"Level" Playing Field

There is no question that our ability to learn and apply what we learn effects our success in areas of our lives such as school and on the job. If you don't learn the curriculum you will flunk out of class. If you don't become proficient at your trade you will find yourself unemployed. However, does our salvation depend on what the "level" of maturity we reach in our walk with the Lord? The following inquiry was made recently by a Christian trying to hash out this question in their mind. My thoughts follow.

"We are all at different "levels" in our walk with God. Some have been Christians for many years, have studied the Bible extensively, have been pastors or preachers for a lifetime. Others, however may be new to Christ. Perhaps because of how and when they found Christ they are not particularly au fait with His teachings. Perhaps because of their background, IQ, traditions, denominations, taught beliefs; their view of Christianity does not completely match, or is perhaps at odds, with your view of Christianity. Through no fault of their own they have been taught about Christ differently from you. You may well feel that their practice of Christianity is wrong - and you may well be right in that belief. So how does that affect their entry into Heaven compared to yours?

Is there only one way to Heaven?

I know about: Jesus answered him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me." John 14:6.

This is not a debate about this. It's more general about how people are taught and how they practice Christianity." (sic)

Our salvation has nothing to do with our "level" of Christianity, how we "practice" our faith or anything at all to do with us and what we do. The only thing that matters is faith in Christ that expresses itself through love. And we cannot love others apart from understanding that God first loved us (1 John 4:19). Apollos had to have the "way of God" explained more "adequately" (Acts 18:26). Paul, James, Peter and John had disagreements to the point where Paul exclaimed that they "added nothing to my message (Galatians 2:6)." It took Peter until Acts 11 before he realized a Gentile could be saved without first becoming a Jew (Acts 11:16). In Acts 15 you see believers arguing that one couldn't be saved unless they were circumcised "according to the custom taught by Moses (Acts 15:1)." It is no different today with the myriad of different denominations all claiming to have discovered the right way of doing something. And all you see is so-called Christians arguing over what they have added to the Gospel; water baptism, speaking in tongues, church membership, loss of salvation and so on. The beat goes on and on.

In all this, Christians must understand that God does have an opinion on the matter and He wants to teach us Himself in the power of the Holy Spirit. While he does give "some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service (Acts 4:11-12)," it is the Holy Spirit that leads us into all truth. The fact that we can even have a thread inquiring about if the "levels" of Christianity can affect our salvation is evidence of the misunderstanding of Gospel that permeates the Body of Christ.

We couldn't save ourselves by what we did prior to coming to faith in Christ and we can't sustain our salvation by what we do after coming to Christ. It is God, "who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9)," who is faithful. The fact that God has "given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)" and "who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3)" should be proof that our maturity has nothing to do with our salvation. Our maturity has everything to do with understanding what our salvation is how to "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16)." Otherwise we are cursed to judge each other by the perceived "level" of Christianity we believe ourselves to have reached. And when we judge each other there are only two outcomes. We are either better than somebody else which is pride. Or we are worse than somebody else which is self-condemnation. Both of them originate from the pit of Hell.

Thankfully, in the midst of all this God is still able to reach the lost with the truth of the Gospel. God doesn't need our ability, or "level" of Christianity, He only needs our availability. When we equate our "level" of Christianity to our salvation, we have totally missed the point. We can take a lesson from Paul who said he considered, "everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Philippians 3:8)."