Bible Answers for Bible Christians

Bible Quiz

Commentaries

Creation

Jesus

Life Issues

Liturgical Seasons

Mary

Predestination

Sacraments

Salvation

Sexual Morals

Spirituality

The Ultimate Questions

Trinity

Virtues & Vices

Browse All Questions

A comparative synopsis of what Christians and the Bible say one must do to be saved.

Jesus	"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15) "For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it." (Mark 8:35) "Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mt. 7:21) 36 "I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Mt. 12:36-37) "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16) 25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" 27 And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28) "But he who endures to the end will be saved." (Mark 13:13)
Peter, Paul, & Apostles	For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Rm. 2:13) 'And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (Acts 2:21) 29 And he [the jailer] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and brought them out and said, "Men, what must I do to be saved?" 31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family. (Acts 16:29-33) 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18-21). THIS CORRESPONDS TO WHAT JESUS SAID AS RECORDED IN JOHN 3:3-5. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8) 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, 23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:21-26) For he [Jesus] will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life (Rm. 2:6-7) 1 Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, 2 by which you are saved, if you hold it fast--unless you believed in vain. (1 Cor. 15:1-2) And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach -- if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard. (Col 1:21-23)
Bible Christians	Admit that you have sinned. If you know that you have done some things wrong then you know that you have sinned. Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Believe that Jesus died on a cross for your sins and that he rose again on the third day!! Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrated His love for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". You see, we don't deserve it but it is a free gift. Commit your life to following Jesus Christ. Confess him as the Lord of your life! Romans 10:9 says "That if you will confess with your mouth,'Jesus is Lord', and beleive in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved..."
Catholic Church	GOD'S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE 1949 Called to beatitude but wounded by sin, man stands in need of salvation from God. Divine help comes to him in Christ through the law that guides him and the grace that sustains him: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phil 2:12-13 1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."Matthew 4:17 Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.39 2013 "All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity."65 All are called to holiness: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."Matthew 5:48 In order to reach this perfection the faithful should use the strength dealt out to them by Christ's gift, so that . . . doing the will of the Father in everything, they may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the glory of God and to the service of their neighbor. Thus the holiness of the People of God will grow in fruitful abundance, as is clearly shown in the history of the Church through the lives of so many saints.67 977 Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved."Mark 16:16 Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life."Romans 6:4 2052 "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" To the young man who asked this question, Jesus answers first by invoking the necessity to recognize God as the "One there is who is good," as the supreme Good and the source of all good. Then Jesus tells him: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments." And he cites for his questioner the precepts that concern love of neighbor: "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother." Finally Jesus sums up these commandments positively: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."Matthew 19:16-19 "Apart from me you can do nothing" 2074 Jesus says: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."John 15:5 The fruit referred to in this saying is the holiness of a life made fruitful by union with Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, partake of his mysteries, and keep his commandments, the Savior himself comes to love, in us, his Father and his brethren, our Father and our brethren. His person becomes, through the Spirit, the living and interior rule of our activity. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."John 15:12 2016 The children of our holy mother the Church rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God their Father for the good works accomplished with his grace in communion with Jesus.70 Keeping the same rule of life, believers share the "blessed hope" of those whom the divine mercy gathers into the "holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."Revelation 21:2