I Would Like to Tell You About a Friend of Mine

The following article is from the desk of Hardie Logan, one of the men of the Madisonville church of Christ.

I would like to tell you about a friend of mine.  I'll call him Todd and though that is not his real name Todd is a spiritual man, he goes to worship every Sunday, Sunday evenings, Bible classes on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.  He is a moral man, he doesn't beat his wife or run around on her, he doesn't lie or cheat or steal.  Basically, Todd is a good man.

But Todd is a gambler.  When I told him I thought he was a gambler, Todd was hurt.  He argued with me and proceeded to tell me how he was against gambling, how he had never gambled in his life.  I believe Todd was telling me the truth, but I still contended that he was a gambler.  I told him if we could talk, I would show him that he was a gambler.  He agreed.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God--"

I turned in my Bible to the above verse and asked Todd to read it. We had talked about this verse before. Todd would have us believe there is nothing needed to go to heaven because salvation is a gift. It is a free gift from God, and we all know you don't do anything to earn a gift. I fully agreed with Todd that it is a gift and there is nothing that one can do to earn or merit a gift and then I asked Todd to read another verse.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Todd loved these two verses. He immediately praised me for bringing out two of the best verses to prove that nothing is needed to go to heaven. There is the gift that Ephesians is talking about. The gift is Jesus Christ. But, you see, there is more in this verse than just Jesus. "whoever believes in him should not perish." I asked Todd a question, "Todd, what about the people that don't believe in Jesus, are they saved also, according to Ephesians 2:8?"

I then went further, "if we are saved by grace only, then there is a contradiction between Ephesians 2:8 and John 3:16.  John 3:16 says very plainly that “whoever believes in him should not perish.”

And there is contradiction with Ephesians 2:8 and other verses also.

Luke 13:3 "I tell you, ‘No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’"

John 3:16 and Luke 13:3 says that we, you and I, have to do something to be saved.  Luke 13:3 says straight out that If whoever is not willing to repent, they will perish. The verse in John 3:16 plainly says the if one is not willing to believe they will perish.

According to my friend Todd’s way of teaching about salvation, John 3:16 and Luke 13:3 are direct contradictions to Ephesians 2:8, for they say that a person has to do something to have salvation, they have to believe and they have to repent.  But my questions were just beginning.

Romans 10:9 "because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Acts 10:48 "And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days."

To teach that there is nothing that a person has to do to be saved is plain and simple, to teach a doctrine that does not come from the Bible.  It would cause contradictions in the Bible and the Bible does not have contradictions.

I asked my friend Todd, "if we have been saved by grace, as stated in Ephesians 2:8, when does that happen?"  You see, salvation comes when we have done what God has commanded to do to be saved.  We must hear the Word of God, we must believe it, we must confess Jesus Christ, we must repent of sin and we must obey Him in baptism.  It seems so simple and yet people make it so hard. One thing that is easy thing to do, is gamble.