"…and they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can be saved?"

Who can be saved, and what God ordained conditions must people comply with in order to be saved? Once again, most of the religious groups agree that God has offered salvation unto mankind on a conditional basis, however, the do not agree on what those conditions are. Some contend and others deny that faith is the only God ordained demand which alien sinners must comply with in order to be saved.

The scriptures teach that people must believe in both god and his Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11:6; John 5:24 and John 3:16, 36). However, this is not the only condition with which they are to comply. The remainder of this article will present questions and then answer each according to the scriptures, after which, one should clearly see the truth on this matter.

1. Are there any scriptures which say that a person is saved by faith only?

NO! In fact, there is only one scripture in which both the words faith and only are found together and it states that man is not justified by faith only (James 2:24). Another scripture stating that people are saved by faith plus other things can be found in (James 2:14-16).

2. Are there scriptures that teach (one way or another) that the alien sinner is not saved at the point of faith?

YES! Jesus stated (Matthew 7:21) that, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Acts 2) provides an example of a group of people who after becoming accepting believers, were not saved (Acts 2:1-40). Notice please, that after they became believers who were willing to accept Jesus as their savior, (Acts 2:38) says they had not yet received remission of sins; and (Acts 2:40) says they were not yet saved.

3. Are there any scriptures that say that alien sinners must comply with any additional conditons?

YES! Just as scriptures teach they must believe, (Luke 24:45-47; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:17-19; and Acts 17:30-31) teach that they must also repent.

4. Does repentance precede faith?

NO! Because repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of conduct (Matthew 21:28-29). Why would a person who was not serving God have a change of mind, that would lead them to serving Him before believing in Him? Again (II Corinthians 7:10) says, godly sorrow worketh repentance. If that is the case, how could a person be brought to a state of godly sorrow before believing in God?

5. Do the scriptures say there is any other condition with which the alien sinner must comply?

YES! (Acts 8:37; I Timothy 6:11-13; and Romans 10:9-10) teach that people must confess in the presence of others that they believe Jesus is the Son of God. After reading these scriptures, two give apostolic examples of alien sinners making this confession; the other one is a statement of fact, which says, it is made with the mouth unto salvation.

It is true that the book of Romans was written to the children of God living in Rome. However, reading verses one through ten, it becomes evident that Paul was not teaching them what they must do. Instead, he was explaining what the alien sinners of verse one and two must do. Then he relates in verses eleven through seventeen the need for teaching the gospel of Christ unto the alien sinners. Did the children of God in Rome have the need of believing that God raised Jesus from the dead? No, they had to believe in order to become God’s children.

So who can be saved according to the scriptures? (James 2:14-16) states that salvation is granted on the conditions of faith plus works. In (Matthew 7:21 and Acts 2:36-40) it is disclosed that the alien sinner is not saved at the point of faith, in fact in (James 2:24) it plainly states that a person is justified by faith, but not by faith only. It is also evident (Luke 24:45-47; Acts 2:38; and Acts 3:17-19) that alien sinners must repent; and in (I Timothy 6:11-13; and Romans 10:9-10) that they must confess publicly their faith in Jesus.