God’s plan for salvation

Published in Pasugo, Nov 1998


There is no such thing as an easy way to salvation – the road that leads to life is hard and few people are able to find it.

THERE ARE ALMOST as many opinions on how to attain salvation as there are preachers professing to know God’s plan for man to be saved. Because of this, people must be on guard so they would not be misled by false evangelists claiming to hold the key to salvation. Since these preachers claim to be using the Holy Scriptures as the basis of their teachings, then their doctrines can be more carefully examined and compared with biblical precepts.

The Iglesia ni Cristo upholds that not all religions or churches will be saved on the day of Judgment but only the true Church established by Christ. It is for this belief that the Iglesia ni Cristo is criticized time and again. People could not imagine how God would save only a handful and confine the rest of mankind to His punishment.

Is it surprising if only a chosen few will be saved from God’s punishment? Certainly not. Because, even in the time of Noah, only he and his family were saved from the great deluge:

“It was faith that made Noah hear God’s warnings about the things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved. As a result, the world was condemned, and Noah received from God the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Heb. 11:7, Today’s English Version)

Noah’s obedience resulted in his salvation. On the other hand, disobedience to God’s command and warning resulted in massive perdition for the rest of mankind as is attested in I Peter 3:20:

“Who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.” (New International Version)

In the early times, God saved only eight people and punished the rest of mankind due to the latter’s disobedience to God’s will. God certainly cannot be blamed for the death of almost the entire mankind since the fault lies entirely on man’s defiance to God’s plan for salvation.

In the Christian era

God has laid His commandment for man’s salvation in the Christian era. Which commandment is this which those destined for damnation have disobeyed? This is written in Jeremiah 6:16 and 19:

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls’. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it’.

“Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people, Even the fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words, Nor My law, but rejected it.” (New King James Version)

God had commanded people to look for the good way and walk therein. However, the Bible states that there are those who refuse to walk in the way that God has set. Which is this path to salvation? This is written in John 10:7 and 9:

“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep’….I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” (Ibid.)

To walk in the path to salvation is to enter in Christ. Those who have entered in Christ have entered into the fold or flock (Jn. 10:9, Revised English Bible). This flock is the Church of Christ as stated in Acts 20:28:

“Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.” (Lamsa Translation)

Therefore, by entering or joining the Church of Christ, a person walks in the path that leads to salvation.

If one refuses to enter

But why is it that in spite of God’s plan for salvation, some people still refuse to enter the Church that Christ built? Why is it that even though they had been taught the path to salvation, they refuse to walk in it?

Many of those who refuse to join the Iglesia ni Cristo reason out that the Church imposes too many restrictions. They complain that there are too many rules to follow and that such rules are too difficult to obey. Others even go to the extent of accusing the Church of making it too difficult for a person to worship God and attain salvation. We, therefore, should find out whether the road to salvation is an easy one or a difficult one. The Savior Himself testified:

“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it.” (Mt. 7:13-14, TEV)

There is no such thing as an easy way to salvation. The Lord Jesus Himself testified that the road that leads to life is hard and few people are able to find it.

Many people nowadays are looking for a convenient religion. They are seeking for a church that will not impose on them the laws of God written in the Bible but instead will give them an easy and convenient way of serving God and attaining salvation. This path of convenience which many people take is not at all the road that leads to life. On the contrary, this road leads to eternal punishment.

What will happen to those who refuse to join the true Church of Christ? This is written in I Corinthians 5:12-13:

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you’.” (NIV)

Those who refuse to join the Church of Christ will be judged by God on the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

So, if a person seeks the path that leads to salvation, he must enter the narrow gate, the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 10:9), by becoming a member of His Church, the Church of Christ. This is the only way to salvation that man must consider and take. This plan for salvation is attested to by Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:21:

“May he be given glory forever and ever through endless ages because of his master plan of salvation for the church through Jesus Christ.” (Living Bible)

There is no other way to attain salvation – it is only by joining the Church of Christ. This is the plan of God that man must fulfill in order to receive eternal bliss on the day of Judgment.