Difficult Questions for Christians Series - Part 5

A few weeks ago I started a series on "Difficult Questions for Christians." Here is where you can view the last four posts: "Why doesn't prayer work, when the Bible promises that it will?", "Why does the Bible record scientifically impossible events as factual?", "Where is the justice in punishing us for Adam's sin?", and "Why aren't Christians doing greater works than Jesus did, since He Himself said they would?" This week I'll attempt to answer one more of the thousands of difficult questions posed by skeptics and Christians alike. Remember a few things though as you read. 1. This is a short answer to a difficult question that has probably plagued the human heart for thousands of years. 2. God's Word is the ultimate authority with answers, not a fallible pastor. 3. The Bible doesn't give us the answers to every question we have. It tells us what we need to know, not necessarily what we want to know. With that being said, let's jump into our next question in the series.

Why is the Bible unclear about how to be saved?

This is a great question. The argument that will arise from this particular question is, if there is nothing more important in the Bible, then why is it ambiguous and contradictory? Why doesn't Jesus clearly explain the process in a step-by-step manner if salvation is so important? If the apostles were tasked with sharing the Gospel and leading people to salvation why didn't they write more clearly about it? I think to start off with you have to consider the role that perspective has on clarity.

Clarity or understanding something is dependent on your perspective. I am very unclear on the science behind how a rocket can leave the earth and make it into space. A rocket scientist doesn't have the same problem. It is the same with spiritual matters. Those who have completely shut God out and want no part of their life influenced by His Holy Spirit, they will not see the clarity of what the biblical texts show about how to be saved. To understand spiritual matters, which is what salvation is, a person must have their spiritual eyes open to what God wants to show them. Otherwise God's plan of salvation will seem unclear, convoluted, ambiguous, and contradictory.

Would things be much simpler if Jesus had given us a step-by-step process, then the Holy Spirit inspired the biblical writers to record the exact words and process? Sure it would. Can I tell you why God didn't work things out in that way? No I can't. Does it really matter? No it doesn't. The reason it doesn't matter is because the overarching theme of the Bible is God's plan for repairing the broken relationship between Him and man by dealing with mankind's sin. When you read the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 what you find is an interconnected series of events that show how man has broken their relationship with God by disobeying Him (sin) and how God has provided a way to restore that relationship. You can read more about how to repair your relationship with God here.

If a person reads the Bible by skipping from this chapter in this book to another chapter in another book, yes the plan of salvation can be lost in the mix. But when a person studies the Bible, not simply reads it, then they will begin to see what God says about salvation. Yes there are four specific verses in the book of Romans that when pieced together helps to clearly explain how to be saved (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10,13). The important thing to remember is that everything between those verses helps to explain those specific verses and how they impact our understanding of salvation. In John 3, Jesus explains to a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus the hows and whys of salvation. Even Nicodemus, a man trained in the Jewish faith, didn't easily grasp Jesus' teachings. Remember, picking up the Bible and expecting to fully understand salvation from a randomly picked verse is like reading a few sentences in the Lord of the Rings and expecting to know the difference between a Hobbit and a Dwarf. It doesn't work that way.

One other thing to consider is that a person can be led to salvation by reading and understanding the biblical texts. But the salvation message, or Gospel, is meant to be shared from person to person. The biblical text is to give authority to the message of the Gospel when it is shared by Christians. Don't hear me saying the Bible is not important when it comes to the plan of salvation because it is very important. But God's design for the spreading of the Gospel was primarily person to person, not book to person. This is why Jesus told the apostles in Acts 1 to go into all the world and preach the Gospel (my paraphrase). The Christian is to help bring clarity and understanding to the Gospel message as the unbeliever reads the biblical text and has their heart illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

I'll close with this. There are plenty of verses in the Bible, when carefully studied and considered in regards to others, that help explain God's plan of salvation. The best way to fully understand how to be saved is to talk to someone who has experienced salvation. They can explain to you what it takes to be saved and what it means for you to be saved. The Bible will give you a clear understanding of salvation if you read and study the text. But you must encounter it with a desire to see what God wants to do in your life through His free gift of salvation.

I hope this brief look at "Why is the Bible unclear about how to be saved?" will help you see how God reveals His plan of salvation through the Bible. As always, I'm open to comments and questions, either here on the blog or via Social Media. If this question brings to mind another difficult question about faith, then by all means ask it.


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