Recently I have been reading through The Plan of Salvation by B.B. Warfield (https://www.monergism.com/plan-salvation-ebook). In this book, Warfield reviews all the belief systems in the world, not by their name, but by their view of how people get saved. The conclusion of the book is that there are two views of salvation in the world. The first is the biblical view that people can only be saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. This is considered the correct, protestant, biblical, Christian view of salvation. All other views are universalist. Universalism can mean everything from the idea that everyone is saved to the idea that everyone can be saved, based on their own merit.
On one end of that spectrum, we have the unitarian/universalists who believe that all religions are different doors into the same God and that everyone, no matter what they believe, will have eternal life in heaven with God. They used to state that people had to be sincere with their religious belief, but have abandoned that view to keep their numbers up. Now, everyone, including the atheist, will make it to heaven, they say.
Hindus, Seikhs, Muslims, Ba’hai, Judaism, Catholicism, Spiritual pursuits and even Buddhism, to some degree, are all religions that teach good works and good character will produce rewards in the afterlife. These are works salvation systems. A work salvation system says that god, may or may not have disclosed the requirements for salvation and people are required to follow those requirements to gain eternal reward. Buddhism is slightly different because there is no supernatural being in the core of Buddhist teaching, so there is no goal to make it to heaven. Like Hinduism, Buddhism teaches that people will be reincarnated into a higher station in subsequent lives. Hinduism teaches that eventually good people will join with the essence of god.
Every system that teaches salvation by works is universalist because everyone is able to complete the tasks, earn enough merit and gain eternal reward. Everyone can be saved. Any works system that limits who can participate in earning salvation does not exist. Every works system, including Islam and Catholicism says everyone can participate, therefore everyone can be saved.
Judaism, or the Law of Moses or the Old Covenant was presented as a works salvation, but God knew no one could keep it. So everyone who was saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (James 2:23).
Satan is the author of every false religion and religious system and he only has one tune and one idea, and that is universalism. If Satan wants to pull people away from the truth, the best way to do it is tell them that they can do anything they want, live any way they want and they will make it to heaven.
Christians need to be careful to not give any credence to any other religion. Christianity, the New Covenant, is the only plan of God being offered today. There is no other work or belief or lifestyle that will get people into heaven and with God for eternity. All other systems lead to the lake of fire. If there were a sign over the doorway to heaven, it would read, “Saved by Grace.” If there were a sign over the entrance to hell it would read, “richly deserved.”
On one end of that spectrum, we have the unitarian/universalists who believe that all religions are different doors into the same God and that everyone, no matter what they believe, will have eternal life in heaven with God. They used to state that people had to be sincere with their religious belief, but have abandoned that view to keep their numbers up. Now, everyone, including the atheist, will make it to heaven, they say.Hindus, Seikhs, Muslims, Ba’hai, Judaism, Catholicism, Spiritual pursuits and even Buddhism, to some degree, are all religions that teach good works and good character will produce rewards in the afterlife. These are works salvation systems. A work salvation system says that god, may or may not have disclosed the requirements for salvation and people are required to follow those requirements to gain eternal reward. Buddhism is slightly different because there is no supernatural being in the core of Buddhist teaching, so there is no goal to make it to heaven. Like Hinduism, Buddhism teaches that people will be reincarnated into a higher station in subsequent lives. Hinduism teaches that eventually good people will join with the essence of god.
Every system that teaches salvation by works is universalist because everyone is able to complete the tasks, earn enough merit and gain eternal reward. Everyone can be saved. Any works system that limits who can participate in earning salvation does not exist. Every works system, including Islam and Catholicism says everyone can participate, therefore everyone can be saved.
Judaism, or the Law of Moses or the Old Covenant was presented as a works salvation, but God knew no one could keep it. So everyone who was saved in the Old Testament was saved by grace. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (James 2:23).
Satan is the author of every false religion and religious system and he only has one tune and one idea, and that is universalism. If Satan wants to pull people away from the truth, the best way to do it is tell them that they can do anything they want, live any way they want and they will make it to heaven.
Christians need to be careful to not give any credence to any other religion. Christianity, the New Covenant, is the only plan of God being offered today. There is no other work or belief or lifestyle that will get people into heaven and with God for eternity. All other systems lead to the lake of fire. If there were a sign over the doorway to heaven, it would read, “Saved by Grace.” If there were a sign over the entrance to hell it would read, “richly deserved.”
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