children because they love them and want the best for them, much like God.

If you find yourself in a group of believers that strongly feel one way or the other about your human good works as necessary for salvation, my advice is not to argue with them, but stay in peace, while you either remain undecided or choose a position toward which to lean.

This issue is not worth dividing ourselves from other believers over. The Bible presents two sides that intelligent believers could lean toward based on their interpretation of scripture.

Dividing ourselves in judgmental anger over such an issue is a great sin. It is not a sin to hold a different view on this issue than your brothers and sisters in Christ, and stay at peace with them by avoiding conflict.

I suggest that those who need fear for motivation, should believe that they cannot become disqualified from salvation based on the things they fear might happen. At the same time, they should put a lifelong effort into walking in good ways with love toward Jesus - Since only God knows at the deepest level who is truly saved and who is not. With that in mind, every believer should strive not to "neglect so great a salvation". This could help them to "escape" a negative outcome as the Bible implies in the book of Hebrews.

In the same passage, the point is made that we "must give more earnest heed to the things we have heard." This is good advice, no matter what else happens.

Keep in mind that faith and good works go together. Good works without faith will not get a person to heaven. Similarly, faith that is not accompanied by good works done out of a sincere desire to help others is an indication that something is wrong. If we really understand the free gift of faith, we will see that with it comes the free gift of wanting to do good works out of love in this world.

After taking the step of believing in Jesus, if you notice you are not perfect in this area of loving others and wanting to good things for them, know it is a common experience, but ask God for His help by the Holy Spirit to give you more love and motivation to do good.

Ask Him to energize you to grow into that kind of a person by His transforming new life in you.

Some denominations believe that although a person could lose their salvation, you won't lose it if you have what they call "assurance" from the Holy Spirit that you are saved. I like to see these kinds of ideas suggesting why it is possible to consider why both sides of the issue appear in scripture.

I find it unhelpful to try and scare people into becoming saved, although there appears to be some serious danger to rejecting Jesus as Savior.

If fear helps you become more earnest in your decision to believe in Jesus and stay close to Him the rest of your life, then that would be a positive use of fear, as long as you don't let fear control you. However, the Bible says that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of love and a sound, disciplined mind. Keep that statement in mind so you remain balanced between love and fear. It also says perfect love casts out fear. God's love for you is perfect.

Believe in Jesus. Love Him and do things pleasing to Him. If you do, you'll rarely, if ever, feel a need for motivation by fear to assure seeing heaven. Jesus loves you too much to let you down.

Just a reminder, you only have to make the decision to believe in Jesus once to be saved. You don't need to worry that you are losing your faith, or your belief is waning. You don't need to be concerned that you must exercising saving faith over and over. These are not healthy thought patterns.These are not healthy thought patterns.

The time when a person probably should be seriously afraid of missing salvation is in the beginning when they feel themselves avoiding the opportunity to receive Jesus and immediately gain heavenly citizenship.

They should realize how perilous that avoidance could be. After they receive Jesus as their Savior, they can stop fearing for their eternal life.

Equally true is that it is wrong and spiritually growth-stunting for believers to take their salvation for granted. It can turn them toward motives that could someday prove to be of harm to themselves and others.

Remember God is FOR you. He always gives us the gift of faith as we go to Him for it, even the gift to believe in Jesus for the first time. Thereafter, we can never truly lose our faith, or run out of faith, no matter how we feel. He can easily grant us more faith, and restore faith we think we might have lost, when we ask Him.

Be at peace in knowing that God is loving, patient, helping, and in control. Look to Him for spiritual assurance that your salvation is real and permanent. Trust in Him to deliver on His promises.

Believe in Jesus as your Savior, and you WILL be saved. Then start living thankfully, knowing the goodness of Heaven awaits you.

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