BOOTSTRAP RELIGION IS PSEUDO RELIGION

By Jim Corner

 

There are many that would trust in their ability for salvation. I have known those who based their confidence on their own goodness and their ability to keep the commands of the Lord. The truth, of course, is that we are all sinners and none of us will ever flawlessly obey the Lord. We live in a world in which praise is given to those who work their way to the top by ‘pulling themselves up by their bootstraps’. I want to look at a story that is recorded in I Samuel 7:2-13. It will demonstrate once again that salvation and deliverance come from the Lord and not through our ability to save ourselves. It is important that you take out your Bible and read this text before continuing with this article.

I want us to notice several things of importance that must be present in my life if I am to obtain eternal life.

1.The Lord must be first in my life. If you will notice the Israelites were told in verse 3 to ‘rid yourselves of the foreign gods and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only’. God’s people had been trying to accomplish the impossible; namely to serve the Lord and serve idols. Jesus stated in Matthew 6:24 that ‘no man can serve two masters’. I must realize that if I want to share eternity with Jesus, He must indeed be my Lord.

2. We must acknowledge our sin. We read in verse 6 that the Israelites had ‘sinned against the Lord’ and they had confessed that fact. Several years ago I studied with a man who claimed to have never sinned. Even after we read passages such as Roman 3:10 that say there is none righteous and Romans 3:23 which says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" he still refused to admit his sin. This man could never receive salvation because I will not seek a savior if I see no need. As I write this article it is possible that I have cancer and yet I have no appointments set up with a doctor. Why? Because I don’t see the need.

3. We must offer ourselves to the Lord. In verse 9 we see that Samuel offered a burnt offering. The burnt offering originated in Leviticus 1 and was a sign of complete devotion to God. There are many today that frequent houses of worship every Sunday and are no more faithful than the nearest tree. You see, Christianity is not simply a case of ‘going to church’ but of sacrificing your entire life to the Lord.

In our text we see that God gave deliverance to His people over the Philistine army. In verse 12 Samuel set up a stone and named it ‘ebenezer’. This was a word that simply said that it was only by the help of God that we have gained victory. It has always been true that victory is attained only through the Lord and such is still the case.

Now, let’s apply this story to us and how it relates to our salvation. Too often becoming a Christian is reduced to following a few procedures and that is not enough. We must first of all put the Lord first in our lives, see our sinfulness and offer our lives to Him. Once we have made that mental decision of having Jesus as Lord, then we are prepared to listen to His teachings and to follow them.

The teachings regarding salvation and how I obtain it are clear in the Word of God. It is true that over the years mankind has definitely ‘muddied the waters’ but that does not change what the Scriptures teach. In order to become a child of God one must:

1. Believe – belief in Christ is far more than a mental acknowledgement of His existence. We read in James 2:19 that devils believe. A careful study of the Word of God will show that belief is a combination of mental assent, trust and obedience.
    
2. Repent – we read in Acts 17:30 that repentance is a universal command. This command is at the foundation of a faithful, Christian life. You see, the word repent means to change and the Biblical concept is that I make a conscious decision to surrender my life to Jesus. From that moment on everything I do is with the view of doing the will of the Lord. Something such as church attendance by itself will never allow us to be the children of God that He desires us to be.
    
3. Confess – this word carries with it the idea of demonstrating my belief in Jesus through what I say and what I do. We have all known our share of hypocrites. That, of course, is a person who preaches one thing and practices another. There are many today that profess with their mouths that they believe in Jesus but if you carefully watch their lives, you realize that they are speaking a lie.
    
4. Baptism – the devil has done a masterful job of taking a plain and simple teaching of the Bible and confusing the issue. First of all, baptism is a burial in water (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). Those who would practice any other kind of baptism are not following the Word of the Lord. Second, there are those who would argue against the necessity of baptism. Oh, they do not condemn it but they believe that salvation can happen apart from baptism. Look at these verses; Acts 22:16 teaches that sin is not removed until one is baptized; Acts 2:38 teaches that sin is forgiven and the Holy Spirit received at the point of baptism; I Corinthians 12:13 says that we enter the church when we are baptized; Galatians 3:27 teaches that we enter Jesus when we are baptized and Jesus Himself said in Mark 16:16 that we receive salvation when we are baptized.

Now, when we do these things have we earned our salvation or worked for it?

No, just as the Israelites in I Samuel 7 were delivered by the Lord, our salvation rests squarely upon His shoulders. The fact that God is the savior does not remove our responsibility to do as He says. Your soul is so precious and I pray that you are a faithful child of God. If not, please contact the webmaster of this site and he will see that someone will come and study the Bible with you. If you prefer to study alone, please go to wbschool.org. This is the homepage of World Bible School. We will send you Bible lessons at no charge directly to your house. It is our prayer that you will receive the help of the Lord.