While this seems to be an easy question…
It is not always easy to answer.
You must have a good understanding of Scripture and sound doctrine.
Our doctrinal statement of the Gospel…
John 3:16 → But why must we believe in Him?
He is the holy, perfect, and righteous Son of God.
Isaiah 7:14 → He is the Son of God, and of the seed of woman.
Acts 16:31 → Believe in him and no one else.
Ephesians 3:1-10 → What must we believe about him?
Romans 14:9 → The death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 → THe work of Christ is to reconcile us to God.
1 John 2:2 → Christ died for the sins of the whole world.
Ephesians 2:8-9 → Salvation is by faith alone, outside of works.
When discussing the Gospel and salvation, you will encounter people with some strange beliefs.
How can you determine if they truly understand salvation?
If any of their views reject the…
Identity of Christ → fully God, fully man, born of a Virgin
The Work of Christ → sinless, death, burial, and resurrection
Salvation by Faith Alone → Period, nothing added
Then, they do NOT understand salvation!
To reject the resurrection is to reject the completed work of Christ and his authority.
Romans 14:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
To reject the virgin birth is to reject the identity of Christ.
Romans 5:8-10 → Only God’s Son can bring reconciliation.
What if someone doesn’t understand the end times?
Paul only addresses the rapture on a few occasions. [Primarily 1 Thessalonians]
Paul focuses much more on the already completed work of Christ.
Ultimately, YES… BUT, it is important! [Misunderstanding of the end times causes bad doctrine.]
What if someone doesn’t believe that Jesus took care of all their sins and he still needs to ask for forgiveness?
You need to dig a little deeper to understand what they actually believe.
Hebrews 9:26 → Christ put away sin.
Do they believe it is only by Jesus’s sacrifice that their sins are forgiven?
If they believe that Jesus is the one who made the way and did the work…
Then YES, they are saved. [They just don’t realize how good salvation really is.]
If they believe anything else provides forgiveness…
Ephesians 2:8&9 → They would be denying salvation by faith alone. NO.
What if someone is a universalist?
Universalist #1 → Believes everyone is going to heaven no matter what, God loves all people.
Even if someone doesn’t place faith, they will still go to heaven.
This view completely goes against what Scripture teaches concerning eternal judgment.
Daniel 12:2 → Clearly not everyone will be saved.
This person does NOT understand salvation.
Universalist #2 → Believes everyone will eventually place faith in Christ.
They justify this with Philippians 2:9-10 → This is not the context. [All will confess.]
This does not mean all will accept the offering of salvation.
Ultimately, this person believes salvation is by faith alone… so YES. [But bad theology.]