The One Step That Matters
Many have been told there are multiple steps to salvation. They have been led to believe that ongoing sin should cause them to question their standing before God. They receive lists of conditions beyond the simple, astonishing truth that God justifies the ungodly. This is not a new problem. It is the oldest religious trick in the book—adding to the finished work of Christ until confidence is shattered and eyes are fixed back on self-effort. From a Pauline perspective, there is no “three steps to salvation.” There is one: believe the gospel.
Paul states it plainly: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28). The gospel itself is the message: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). When a person believes this—when convinced it is true—God declares them righteous. Instantly. Completely. Justification is not a process. It is an instantaneous declaration over the one who believes. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
Discipleship is often presented as a step toward salvation. However, in Paul’s letters, discipleship is never a prerequisite for being saved. It flows from being saved. Salvation is the birth; discipleship is the growth. One does not learn to be a good child in order to earn birth; one is born and then learns. To make discipleship a requirement for salvation is to invert the order and pervert the grace of Christ into another gospel.
The Carnal Saint and the Alien Righteousness
A common struggle concerns ongoing sin. Some suggest that persistent sin patterns without visible repentance should cause doubt about salvation. This sounds spiritual but is utterly destructive and contradicts the apostle’s ministry.
Consider the Corinthians. Paul writes to “them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2). These believers were entangled in sexual immorality, divisive party spirit, and drunkenness at the Lord’s table. Did Paul question their salvation? No. He called them saints and pointed them back to who they were in Christ. Their behavior was atrocious, but their position was secure. Why? Because their righteousness was not in their behavior. It was—and is—a person in heaven.
This is the alien righteousness. Our righteousness is Christ Himself, seated at the right hand of God. It is imputed, not imparted. It is credited to the believer’s account, not infused into behavior. “All it is in heaven, that’s where the reality is.” This is why one cannot look at a person’s life and judge their salvation. The only sure evidence is what a person believes about the gospel. “All you can know is what I believe about the gospel, and you either believe that I’m saved based on that or not. There is no other evidence, according to the scriptures, that will tell you whether or not I’m saved.”
This demolishes the logic of measuring fruit by the law as evidence of salvation. Questions like “Are you trying to keep the law? Have you repented enough? Are you a good law keeper?” miss the point. Galatians tells us of “the fruit of the Spirit, against which there is no law” (Galatians 5:23). The law is a ministry of condemnation and death. It never approves; it only reveals sin. If a believer bears the fruit of Christ’s life, the law has nothing to say about it. Using the law to measure the Spirit’s work shifts the ground of assurance from Christ to self.
Holiness Comes From Assurance, Not the Other Way Around
The Pauline order is revolutionary and often inverted by religious systems.
First, the gospel is believed. Justification follows. Peace with God is granted. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
This justification does more than secure a distant heaven. It grants access to a Person. “We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Romans 5:2). Galatians warns that false teaching removes believers “from him that called you into the grace of Christ” (Galatians 1:6). Justification’s primary gift is God Himself, through the Spirit.
From this settled assurance and access, holiness flows. It is not the root of peace; it is the fruit. When believers know they are fully accepted, utterly safe, and permanently righteous in Christ, they stop running from God when they fail and start running to Him. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Setting the mind on the Spirit brings life and peace. This is how Christ becomes life.
Many Christians have this backwards. They think, “I must clean up my life to have peace with God.” So they strive, fail, hide in shame, and their assurance evaporates. This is the Galatian error. Most genuinely saved Christians are “Galatianized.” They know they will go to heaven when they die but have not judged their flesh or died to the law. Therefore, they live under a confusing mix of law and grace—grace for going to heaven, but law for pleasing God today. This mixture cuts off the supply of the Spirit needed to live.
The Destructive Heresy of “Real Faith”
A specific, harmful teaching compounds this struggle: the distinction between “mental assent” and “genuine, heart faith.” This is a Calvinist and Catholic myth that destroys assurance. It makes faith a mysterious, undefined work that one can never be sure they possess.
Some say, “You only agreed with the facts. You didn’t really believe.” Yet when asked how to believe “with the heart,” they cannot explain. They point to fruit and say, “You must not have believed, because look at your life.” This is a backloaded works gospel. It uses the language of faith to gain entry but then redefines faith so assurance is impossible.
The biblical position is simple. Faith is being convinced that something is true. If a person can articulate the gospel—that Christ died for sins and rose again—and holds to that message, that is evidence of salvation. “Those who accept and confess the true gospel message demonstrate that they are born of God.” The Spirit bears witness to that message in the believer. Constantly questioning whether belief was “heart belief” calls God a liar about His own testimony and places one in bondage and fear.
God designed assurance to rest on His promise, not on performance. Seasons of pruning, confusion, or carnality may reduce visible fruit, but a pruned branch remains a branch. Assurance does not depend on constant fruit production but on the unchanging message: Christ died and rose again.
What Then Should Believers Do?
Struggles with sin patterns should not become theological crises about salvation. Salvation was secured when the gospel was believed. Struggles are fellowship issues, not relationship issues.
Believers are encouraged to run to the throne of grace. They should thank God that acceptance is based on Christ’s performance, not theirs. They should remind themselves of who they are: justified, sanctified, seated with Christ. Growth will not come from redoubled efforts to repent better or try harder. It comes from resting in what is already true and setting the mind on the Spirit, on the things above where life is hidden with Christ.
Salvation comes by believing a simple message. Growth comes by believing a deeper, richer version of that same message. The answer to sin is not more law but more Christ. The answer to doubt is not more introspection but looking again to “him that justifieth the ungodly.” Faith—simple, sometimes weak, but fixed on His finished work—is and always will be counted for righteousness.
