As an elder in my church, it is my privilege to be able to hear the testimonies and conversion stories of all sorts of different people. A significant number of our people come from different countries and cultures and it is always a great encouragement to me to hear how the same gospel can impact so many different people, in different ways and speak into their respective cultures without in any diminishing the message. It’s really quite something when I think back of the plethora of stories from such a wide range of people.

It’s our usual practice – whenever we are discussing someone’s applications for baptism or membership – to essentially ask two key questions: (1) how did you come to be a Christian? (2) what is your understanding of the gospel? We might ask all manner of clarifying questions to help us get to those, but in essence, those two questions are what we’re looking for.

One common sticking point for people is often around the scope of the Jesus’ death. Some will affirm that Jesus died for their sin, but then suggest that he only died for their sin up to that point. In other words, Jesus forgives me up to now; the rest is up to me thereafter. In a similar vein, many end up arguing for a Christ + works formula. Jesus died to make it possible for me to be saved, but to actually be saved I have to do a whole series of other things. Jesus death may open the door, but it isn’t quite complete – we have to do our bit.

Sometimes, so that we can properly understand where people are coming from without putting words in their mouth, we float questions that might lead a person who doesn’t really understand the gospel down a bit of a rabbit hole. When somebody says that Jesus died for their sin, we might clarify by asking ‘how much of it?’ We may ask, ‘did Jesus die for all your sin, or just the sin you had done up to that point?’ Or, we might ask things like, ‘Jesus died for your sin. Are you guaranteed eternal life now or are there some other things you need to do as well?’ Sometimes we might just clarify these things by asking about what happens when they die and how sure they are about it. All these things help build a picture of gospel understanding.

I remember a long while ago now, speaking with one brother about his understanding of the gospel. He told us what he now believed about Jesus, what he understood about the cross and what that had to do with him and his sin. I started asking him about what he understood happened on the cross. I can’t remember his specific words, but he in essence said he didn’t know. I asked him about what happens when he dies? He insisted he would go to Heaven. I asked him again, what happened on the cross for that to happen? He said he wasn’t sure. So I asked him straight, ‘you said you will go to Heaven when you die, but you don’t know how the cross has made that possible. Why are you so sure you will be in Heaven?’ He looked at me and said, ‘because Jesus said so and I believe him.’

One of the mistakes I think we evangelicals sometimes make – with our entirely legitimate and proper focus on the cross – is to confuse understanding the means of salvation with actually being saved. We can confuse understanding the theology of the cross with believing in the actual object of our salvation. I think my brother was, indeed, saved because he believed in Jesus and trusted what Jesus said. He had no idea about the specific theology of the atonement, he couldn’t explain how or why the cross expiated and propitiated his sin, he had never heard of penal substitution, but he knew Jesus said whoever believes in me shall not perish but have everlasting life, and he knew he believed in Jesus. He knew Jesus saves and, happily, I knew that the object of saving faith is not the cross and nor are we saved by a fully-orbed view of the atonement.

Saving faith is faith placed in Jesus who is the object of salvation. It is not the cross that saves, but the Christ who was on it. The theology of the cross is important, without the cross nobody would be saved, but it is not belief in the cross of Christ that saves. It is belief in Christ. Jesus said, whoever believes in me. Not the cross, not the atonement, not the theology that goes with it. As John goes on to say in his gospel, ‘The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.’ Without the cross nobody is saved, but belief in the cross is not what saves. Without the Son nobody is saved, but it is specifically belief in the Son that saves.

Jesus promises to save those who believe in him and his promise to save. My friend insisted he believed in Jesus and he was confident of salvation because Jesus said so. That should be be good enough.