One of the heresies that has deeply infiltrated the church is the notion of “just get saved and everything else is a secondary issue.” It comes in different flavors, but the form I see the most is: “Is believing that particular doctrine necessary to be saved?” It’s a very nasty question because it puts those who stand on Scripture in a tight position. I deal with origins often, and this is an excellent topic for this issue. If believing what Genesis says as written is necessary to be saved, then that means believing a 6-day creation and a recent creation (roughly 6000 years ago for the 21st century) is a doctrine that must be believed to be a born-again Christian. I don’t know of anyone who would truly say that is the case. But when they say, “No, it is not necessary,” the immediate follow up is: “So why draw a line on this point? I can believe what I want on that topic and still get into heaven.”
We must be careful here because this is a trick of the enemy. It’s a very sly tactic and my response is, “That’s the wrong question to ask.” It is the wrong question to be asking if this doctrine or that doctrine is necessary to be saved. Anyone who is asking this does not understand the Gospel as well as they think they do. How can I say that? Because those who are asking this are treating the Gospel as a set of statements to believe, not a PERSON to believe. And they are trying to pin the doctrinal claims on those standing for sound doctrine to let themselves off the hook.
My other response to this is: “The BELIEF in a 6-day creation is not necessary for one to be saved, as one can be wrong on many things and still be saved. However, the FACT of a 6-day creation is necessary for salvation to even be possible. Because unless God created in 6 days as Genesis records, then the status and nature of the creation is not what it was for Adam and Eve. If Adam and Eve’s sin did not affect and curse the world as Genesis describes, then there is no salvation to be had because there is nothing to be saved from.”
The issue can expand to many different things, not just origins. What about infant baptism? What about divorce? Homosexual relationships? The role of science and/or politics? The style of worship? The list goes on and on. Some of these can very well be primary issues. Some of them should not even be on the debate list. But behind all of it is a fundamental mishandling of Scripture and the Gospel. The entire approach with all these questions boils down to: “Can I believe what I want to believe and still be considered a Christian?” Or “What I can get away with and still be considered a Christian?” It is like those who ask for what the minimal requirements are to be saved. Those who are taking that line are completely missing the point.
The Gospel is not about a set of doctrines, though we absolutely do need those doctrines to set up concrete markers to what we are and what we are not. There are doctrines that absolutely draw a line as to who is in the faith and who is not. But there is more than that. The Gospel is about a person; it is about Jesus. Here is the other problem. Many people agree with that, but then treat Jesus as some ethereal, out-there figure. Or more realistically, they have made a “false Jesus” that fits their personality, their preferences, and their likings. Their “Jesus” is themselves. Man has been doing this since the beginning – putting ourselves in the God position, thinking we can make God do what we would have Him do.
In Biblical Christianity, we are not given space for our opinions or our preferences. In Biblical Christianity, the first thing that is dealt with is self. Self must be denied. So let me spell it out: “IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!” The Gospel is not about you. It’s not about me. While we are involved, we are not the focal point. Jesus is. So when dealing with these kinds of questions about which statements are necessary to believe or not, the real question is: Are we following Jesus or following our own ideals?
Most people who ask these questions KNOW that their position is wrong, otherwise they would not be asking for permission to keep it. I have never once heard someone who believes in a six-day creation ask if they could believe that and get into heaven. I only hear that from old-earth creationists and theistic evolutionists. Why is that? Because we do not need permission to believe something the Bible explicitly teaches and still call yourself a Christian. That is supposed to be automatic. It’s simply amazing and astonishing that Christians gape at other Christians for actually believing what their book says. I’m reminded of those who see people praying and getting answers, and they tell that person to stop praying because they are making the mediocre look like mediocre. What happened to actually believing the Bible in Christianity today? And we wonder what happened to our strength and power to influence culture.
The Gospel has been watered down and reduced to where you only need to focus on four or five verses and the rest don’t matter. Who thought that was even thinkable? If we are Christians, we are to believe the ENTIRE Bible, cover to cover. Not interpretations of it. Not broken down into primary and secondary categories, but the whole thing. Because the whole thing is about Jesus, the whole thing is primary. While it may not be necessary to believe certain things to be saved, if one IS saved, they eventually will come around and believe the whole thing. You will not find an authentic, born-again believer openly questioning the clarity or the intention of the text. You will find false believers and satanic plants seeking to sow discord doing so. But the born-again believer is going to eventually stand on the holistic Word of God and not be swept aside by the winds and waves of our culture. But the compromised will, and we’ll see what that looks like over the next few weeks.
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