The sea of religious division can sometimes seem quite overwhelming today—like attempting to swim in rough seas in the middle of the ocean. So here’s a question: Could you attend a church where they do not teach the truth about salvation?
If a church does not teach God’s truth about how to be saved, then attendees and listeners would continually and incurably be…lost in sin (Luke 19:10), dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1-5), separated from God (Isa. 59:1-2), without Christ and without God (Eph. 2:12), having no hope (Eph. 2:12), doomed for everlasting punishment in the eternal fires of hell (Matt. 10:28; 13:42; 25:41, 46).
So, let me ask again—could you attend such a church that, by choosing not to teach the truth about God’s plan of salvation from sin, leaves every single person there in that dreadful, condemned condition?
Of all the doctrines taught in the Bible, God makes it abundantly clear how one is saved from their sins. It is not vague or complicated to figure out. When the persecutors and executioners of Jesus heard the good news of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, their hearts were pricked with a belief in the message they heard, driving them to ask what they must do (Acts 2:37). Jesus had already given the apostles the exact answer to provide on that day (see Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Luke 24:47), so Peter recited the Savior’s own words, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). These believers had to repent of their sins and be immersed in water in order to obtain the salvation of their sins. Nothing could be clearer.
Does the church where you attend teach what the Bible teaches about salvation? If not, can I ask you as kindly as I possible can—why are you going there? The eternal destiny of souls is at stake, but they are not being saved there, in the only way the Bible teaches for one to be saved (Acts 4:12). But it’s not just the eternal destiny of other people’s souls at stake, but the eternal destiny of your own soul. Not only does your presence show approval for the error that is being taught (2 John 9-11), but if you have complied with what is being taught there, then you yourself are lost in sin (go back and read that list in the second paragraph). Again, let me ask—why are you there?
There is more that must be examined than just the teaching on salvation, for “all things” that Scripture affirms must be taught faithfully and truthfully (Matt. 28:20; Rev 22:18-19). But, it starts with salvation from sin. If God’s truth is not taught on that, nothing else matters.