Can I Be Saved If I Don’t Believe in Salvation by Faith Alone?

Episode 211 Show Notes

Can I Be Saved If I Don’t Believe in Salvation by Faith Alone?

From the Show

At what point can someone not understand faith alone and be saved?

I love the line from the Puritan John Owen, who said, “many people are justified by grace alone who do not know what justification by grace alone means.” I think of it as a landing strip with lights; you know, a plane is landing at night, and Jesus is the landing strip, and the doctrines about Jesus and what he’s done, are the lights. But if enough of the lights are broken or shifted out of place, we can land in the ocean. So, that’s why we need true thoughts about God, true doctrine, true teaching about who God is what he’s done for us in Jesus Christ, because we need those landing lights, we need to make sure that we will land on the right strip. But, it’s not because of the landing lights, it’s because of that airstrip, it’s because of Jesus Christ, not the doctrines about him, that we are saved. It doesn’t take a lot of knowledge to be saved. There are all sorts of exceptions to people knowing the doctrine of the Trinity, people knowing and believing and confessing what the basic doctrines of the scriptures teach. What’s important is that they place their trust in God through Jesus Christ, their mediator. — Michael Horton

Questions in this Episode

1. Where did the Bible come from?

2. I’m a Father and my daughter is now 3. We go to church regularly, but I’m not sure how my wife and I can take on a more active role in teaching our daughter about Jesus and the gospel. Do you have any suggestions?

3. At what point can someone not understand faith alone and be saved?

4. I have a friend who believes that no one spends eternity in hell. He argues that “perish” in John 3:16 means that the person will not live for eternity in hell but cease to exist. What do you think?

5. I’m wondering, why do you think faithful Christians can still struggle with prayer?

6. Does belief in grace mean that people are free to sin? If people are saved by grace how can they not live however they want?