Missing the Mark
Missing the mark means more than doing wrong, it means forgetting your origin.
© 2025 Gospel Reclaimed - All Rights Reserved
Untangling the Theological Salad Bar of How to Be Saved
Alright, buckle up—because we’re diving into the wild and wacky world of Christian salvation, where everyone has an opinion. Welcome to the theological salad bar: a buffet of doctrines, each served with a side of certainty. You’ll find doctrines from theologians, pastors, and even TikTok evangelists, all sure they have the right recipe for salvation.
For centuries, well-meaning (or control-driven) folks have peddled salvation as a cosmic checklist: say the magic prayer, get dunked in water, or join the right denomination. But is that the truth? When we take verses in isolation, they morph into checklists, denominational slogans, or even theological weapons.
But the Gospel was never meant to be a transaction; it’s an announcement: God in Christ has already rescued humanity from sin and death. You don’t qualify for it; you wake up to it.
Ask ten Christians how to be saved, and you’ll get ten different recipes, each with its own secret sauce. Faith alone? Baptism? Confession? Endurance? A heartfelt sinner’s prayer?
Depending on the church sign out front, the path to salvation is redefined—turning Good News into a maze of conditions and contradictions. In what follows, you’ll see just how inconsistent and limited these interpretations can be when taken as standalone doctrines. Every verse is true—but none alone holds the full picture.
Let’s take a closer look (deep breath — the list is long):
Ephesians 2:8–9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith….”
If I believe in Jesus, am I saved no matter what I do with my life?
Acts 16:31 – Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
If I believe, will my whole family be saved?
James 2:19 – “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder!”
What if faith is not enough?
James 2:14 – “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”
If works prove our faith, what’s the passing grade?
Romans 10:14–15 – “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe… without someone preaching? …As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”
What if someone never hears the Gospel? Are they just out of luck?
Ephesians 1:4–5 – “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world… he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”
If God has already decided who will be saved, what’s the point of me doing anything?
1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us… and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
What about confessing sins? To a Priest or to one another?
Acts 3:19 – “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”
What about repentance? Is it necessary to feel regret for sin?
Matthew 10:22 – “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Revelation 2:10 – “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”What about enduring to the end? What exactly must we endure?
Acts 2:38 – “Repent and be baptized… in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”
Mark 16:16 – “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”What about baptism? Sprinkling or full immersion? As a child or as an adult?
Matthew 6:14–15 – “If you forgive others… your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not… neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
What about forgiveness as a condition to be forgiven?
1 Corinthians 7:14 – “For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife…”
What about my unbelieving spouse? Is he saved because of my salvation?
Romans 11:26 – “And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.’”
If I’m Jewish, will I be saved regardless of faith?
1 Timothy 2:15 – “Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”
What about women saved through childbearing? Can a barren woman be saved too?
Romans 10:9 – “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
What about non-verbal people who are unable to confess Jesus with their mouth? Does God make exceptions?
Mark 2:5 – And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Can someone else’s faith save me?
Now… can you see the mess?
When taken in isolation, these verses morph into checklists, denominational slogans, and sometimes… theological weapons.
This is what happens when the Good News gets reduced to a religious contract.
The Gospel isn’t a two-way transaction; it’s a cosmic announcement: God in Christ has already rescued humanity from sin and death.
You don’t qualify for it.
You wake up to it.
Before “salvation” became a formula to escape “hell,” the word sōzō held a much deeper meaning. In the New Testament, sōzō means to heal, deliver, rescue, and make whole. It’s not about where you go when you die—it’s about being restored while you’re still alive.
We see it all over the Gospels and Acts:
Mark 5:34 – “Daughter, your faith has made you well (sōzō)…”
→ Physical healing – restoration from years of suffering.
Luke 8:36 – “…how the demon-possessed man had been healed (sōzō).”
→ Spiritual deliverance – liberation from torment and chaos.
Acts 27:31 – “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved (sōzō).”
→ Physical rescue – salvation from danger and death.
And then there’s the kind of sōzō that happens when your heart hears the truth, your mind shifts (that’s metanoia), and you suddenly remember who you are—not a sinner begging for mercy, but someone made by God, included in Christ, and restored to wholeness.
John 17:3 – Eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son.
→ Salvation is relationship, not destination.
Romans 12:2 – Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
→ Transformation follows revelation.
Ephesians 1:17–18 – That you may know the hope of His calling.
→ Metanoia awakens identity.
This is the Good News:
You’ve always belonged. You’ve always been loved. You’ve always been part of God’s plan to restore everything in Christ.
Salvation isn’t a transaction or checklist. It’s the rescue from lies of separation and shame so we can live in the truth of our union with Christ, now.
That’s the kind of salvation by faith that actually matters.
Not “one day in heaven,” but wholeness, freedom, and life—today.
And once you see that?
The whole menu of contract-based religion just doesn’t satisfy anymore.
Here’s the mystery: before time even ticked, God made a decision—not just to rescue us from something, but to include us in Someone. Salvation wasn’t an afterthought; it was woven into the fabric of eternity, anchored in Christ from the start. This wasn’t about offering us a lifeline someday; it was about placing us in the very heart of God’s purpose from the start.
Ephesians 1:3–6 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace…”
Ephesians 1:9–11 – “…making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him… In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
2 Timothy 1:9–10 – “He saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…”
Salvation is not a timeline.
It’s not a future reward.
It’s not a deal waiting on our response.
It’s an eternal reality—already accomplished, already revealed—waiting for us TO WAKE UP and live from it… through faith!
God in Christ has rescued humanity from sin and death
2 Timothy 1:9–10 –“He has saved us and called us to a holy calling—not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
Romans 5:18 –“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
He has included all in Himself
Colossians 3:3 –“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Ephesians 1:10 –“…as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
He has restored the image of God that was distorted by the Fall
Romans 8:29 –“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Colossians 1:15, 19–20 –“He is the image of the invisible God… For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”
Here’s the powerful part: you’re not just saved from something; you’re saved for something. A life of purpose, joy, and unshakable trust. So, ditch the spiritual insecurity. Stop second-guessing your status with God. You’re not a cosmic intern hoping for a permanent gig—you’re a beloved child of the King. Walk in that truth. Love boldly. Forgive freely. And when the world throws shade, remember: you’re already seated in heavenly places. Act like it.
Salvation isn’t a transaction or checklist. It’s the rescue from lies of separation and shame so we can live in the truth of our union with Christ, now.
In the New Testament, sōzō means to heal, deliver, rescue, and make whole. It’s not about where you go when you die—it’s about being restored while you’re still alive.
The Gospel isn’t a two-way transaction; it’s a cosmic announcement: God in Christ has already rescued humanity from sin and death.
You don’t qualify for it.
You wake up to it.
Missing the mark means more than doing wrong, it means forgetting your origin.
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Ditch the checklist! Salvation, what Christ did, is sōzō—wholeness via the Gospel & metanoia. Trust it, live it, be free.
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© 2025 Gospel Reclaimed - All Rights Reserved