The contrite and humbled youth begged, "What must I do to be saved?" His friend delightfully answered him, "All you have to do is believe and you will be saved."

In the religious world one expects to hear such a dialogue. Since I have been retired, I have caught up on a lot of missed readings. I even have read most if not all of Zane Grey's westerns. I have enjoyed stacks of "Christian novels." All of the latter have the above conversation included when Bible salvation is mentioned. It is also the line most repeated on religious shows on radio and television.

Sadly, the answer as given is not Biblical and has no substance for a truth seeker. "All I have to do is believe?" Believe in what? What am I supposed to believe? Perhaps if I cross my fingers and just "believe" like Tinker Bell pleas in the Peter Pan story. A friend from my childhood once told me that he had solved the secret of finding a parking space in his city. Cross two fingers and circle around the block in your car. When you return there will be a vacant parking space. Gorm Sionnach calls it the "Tinker Bell Theology" or "Tinkerbell effect": "The more an individual (or group) believes in something, the more potent it becomes."ⁱ It should be sufficient for rational thinkers to agree that this does not answer our question of the Biblical passage, "In what am I supposed to believe?"

Would "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" suffice? This is Biblical. It's found in Acts 16. But in order for the Philippian jailer to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”, he had to hear the "word of the Lord" that was taught by the apostle Paul. “And they spoke the Word of the Lord to him, and to all those in his house” (Acts 16:32, AFV). "… and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" (Romans 10:14). The preaching source to hear must come from the Word of God. “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of God” (Romans 10:17, AFV).

BY GRACE ARE YOU SAVED

When pressed, some religious teachers might use Ephesians 2:8-9 to support their teaching that "all you have to do is believe" statement.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, KJV).

THROUGH FAITH?

"Salvation comes through faith," they will say, "and faith means believing and isn't that just believing in Jesus?" Actually, in colloquial English "through faith" can mean "through believing" or it can mean "through a belief." There's a difference. Believing is a process; belief is a substance. Believing is a verb, gerund or participle. The word brings us back to "Tinker Bell theology." We still don't know what to believe from a verb. On the other hand, "belief" is a noun. A noun can mean "something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group" ( Merriam-Webster online).   Now we should ask, which one did the Holy Spirit mean in this context?

On the surface, you might conclude, "What's the difference? We still aren't told what to believe." What if I told you that "the belief" is the title that the apostles used to refer to their doctrine (teaching) from Christ?

It should be fully translated as "the faith ." It is not just an elusive name nor whatever you want to believe, but we are saved through a specific body of teaching; specifically here, it is "the teaching [the faith ]" delivered by the apostles (and inspired prophets) of Christ (Ephesians 3:5; Jude 3). “At the beginning” after Jesus arose, 3000 were saved by believing and obeying the teaching of the apostles. In Acts 2:42, "They continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine [teaching]."

"They (the saved) continued stedfastly", "proskartereo ^G4342 1. to be earnest towards. 2. (to a thing) to persevere, be constantly diligent. 3. (in a place) to attend assiduously all the exercises. 4. (to a person) to adhere closely to (as a servitor)."ⁱⁱ The saved ones persevered "in the apostles' teaching."

Ephesians 2:8 (ApostolicBiblePolyglot+), from the Greek manuscript: "For by favorG5484 [grace] you are being preserved [saved] through the belief*; and this [ is not of you of God gift];” *dia^G1223[through] tns^G3588 [the] pisteos^G4102 [belief or faith].

The apostle Jude (1:3) writes, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints [believers, cf. Colossians 1:2]."

Jude refers to the salvation that all enjoy in common that had been delivered to the sanctified ones (believers). The admonition is to contend earnestly for that "the faith " that has been delivered. Jude calls this common salvation "the faith ."

The New Testament is full of references to the teaching of the apostles designated as "the faith" (in the English translations).

"And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7).

"But Elymas the sorcerer ... withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith " (Acts 13:8).

"Confirming the souls of the disciples, [and] exhorting them to continue in the faith " (Acts 14:22).

"So the congregations kept on being strengthened in the faith , and were increasing in number daily" (Acts 16:5).

"When Felix came ... he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith into Christ Jesus" (Acts 24:24).

"By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name" (Romans 1:5).

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [but] not to doubtful disputations" (Romans 14:1).

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith " (1 Corinthians 16:13).

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith " (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Returning to Ephesians 2:8. Actually, the Greek text of Ephesians 2:8 has "the faith" as the following interlinear shows:

"For by favor [Gr.: charis] you are being preserved through [διά] the [της] belief [πίστεως]" (APB English of the Greek-English Interlinear).

Someone might truly say, "Doesn't that passage say that we are saved by grace (in the KJV)?" The answer is, "Indeed, but how is the grace (charis) reached by mortal man?" The answer is in the passage. The grace or favor of God is obtained through the Faith that has been delivered to us through the Holy Spirit's inspired writings of the apostles and as Paul adds in the third chapter of Ephesians the assisting prophets; i.e., the New Testament of Jesus Christ.

So it is Scripturally correct to say that what can save us is found in or “through” The Faith. And God's saving favor is located in The Faith. And what is "the Faith"? It is the teaching delivered by God's Holy Spirit-inspired-apostles of Jesus Christ. It is what we call the New Testament. When one thinks about it, without the apostles preaching and their subsequent writings we not only would not have "THE FAITH" but we wouldn't know anything about Jesus Christ OR HIS GRACE! Some say that the historian Josephus wrote a line or two about Jesus existing, but he doesn't tell us anything about how to be saved. Nothing is stated about the teaching of Jesus nor His apostles. Only through the Faith as recorded in the New Testament can we hope to reach the loving hands of the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. All other media is but "Tinker Bell Theology".

"For the grace of God, which brings salvation for all men, has appeared; Teaching us that, having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live moderately and righteously and godly in this present world, Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our Savior and great God, Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, so that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and might purify for Himself a unique people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2:12-14, AFV).

Grace covers our walk through the Faith, the Word of God, from believing, repenting, confessing, being baptized, and all the way until we hear the voice of the Lord's final beckoning, "Enter Faithful Servant into the joys of your Lord prepared for you from the foundation of the world!"

Gaylon West
Throw Out the Lifeline