Are you sure your salvation is guaranteed ?
Did Christ say he was crucified for your sins ?
Imagine a person asking himself a question that could change his view of life and the hereafter: Do I possess clear evidence that guarantees me entry into Paradise, or am I reassuring myself with an idea I inherited without verifying its truth ?
First, ask yourself : Am I prepared to go to Hell for a false salvation ?
Of course, no one wishes to choose perdition or suffering for the sake of a
" false " salvation. The primary goal of seeking salvation in any belief is to reach the truth and true deliverance, not to cling to an illusion.
Therefore, a person must not blindly follow customs or false promises, but rather seek the truth and certainty, so that his path of salvation is real and built on a solid foundation ; going to Hell for a false salvation is the greatest tragedy a person may face.
The most dangerous thing a person may fall into is not merely being ignorant of the truth, but believing that he knows it, and being reassured about his path while he has not examined the evidence on which it is based.
Does merely believing that you are saved mean that you are actually saved ?
A person may say :
" I believe in God, and therefore I will enter Paradise ."
Another may say :
" I believe in the crucifixion of Christ, and therefore my salvation is guaranteed ."
A third may say :
" I belong to Christianity, so there is no need for me to worry about my destiny ."
But is it enough for a person to feel reassured for his belief to be correct ?
A person may feel that he is on the right path, his heart may be at peace with his belief, and he may defend it sincerely, yet he may still be mistaken; not because he intentionally lies or seeks falsehood, but because he grew up with a certain idea that he received from childhood as an unquestionable truth, without having a real opportunity to examine its evidence.
Truthfulness of feelings does not necessarily mean the correctness of the belief, and the strength of faith in an idea does not by itself prove that the idea is correct, and not everything we inherited from our fathers is true.
Therefore, a person should ask himself : What is the evidence that guarantees me salvation ?
And does the Gospel state this explicitly, or am I understanding it through a religious interpretation that I inherited from others ?
Where did the doctrine of salvation through the crucifixion of Christ in Christianity come from ?
And who taught it ?
This is a very important question; because asking about the person who gave the death of Christ its central place in the interpretation of salvation leads us to a very prominent name, which is Paul.
Paul and the doctrine of Christ's death for sins
Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians :
" For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received : that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures ."
(1 Corinthians 15 : 3 –4 ).
The important question here is : What Scriptures does Paul mean ?
Where is the text that declares that the Messiah will come to die as an atonement for the sins of humanity, that his death will be a condition for their salvation, and that he will rise on the third day ?
We do not find a single text that mentions this doctrine in full as Paul presented it.
The texts of the prophecies in the Old Testament do not mention the name Jesus explicitly, nor do they say in words that Jesus would be crucified and then rise on the third day.
There is no text in the writings preceding the four Gospels that says explicitly and clearly : that the Messiah will die to atone for the sins of humanity, then be buried, and rise from the dead on the third day.
The idea of Christ's death for sins occupies a central place in Paul's letters, and these texts became among the foundations on which the churches relied in building the doctrine of redemption.
Your question is very important ; because it addresses a fundamental historical issue : If Paul preached the death and resurrection of Christ for the salvation of humanity before the writing of the four Gospels, where did he get this doctrine from ?
Many scholars believe that Paul's letters were written in the fifties of the first century AD, a long time after the disappearance of Christ, and likewise the four Gospels were compiled a very long time after the disappearance of Christ.
There is no statement in the four Gospels from Christ that he authored these books, nor a direct command from him to write four Gospels under the names of the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the Gospel of John.
There is no explicit text in any of the four Gospels saying that Jesus commanded the writing of a book called the " New Testament ."
The Gospels in their known form today were compiled long after the life of Christ, according to the dating common among scholars of the New Testament. Their dates of composition are usually estimated as follows :
· The Gospel of Mark : around 65–75 AD.
· The Gospel of Matthew : around 80–90 AD.
· The Gospel of Luke : around 80–90 AD.
· The Gospel of John : around 90–100 AD.
Did the writers of the Gospels state that they were eyewitnesses or that what they wrote was revelation from God ?
When a person reads the names of the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of Mark, and the Gospel of John, an ordinary person concludes, intuitively, that these persons are the authors of the books attributed to them. However, this matter needs verification ; why ?
The truth is that the four Gospels do not contain an explicit signature from their author proving that they wrote them themselves.
Nor does any of the writers of the four Gospels declare within his Gospel directly that the book he is writing is revelation from God or the Holy Spirit.
Do the Gospels speak of a conspiracy to kill Christ ?
Yes, and these are clear examples :
· Matthew 26 : 3 –4 : The chief priests and the elders of the people assembled and plotted to seize Jesus and kill him.
· Mark 14 :1–2 : The chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to seize him and kill him.
· Luke 22 :1–2 : The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death.
· John 11 :47–53 : The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council, and the meeting ended with consultation about killing Jesus.
· The Gospel of Luke 23 : 2, where they accused Christ before Pilate, saying :
" And they began to accuse him, saying, 'We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.'"
( The Gospel of Luke 23 : 2 )
· 31 Pilate said to them, " Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law ." The Jews said to him :
· " It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death ."
( The Gospel of John 18 : 31 )
The Jews say clearly in this verse that according to Roman law it was not permissible for them to kill anyone, but they handed him over to the Romans to judge him with crucifixion.
The punishment of crucifixion was an exclusively Roman punishment carried out against those accused of political rebellion against the Roman Empire.
According to the Gospel account, Christ was accused before the Roman governor of corrupting the nation and stirring up the people, and of preventing the payment of tribute to Caesar, among the accusations brought against him.
The Gospels report that Jesus was delivered to Pilate, the Roman governor, who issued the sentence of crucifixion, and that the execution was carried out by the Romans.
Thus, the accounts in the four Gospels present a conspiracy plotted by the Jewish leadership against Jesus, and a Roman role in carrying out the crucifixion. The four Gospels do not mention that the crucifixion of Christ was to atone for the sins of humanity.
Was Paul one of Christ's disciples, an eyewitness to the crucifixion of Christ ?
Paul was not one of the twelve whom Jesus chose during his life, but he claimed that he was an apostle of Christ after that. There is no text in the four Gospels in which Christ declares that he sent Paul as an apostle to him.
Paul does not say that he witnessed the crucifixion of Christ with his own eyes.
This is a fundamental point in studying his testimony; for in his known letters, Paul does not mention that he was present at the trial of Jesus or at his crucifixion, nor does he present himself as an eyewitness to those events.
Also, Paul's letters do not contain a detailed narrative of the story of the passion and crucifixion as we find it in the four Gospels.
Here an important question emerges :
If Jesus Christ came into the world to die on the cross as an atonement for the sins of humanity, and if human salvation depends on belief in his death and resurrection, why do we not find in the four Gospels an explicit and clear declaration on the lips of Christ saying to people :
" I will die for your past, present, and future sins, and you will attain salvation merely by believing in my crucifixion "?
If the cross is the only way of salvation, is it not the right of a person to ask : Where did Christ explain this clearly ?
The answer : Christ did not declare in the four Gospels, with this direct statement, that he came to be crucified as an atonement for the sins of humanity.
Are you building your eternal salvation on what Christ did not say ?
Christ did not declare in the four Gospels that he chose Paul and sent him as an apostle to teach people that their salvation is realized through belief in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
Nor did the Gospels mention that Christ commanded their writing—the four Gospels—or that their authors wrote by a direct command from Christ. And if Christ did not say clearly that he came to earth to be crucified as an atonement for the sins of humanity,
and Christ did not declare that the sins of humanity are transferred to him, that he will bear their punishment instead of them, and that their eternal deliverance depends on belief in his death as an atonement for their sins,
then here a crucial question emerges that deserves you to stop before it and think about it honestly :
On what basis do you believe that the crucifixion of Christ is the path of your salvation from eternal torment ?
Is it enough that you inherit a doctrine from others and feel reassured about it, or does your eternal destiny deserve that you search for yourself and verify ?
On what basis do you believe that the crucifixion of Christ is the path of your salvation from eternal torment ?
Is it enough that you inherit a doctrine from others and feel reassured about it, or does your eternal destiny deserve that you search for yourself and truly verify it ?
Salvation is not a marginal matter; rather, it relates to the eternal destiny of a person.
Reflect well : Is it reasonable that God would make the greatest issue in a person's life—namely, deliverance from torment and attaining Paradise—dependent on a doctrine for which the researcher finds no explicit declaration on the lips of Christ in the four Gospels ?
The question is not : What did Paul say ?
Or what did the churches decide ?
Rather, the most important question is : What did Christ himself say ?
The most dangerous thing a person may fall into is feeling secure about his salvation while he has not stopped one day to ask himself : Is this belief really true ?
And did Christ teach it clearly ?
Salvation in Islam : Does God need blood in order to forgive ?
Reflect on this important question : If God is the Creator, the Most Merciful, the Most Forgiving, and the All-Powerful, why would He need a human being to be crucified so that He may forgive others ?
Is God not able to forgive His servants if they repent to Him sincerely, believe in Him, and reform their deeds ?
The issue of salvation from sins is not a marginal matter; rather, it is an issue related to a person's eternal destiny, his relationship with his Creator, and the path he takes to attain God's mercy and pleasure.
In the history of Christianity, doctrines emerged that were linked to the teachings of Paul and his letters, and they became an important axis in understanding salvation among many Christian denominations, especially the belief that the death and resurrection of Christ are the basis of salvation from sins. However, Islam calls a person to return to the essence of the message brought by all the prophets : worshipping God alone, believing in Him, repenting to Him, doing righteous deeds, and seeking His forgiveness and mercy.
God, glorified and exalted, does not need an intermediary in order to hear the supplication of His servants, nor does He need blood in order to be able to forgive, nor is He unable to accept the repentance of a person who regrets his sin and returns to Him sincerely. He is the Creator and the Owner, and He has full power to forgive and to judge with justice.
What does the Qur'an say about the issue of the crucifixion of Christ ?
The Holy Qur'an offers a clear answer to one of the most important issues associated with the doctrine of salvation in Christianity, namely the issue of the killing and crucifixion of the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary.
God Almighty said :
" And [for] their saying, 'Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.' And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him ; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain ."
( The Holy Qur'an 4 : 157 )
Islam affirms that Jesus, peace be upon him, is the Messenger of Allah, that he was not a god to be worshipped, and that he was not merely an ordinary human being, but rather a noble prophet whom God sent to guide the Children of Israel.
Muslims believe in what the Qur'an has reported: that his enemies did not kill him and did not crucify him, that the matter was made ambiguous to them, and that God saved him and raised him to Himself.
How does a person attain forgiveness in Islam ?
The answer in Islam is clear : a person repents to God directly, regrets his sin, abandons the disobedience, resolves not to return to it, and restores rights to their owners if the sin is related to the rights of people.
God Almighty said :
" 53) Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." .'"
(The Holy Quran 39 : 53 )
Reflect on the greatness of this verse: God does not call the sinner to despair, nor does He close before him the door of return ; rather, He calls His servants who have transgressed against themselves, and opens for them the door of hope and repentance.
However many a person's sins may be, the door of repentance is open as long as he returns to God sincerely, and death has not come to him in the state in which repentance is not accepted.
Does God accept polytheism or a religion other than Islam ?
There is a fundamental truth that must be understood when speaking about salvation : that God, glorified and exalted, does not accept that anyone be associated with Him, nor does He accept from a person that he take another god besides God, and that deliverance is not merely a belief that a person chooses according to his desire, but is based on belief in God alone and following the truth that He revealed.
God Almighty said :
" 48) Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin. ."
[ The Holy Quran 4 : 48]
The meaning of the verse is that whoever dies in polytheism without repenting from it, God will not forgive him; as for what is less than polytheism, it is subject to God's will : He forgives whom He wills by His grace and mercy. As for one who repents from polytheism before his death with sincere repentance, God accepts repentance and forgives sins.
Then the Qur'an clearly states that Islam is the religion that God has chosen for His servants. He, glorified be He, said :
"85) And whoever desires other than Islam as religion – never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers. ."
[The Holy Qur'an 3 : 85 ]
Here a question emerges that deserves reflection : If God sent the messengers to guide humanity to worship Him alone, is it correct that we worship one of His creation, or attribute to Him what does not befit His majesty, and then think that all beliefs lead to the same result ?
Islam calls to the oneness of God, and to belief in all His prophets and messengers, among them Jesus, Moses, and Abraham, peace be upon them, and to following the final message brought by Muhammad ﷺ.
A Muslim does not reject Jesus, peace be upon him ; rather, he believes that he is the Messiah, the Messenger of Allah, and he believes in Moses and the rest of the prophets; but he does not worship them, because worship is the right of God alone.
The issue is not merely choosing a name for a religion, but seeking the truth and following it sincerely. The Qur'an has made clear that God is one with no partner, and that Islam is the religion acceptable to Him.
Therefore, whoever wants salvation must seek God's pleasure, affirm His oneness, follow His message, repent to Him, and hope for His mercy.
How do you enter Islam ?
The matter is simpler than you imagine !
If you are convinced that God is one with no partner, that He alone deserves worship, and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of His prophets, then do not think that entering Islam requires complicated procedures, or the mediation of clergymen, or the payment of money, or waiting for a specific occasion.
Entering Islam begins with a sincere testimony that you utter out of faith and conviction, in which you declare the oneness of God and belief in His Messenger Muhammad ﷺ.
Embracing Islam is simple.
It is not required that this be done in a mosque or an Islamic center, nor are witnesses required.
Say :
" I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and I bear witness that Jesus is the Messenger of Allah ."
When a person utters the testimony (the testimony of faith) :
" I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," he becomes like a newborn child. All his previous sins are forgiven, however great or small. A white, pure page, free of sins, radiantly bright ; it is a new beginning.
This means that you worship God alone, believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and that Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him, is a noble messenger from God, not a god to be worshipped besides God.
This is not a rejection of Jesus, peace be upon him, but rather belief in him and in his true status as clarified by the Holy Qur'an.
God Almighty said about the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary:
"171) O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a Messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, " Three "; desist—it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.
172) Never would the Messiah disdain to be a servant of Allah, nor would the angels near [to Him]. And whoever disdains His worship and is arrogant – He will gather them to Himself all together. "
[ The Holy Qur'an 4:171- 172 ]
After embracing Islam, it is very useful for the new Muslim to communicate with other Muslims. You can find members of your new spiritual family by visiting mosques and local Islamic centers.
It is not required for entering Islam that you have learned all the rulings of the religion before you begin; rather, you start with the testimony out of conviction and sincerity, then learn prayer, acts of worship, and the rulings of Islam little by little, and strive to apply them in your life.
Do not wait until you become a person without mistakes in order to enter Islam; enter Islam with sincere faith,
and begin your journey of learning, repentance, and reform. Every human being makes mistakes, and the best of his path is to return to God and seek His forgiveness.
If you are seeking the truth, do not let fear or hesitation prevent you from taking a step that may change your life and your hereafter.
Read the Qur'an, learn about Islam from reliable sources, ask about what you do not understand, and make your decision based on knowledge and conviction.
The door is open, repentance is possible, and returning to God does not need an intermediary between you and Him.
