Salvation in the Gospels

[Dondi]

It has occurred to me how diversely salvation is presented in the Gospels. And so I took to the task of listed most of those occurrences the subject comes up in the teachings of Jesus. And what I found is quite remarkable.


Passage - Method of Salvation

Matt. 5:3-10 Poor in spirit, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted.

Matt. 10:39-42 Lose your life, receive a prophet, give drink to the little ones.

Matt. 19:16-26 Keep the commandments, sell all you have, and follow Jesus.

Matt. 25:31-46 (nations) Feed the hungry, Give drink to the thirsty, Take in strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick and in prison, do to the least of your brethren.

Mark 10:28-31 Leave all for the gospel’s sake, for eternal life in the world to come.

Mark 12:28-34 Love the Lord you God with all the heart, all the understanding, all the soul, all the strength, and love you neighbor as yourself.

Mark 16:15 Believe and be baptized.

Luke 7:44-47 Wash Jesus’ feet with your tears and dry them with your hair.

Luke 5:17-26 Have four friends lower you down the roof of a house, and then have Jesus, who observed their faith, proclaim your sins forgiven. And oh, get heal of the palsy as a bonus!

Luke 10:8-9 (cities) Receive the disciples and heal the sick.

Luke 10:25-28 Love God and neighbor (answered rightly)

Luke 16:19-31 Be a sick, homeless, and destitute beggar at the door of a rich man.

Luke 18:29-30 Forsake house, parents, wife, children for the kingdom of God’s sake.

Luke 19:8-9 Sell ½ of your possessions and give to the poor. Restore four-fold those you’ve cheated.

Luke 23:42 Ask Jesus to remember you in His kingdom.

John 1:12-13 Believe and receive Jesus.

John 1:49-51 Believe Jesus is the Son of God and King of Israel.

John 3:3 Be born again.

John 3:16 Whosoever believeth on Him.

John 3:36 Believe on the Son.

John 4:14 Drink living water.

John 5:24 Hear Jesus’ words and believe on the Father who sent Him.

John 5:39-40 Search the scriptures and come to Jesus.

John 6:54 Eat Jesus’ body and blood.

John 8:11 Be alone with Jesus after your accusers leave.

John 11:25 Believe on Christ and you will be resurrected.

John 12:25 Hate your life in this world.

John 14:6 Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Him.

John 17:3 Know God the Father and Jesus Christ.


So, dear Christian, in which manner of salvation did you come in?

 

[wil]

So, dear Christian, in which manner of salvation did you come in?

And then should we decide to go to Acts or James or elsewhere we'll find even more...

"But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works . . . You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."

I go by the striving to fall in the footsteps....
... big sandals...

 

[path_of_one]

Very interesting, Dondi. Thank you for pulling this together- quite a bit of work!

I think what is particularly fascinating is that Matthew, Mark, and Luke emphasize action and attitude, while John emphasizes belief. The former three seem much more Jewish in their assessment of salvation to me, while John is quite different.

One very popular scholarly theory about how the gospels came together is that Mark was first, then there is "Q" (some unknown gospel of stuff Jesus said), then Q and Mark were written together to form Luke and Matthew (which are very similar in content), and John was really quite late when people were already beginning to form doctrine. Hence, Mark is largely journalistic, and Matthew and Luke are journalistic with some extra bits of mythology (as in, sacred text, not as in false stuff)- adding stories about Jesus' birth and childhood, for example. Matthew and Luke also added a substantial amount of wisdom sayings from Jesus.

The wisdom sayings in Matthew and Luke are largely found in the Gospel of Thomas, which was not canonized but whose content is repeated in the canonized gospels. Thomas is often suggested to be this "Q" gospel that is missing from the canon- but not really missing so much since the sayings were copied into Matthew and Luke.

John is really the mystery gospel. It is very different from the other three- in style, in content, in religious influence. It is poetic and theological and doctrinal, where the others are much more simplistic and journalistic. In my opinion, John is far less Jewish- there are influences from something else... not sure what. Zoroastrianism? Mithraism? Not sure. But this issue of belief is a strange one, given what the other gospels say and the Jewish beliefs in general about salvation and religion (maybe BB or dauer or someone could chime in here).

I think the logical progression is that real "belief" in Jesus (that is, faith and not mere belief) would lead to a change in one's attitude, thoughts, and actions- but I am not so sure that "belief" or faith is the origin point. According to Mark, Matthew, and Luke, there is plenty of leeway for people who don't know anything about Jesus but who act appropriately to be saved. This seems very Jewish to me- similar to the idea of the Noahide law being sufficient for non-Jews to receive mercy from God.

But according to John (and by extension, the mainstream and popular view in evangelical Christianity), salvation can only be attained through belief/faith- that is, by becoming a Christian.

Personally, my beliefs are more in accord with Mark, Matthew and Luke on the matter. Since I was raised to have a personal relationship with Christ, and this began at a very young age, I can't separate the two in my own life. All of my actions, attitudes, etc. are related to my relationship with Christ. However, I have noted that there are many Christians who profess sincere belief and yet whose actions are contrary to Jesus' teachings in the other three gospels. And there are many non-Christians whose actions are in accord with Jesus' teachings in the other three gospels. For this reason, I tend to believe that whether or not one "believes" in Christ, one is saved by Him if the evidence demonstrates that (through proper and sincere motivation, attitude, thought, and action).