Skeptics always seem to have trouble understanding basic Biblical doctrines.  Among these is the doctrine of salvation.  Dennis McKinsey, in the March 1983 issue of Biblical Errancy, provides a good example of the inability of skeptics to grasp simple concepts.  His confusion mirrors that of Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll who also exhibited little understanding of this doctrine.

Given this history, we can expect that today’s skeptics fare no better in understanding this doctrine.  Skeptics have a tendency to read what other skeptics write about the Bible, and many never really study what the Bible actually says.  Mckinsey reads Ingersoll and they both read Paine.  In the end, they all express the same erroneous concepts.  This investigative laziness perpetuates general ignorance among skeptics regarding Biblical doctrines.

Biblical salvation concerns the deliverance of a person from the judgment of God.  According to the Bible, everyone is accountable to God and all will be resurrected one day to be judged for their sin.  The punishment for sin is permanent separation from the presence of God, a condition called Hell.  To escape that punishment, a person must seek salvation, i.e., he must be saved.

In his 1983 article, McKinsey writes that "the fundamental problem in this regard, however, is that even if one were to say to a believer, 'OK, I believe you; so what must I do to be saved,' he still couldn't obtain a rational response. Why?  Because the answer would depend upon what Biblical verses were selected.  Some scriptural passages say you are saved by works; others say you are saved by faith; others say your destiny has already been predetermined; and still others say it is decided by God's whim. He simply looks down and arbitrarily selects those He wants."

Skeptics like McKinsey are confused but the Bible is not.  One passage that has led to confusion among skeptics concerns the rich young ruler found in Matthew 19.  Skeptics think that this passage teaches salvation by works.  It does not.  This is what the Bible says--

"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." (Matthew 19:16-21)

If the skeptic would only take this passage literally and read exactly what it says, he would see that it has nothing to do with salvation.  The rich, young ruler asks how to obtain eternal life.  Jesus correctly tells the young man that eternal life can be obtained by keeping the commandments.  Jesus reiterates this at the end of the passage when He says, "…If thou wilt be perfect…"

Any person who wants eternal life can earn it simply by being perfect in all that he does, that is, by keeping the law.  The need for salvation only arises when a person is not perfect.  It is after a person fails to achieve perfection because he disobeys the law of God that he finds that he needs salvation.  Only after he sins does he need to be saved from the consequences of his sin in order to gain eternal life.

If a person were to obey the law in everything and never sin, he would have no need of salvation.  He would not need faith and would not have to believe in Jesus.  Skeptics can have complete confidence in their inability to earn eternal life by keeping the law.  A skeptic always breaks the first of the Ten Commandments.  He also commits who knows how many other sins and does so willfully.

What happens when a skeptic sins?  That sin becomes chiseled in history.  It cannot be undone.  Even if a skeptic were to change his ways after his sin and be perfect in every detail, that earlier sin cannot be erased or atoned for except through payment of the prescribed penalty, eternal death.  Only because God has provided a means of salvation can people have any hope of escaping punishment after they sin.

To help us understand the Biblical concept of salvation and the many verses that speak of salvation, we can compare the two major systems of salvation advocated within the church today.  They are the Calvinist and the Arminian systems.

Under the Arminian system, God provides a common grace to all people who have sinned that affords them the opportunity to decide whether they want to believe in Christ and thereby be saved.  The Calvinist system agrees noting that Christ died for the sins of the world.  His death is sufficient to cover the sins of any and all who come to him.  The offer of salvation is available to all people and not just to some.

That the opportunity exists for any person to choose to believe in Christ is amply demonstrated in the Bible.  Examples include--

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' (John 3:16)

"…Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:30-31)

 "…whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)

 "…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)

The outcome of decisions made according to the Arminian system of common grace is that some freely choose to believe in Christ and some choose not to do so.  Skeptics are among those who willingly choose not to believe in Christ.  Skeptics understand that the Bible says that they are accountable for their sins and that the judgment for their sins is eternal death.  Despite this, they willingly reject the offer of salvation that is freely offered to them through the grace of God.  The Arminian system stops there.  The skeptic has made his decision.  His destiny is set.  Nothing more can be done.

At this point, the Calvinist steps forward and asks the question, What of those who have willingly and freely chosen not to believe in Christ?  What about the skeptic?  Is that the end of the story?  Is it not still possible for God to have mercy on those who have rejected Christ?  The Bible answers with a resounding YES! God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and from this springs the Calvinist system known by the acronym, TULIP.  TULIP describes how God saves those who, of their own will, freely and willfully choose to reject His offer of salvation.

Under the Calvinist system, each person has the opportunity to believe in Christ and be saved.  If that person rejects Christ, then God is free to exercise His will to choose whether He will intervene to save that person or allow that person's decision to stand.  Verses that show this include--

"For [God] saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (Romans 9:15)

"And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days." (Mark 13:20)

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit…" (John 15:16)

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" (1 Peter 2:9)

Wrapped around the doctrine of salvation is the idea that God has complete and perfect knowledge of all events including the future.  When God created the universe, He knew all the people, by name, who would be saved and those who would be lost.  He knew those who would freely choose to believe in Christ.  He knew those whom He would save from among those who chose not to believe in Christ.  God knew from the beginning those who would end up being saved and who would not.  Consequently, the Bible speaks of a person's destiny being predetermined or predestined. Scriptures showing this include--

"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48)

"…he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will…" Ephesians 1:4-5:

"…Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…" (1 Peter 1:2)

What about works and the rich, young ruler?  Do any people live such perfect lives that they are able to earn eternal life through their works?  The Bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  All have sinned.  No person is perfect and sinless, and no one will ever be able to earn the right to eternal life based on his works.

What about the Arminian system of common grace?  Do people who have the opportunity to accept Christ really do so?  What do people really choose to do?  The Bible says that--

"…I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." (Luke 16:27-31

"The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Psalms 14:2)

"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts" (Psalms 10:4; 53:2).

Despite the good intentions of the Arminians, the Bible tells us that no one ever willingly seeks God.  No one ever chooses to believe in Christ.  In the end, no one is any different than a skeptic.  The Arminians will labor the point, but even they must admit that not all those who claim to have accepted Christ are any more saved than a skeptic.  The Arminian ultimately has no idea who is saved and who is not under their system.

We would conclude, then, after a sound, thorough investigation of the Scriptures, that all people reject Christ, and that they do so of their own free will.  Consequently, it is left to God to choose whom He will save.  We know that God has already decided whom He will save and that He did so in the beginning even before He created the world.

What conclusions can we draw from this?  We know that we all have sinned and that we deserve to be cast into Hell unless God saves us.  We know that it is still possible for someone to cry out to God to be saved, but the Bible says that this will not happen.  If God does not choose to save us, we know that we have no hope.

That is the basic message of salvation found in the Bible.  We have all sinned and our situation is hopeless unless God intervenes to save us.  The Bible was written to convey that message to the world.  Yet, the Bible says that Today is the day of Salvation.  Any person can cry out to God to be saved.

Skeptics have an interesting reaction to all this.  Their response is to deny that God exists, deny that they are sinners, and even deny that they will be judged one day.  Not only do they reject Christ, they resent Him.  They relish and look forward to the day when they can escape God's presence and find themselves in Hell.  If they know this, then the church has done its work.  No one should have to stand before God without knowing what is happening and why.

Many other people exhibit am entirely different reaction to their sin.  That is because God has changed them.  They understand what the Bible says about their sin, and they believe it.  They admit that God would be justified in casting them into Hell.  Rather than denying God like the skeptics, we find these people exhibiting an attitude like that of the publican in Luke 18.

"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18:13)

And like the leper of Luke 5.

"And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." (Luke 5:12)

By comparing himself to these two men, any skeptic can know with certainly where he stands in relation to God and whether God has opened his eyes to his true situation.  A skeptic can cry out to God at any time, but he will not.  Despite knowing all that the Bible says about his need for salvation, the skeptic finds that he has no desire for God, and it does not bother him.

In the end, the doctrine of salvation is not that difficult.  Even a child can look at his life and determine whether God has saved him.  Even a child can understand that a person who has no desire to be saved has no complaint against God.

Many people preach many things about salvation, what it is and how it is obtained.  This is not because the Bible says so many different things about salvation.  It is because one of the most difficult things to tell a person is that a loved one is going to Hell or is in Hell.  Too many preachers have found themselves unable to tell a person the truth and have sought to comfort people with a lie, telling them that the one whom they loved so much is not in Hell.  Who can blame them?  Unfortunately, people have loved the lie more than the truth.  The lie has prospered because the false comfort it provides is so greatly desired.