Who Then Can Be Saved?

This is a question asked by the disciples of Jesus Christ.

Believers (of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh) are encouraged to be Christlike. To be Christlike is to be like the Lord Jesus Christ in thoughts, in words and in deeds. This is a difficult thing to do, because human as we are, we are subject to human frailties, likes and dislikes or prejudices. Thus, our normal tendency is to love those who show us love; we give to those who give to us; we are courteous to those who are equally courteous. And the converse of all these is true to us as well.

For example, when Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross of calvary, what did he pray to his Father for those who persecuted and hanged him? He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 NIV). Who is the human being who would pray in that manner? No one. Impossible. It is written,

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no not one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NIV).

If this be the case, who then can be saved and who deserves to be in heaven as promised by Jesus Christ when he said,

“¹Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3 NIV)

Yes, no one really deserves to enter heaven on his own effort or “goodness”; it is only by the grace of God. Thus, the Bible says,

“⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV)

What is grace? The simplest definition understandable by everybody is: grace means an “unmerited favor”. Reducing this to its lowest term, we do not really deserve it because we are sinners, but because of the love of God, by his grace, through faith (because we believe Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh) and the truth of his promise, we will be allowed to enter heaven. In Tagalog, “hindi sana maari (or puede) pero sigue na lang, pasok ka pagkat naniwala ka na Diyos si Jesu Cristo).

So, we are saved not because we are good or upright, but by the grace of God because we have faith in Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh. Thus, the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 NIV). But one who is saved is Christlike, so he is good and upright, and will do “good works”. The Bible says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).