The Bible’s Many Requirements for Salvation

Churches tell us, “believe in Jesus, and you’ll go to heaven when you die.” But when I look at scripture, it seems like there might be more to it than that. (Is that heresy?!)

Here are 7 requirements for salvation I have found throughout scripture.

1. Faith in Jesus

“And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”

—Acts 16:31 (ESV)

2. Baptism

“Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…”

—1 Peter 3:21 (ESV)

3. Forgiving Others

“If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

—Matthew 6:5 (NIV)

4. Obeying God

“And being made perfect, he [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”

—Hebrews 5:9 (ESV)

5. Verbally Confessing Jesus’s Lordship

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

—Romans 10:9–10 & 13 (ESV)

6. Repenting of Sin

“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

—Luke 13:3 (ESV)

7. Denying Yourself

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.’”

—Luke 9:23–24 (ESV)

…Confused?

Reading all these verses can be confusing. Do we really have to do all those things to go to heaven? If the Bible says we need to do all those things to be saved, then why do churches teach that the only thing we need to do is believe in Jesus?

The key to understanding these verses is knowing what salvation is. Most people think that salvation is “going to heaven,” but that’s actually an incomplete definition.

Salvation = unity with Jesus.

When we practice the above “requirements” we experience further unity with Jesus (aka salvation). And the more unified we are with Jesus, the more we just automatically practice the above requirements. For example, if I obey Jesus, I become more unified with him, and if I become more unified with him, I start obeying him more.

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Related Articles

• Salvation = Unity with God

• Is Obedience Required for Salvation? (Hebrews 5:9 Commentary)

• Is Verbal Confession Required for Salvation? (Romans 10:9 Commentary)

• Is Repentance Required for Salvation? (Luke 13:3 Commentary)

• Is Baptism Required for Salvation? (1 Peter 3:21 Commentary)

• Is Self Denial Required for Salvation? (Luke 9:23–24 Commentary)

• Is Forgiveness Required for Salvation? (Matthew 6:5 Commentary)