There would be as many answers to that question as there are religious bodies claiming to follow Christ. Our soul is the most important thing in our possession ( Matt. 16:26). We might make mistakes in financial, political or even health issues. One area we cannot afford mistakes is the area of the soul. Matthew 25 closes with these two choices: Everlasting punishment or life eternal. There is no middle ground for one to place their hopes in. Either we make the right choices and enjoy eternity with God or we make the wrong choices and have to endure everlasting punishment
Therefore, the question of how men are saved should attract the interest of all reasonable people who desire to be with God in eternity. The origin of faith is the Word of God (Rom. 10:17) The means by which a man reaches the point of such faith is by hearing what God has revealed. The hearing then refers to comprehension. An individual who comprehends what God has reveal has opened his heart to the possibility of coming to faith. Faith is arrived at by an individual choosing to do what has been revealed.
It is important that we make this distinction. Felix was a man who comprehended what Paul taught him because he trembled (Acts 24:25). It is not, therefore, just comprehending but it is acting on what one has been taught by which faith comes to the heart. Let us also make this distinction. There are little children all over the world that are being taught to hate Americans or someone of a different color. What one is taught then has a bearing on what kind of faith they have. A true communist has a faith. It is based on false assumptions that cannot be verified. If the communist never takes the time to evaluate what he has been taught, then he will die a communist.
What about those of the Moslem world? Their children grow up being taught to hate. They indeed have a faith based on what Mohammed revealed to them. It is of course a false faith because there is no way to verify that God spoke through this man. How do we reach such a conclusion? Paul says that Jesus Christ was seen by him, the last of all (I Cor. 15:8). Since Paul, no one has “seen” Jesus. We pause to ask. Is there not some other way other than seeing Jesus to come to faith? Since Paul saw Him last, I know that my salvation does not rest on my being able to see Jesus as Paul did.
My salvation rests on my obeying the truth (I Peter 1:22). My faith then rests on what has been revealed in scripture. Must the Holy Spirit guide me to find the truth? Here is what Paul did in his efforts to reach lost men. He came to Thessalonica and reasoned with them out of the scriptures (Acts 17:1,2). With whom did he reason? Verse 1 states it was in a synagogue which would have been composed of both Jews and Gentiles. What was the tool in Paul’s hands on this occasion? Luke writes that Paul reasoned with them out of the “scriptures”, which was the Old Testament. What was his teaching all about? According to verse 3 of Acts 17, Paul alleged that Jesus must have suffered (died) and arose from the dead. This Jesus, says Paul, is the Christ.
Verse 4 reveals that Jews and Gentiles both believed. How then did they come to faith? Was the Holy Spirit guiding them to find the prophecies which spoke of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus? Or, did they come to faith when Paul used the prophecies and connected them to the life of Jesus? If I comprehend what Paul taught from the Old Testament prophecies and I believe that Jesus is God, then I can come to faith.
I say come to faith because just comprehending the truth is not enough, Felix did that. If Jesus is God then all men must obey Him (Heb. 5:9; Heb. 12:2). How do we know what God wants us to do? If I am purified by obeying the truth then it is the truth where I go to find out what I am supposed to do. How can I comprehend the truth? Does the Holy Spirit guide me in my study and thoughts to reach the right conclusion? Or is it the case that anyone who properly handles what has been revealed through teaching can come to faith? The clear call from God has always been, “come now, let us reason together” (Isa. 1:18).