By Micaela Manley

INTRODUCTION

What must I believe in order to be saved? While this question seems innocently simple, it has caused much confusion throughout our churches. I first experienced this confusion and the immense mental anguish that accompanies it when I was new to Christianity and had just left New Age. In visiting numerous churches as I sought to understand the truth, I noticed that every church preached a different message. I easily identified the works-based messages as false because I knew that we are saved by grace through faith. However, I found myself confronted with a question concerning what constitutes faith. I went to multiple churches that claimed to be Free Grace, yet when I asked each the same question––“What must I believe to be saved?”––I consistently received different answers. As one can imagine, this lack of clarity regarding the saving message was extremely disturbing, leading to many mental health struggles and reminding me of my time in New Age, where doctrine is deliberately abstract. However, by His grace, the Lord ultimately used those struggles to fuel my search for the objective truth. I came up against multiple points of confusion, but eventually the mental fog began to lift, and the saving message was brought into focus.

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33a).

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN FLEXIBLE AND FOCUSED FREE GRACE

The first point of confusion I experienced was the distinction between Flexible and Focused Free Grace. Being new to Free Grace, I had never heard these terms, nor did I initially realize there was a distinction. I figured that everyone who claimed to be Free Grace was on the same page. However, as I listened to more sermons, it became clear that this was not the case. A line was drawn in the sand, and the difference was significant. In the simplest of terms, this difference comes down to what truth about Jesus must be believed in order to be saved. While the Flexible Free Grace camp is divided between two factions, Focused Free Grace remains unified and consistent in its answer.

The first faction within Flexible Free Grace believes that there are multiple saving messages and that any truth believed about Jesus is sufficient to save. The second faction believes there to be a single saving message, the content of which is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection). While Focused Free Grace agrees that there is only one saving message, it differs with Flexible Free Grace regarding the content of that message.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matt 7:13-14).

THE ERROR OF FLEXIBLE FREE GRACE

One of the biggest errors within Flexible Free Grace is the lack of clarity regarding what constitutes saving faith. It is the most important information a person can know, but if you ask ten different people, you may get ten different answers. I can recall numerous nights spent in agony because of the mental pain I was in. I had never endured such intense mental pain prior to being exposed to false teachings and now found myself experiencing the repercussions of uncertainty and confusion. My head pounded with so many differing responses that it felt as if I could no longer think clearly, and I was left hopeless and in tears.

While some said that you need to believe in the death, burial and resurrection, others would say that believing in any aspect of Jesus’s identity is sufficient to save. Some examples of these aspects would include knowing He is God, knowing He is sinless, knowing He is the Lamb of God, etc. The combination of facts I was told to believe seemed endless. Without definitive truth, people’s well-meaning attempts to help and assure me led instead to instability and anguish.

KNOWING THE FOCUS OF OUR FAITH

It’s important to know that the Lord wants people to be saved and would not hide the answer to this question. Therefore, when identifying the content of saving faith, we must always go back to the Scriptures. We see that multiple passages verify Jesus as the focus of our faith.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

The Lord makes it clear that we are to believe in Him in order to be saved. Specifically, we are to believe in Him for what He promises, which is everlasting life. The Lord Jesus never asked unbelievers to believe in His death, burial, and resurrection. Nor did He ask them to believe a list of facts about Him or themselves. He simply asked them to believe Him, to take Him at His word.

The moment we take Him at His word, we have everlasting life that can never be lost.

WHY IT MATTERS

The result of not knowing what one must believe in order to be saved is detrimental, not only to one’s assurance, but to one’s mental health as well. Assurance and a sound mind go hand in hand. Without one, the other is susceptible to suffering. For example, traditional OCD therapy teaches that one can’t have assurance, but the Word of God teaches that we can. It is not the Lord’s desire for His children to be unsure of whether they are His forever. He wants us to know without a doubt that we are, and that our eternal destiny is secure in Him. Focused Free Grace has given me the tools and resources necessary to combat any doubts when they come up. It has taken time, but my mind continues to be renewed day by day as I replace the lies I had been fed with the truth of God’s Word. Knowing the Scriptures is essential to having a steadfast mindset when confronted with confusing messages. It allows mental clarity and, most importantly, keeps the offer of eternal life in focus.

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Micaela works part-time for GES for the seminary and other projects. She is currently taking GES seminary classes herself while finishing her undergraduate in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Lord willing, she plans to use her degree to have a tent-making job in speech-language pathology that will allow her to do something she is passionate about while also keeping ministry as her life’s focus.