There are preachers preaching a gospel of Jesus 24 hours a day, seven days a week on multiple radio stations all across this globe we call earth, yet Jesus said, “Many will attempt salvation but few will be saved.” Thousands of people will rise from their slumber on Sunday morning and attend one church or the other and hear a gospel message but Jesus said, “Many will attempt salvation but few will be saved.” Why? With all these souls hearing one message or the other concerning Jesus, and thousands upon thousands exercising faith in Jesus, why would few be saved?
Jesus was the Son of God, right? As such, that makes Him righteous, correct? Is it possible Jesus was lying to us when He said, “Many will attempt salvation but few will be saved”? Did this guy catch Jesus in a slip of the tongue? Did Jesus intend to say something else? Was there a breakdown in the translation of these few words; surely Jesus did not mean to say that few would be saved. Our churches are filled with people, thousands, who believe Jesus is their Saviour and believe they are going to heaven when they die. If a belief in Jesus is what it takes to be saved then Jesus was wrong. There are many times more than a few in heaven right now, according to our calculations, and millions more coming, yet Jesus said, “Many will attempt salvation but few will be saved.” Why would this be the case?
Obviously, I can’t answer this question with any certitude, but there is scriptural precedent. Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of shutting the kingdom of heaven up against men. He said, “You don’t enter yourselves and discourage any who try to enter.” The scribes and Pharisees were the preachers of the gospel of the kingdom during the day when Jesus lived on the earth. If the scribes and Pharisees preached a gospel that did not lead to salvation, then those who believed their gospel would be prevented from attaining salvation, thus, few would be saved but many would try.
Therefore, the only reasonable explanation of Jesus’ words of Matthew 7 is that faith placed in the gospel that has been preached since shortly after Jesus’ resurrection until today does not produce salvation, thus, many try to be saved, but few succeed. The only ones who succeed are the ones who study the scriptures for themselves only to find that what is taught in our churches is incorrect, then by careful study, discover the truth of God’s Word. The preaching of these “outsiders” would carry very little weight with those who subscribe to the teachings of the Church because of several factors.
The first factor might be the amount of schooling required to serve in most denominations. Immediately after the establishment of every known denomination, a seminary was established to teach the particular dogma of the denomination. In order to serve in a place of distinction, one must be a graduate of the seminary of that denomination. There are two ways to look at these schools. They are places of higher learning and we are taught to respect those who have received higher education but also by necessity, they are places of indoctrination into the particular thread of truth espoused by that denomination. Thus, if that thread of truth does not provide salvation, the whole denomination will not gain salvation.
Another factor might be the overwhelming preponderance of sameness concerning the gospel message of Christ preached today. Whether you attend a Lutheran Church or Pentecostal, or Methodist, or Baptist, or Presbyterian, or any number of others, most all proclaim a gospel of belief in Jesus.
However, let us now discover just how easily the truth of salvation could be exchanged with something so close to it, without being it, that would preclude someone from attaining salvation. This is my premise. The reason many seek salvation but few find it is because what is taught as the path to salvation varies from the truth just enough to keep those who seek from attaining without being different enough to raise a red flag of warning in anyone’s mind or heart. Moreover, most people don’t question the teachings of the leaders of the Church or study their Bibles on their own.
In Acts 16, we find the story of how Paul and Silas are thrown in jail for casting a spirit of divination out of a damsel. Now, Paul, who wrote three quarters of the New Testament, most assuredly knew how to be saved. And, in Acts 16:31, Paul answered the jail keeper who had asked, “What must I do to be saved;” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Paul was unequivocal in his answer; just as unequivocal as Jesus was when He said, “Many will attempt salvation but few will be saved.” Jesus said the door of salvation is narrow. This would indicate that while belief on the Lord Jesus Christ will save you, any deviance in Paul’s words of Acts 16:31 will not save you. So just what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and what does the Church teach today.
Jesus suffered and died under the authority of the old covenant law. It was the law of the land of the Jews when Jesus was born. It was God’s law and even though Jesus was God, He could not usurp God’s law and remain righteous. In other words, Jesus had to live by the standard of God’s law and fulfill it before He could establish a new law. A contract or law that is fulfilled goes out of force, it loses authority. Once the old covenant law was fulfilled, Jesus was free to enact a new law. Jesus fulfilled the old covenant law by dying under the penalties of disobedience of God’s law after living by its standard for righteousness perfectly. This earned Jesus the title, “Christ.” So it was after His death that Jesus was raised from the dead, highly exalted by the godhead, and established a new covenant. Although Jesus laid aside His godhood to come to earth as a man to die for men’s sins, He was raised from the dead as Lord, Lord of Lords. The new covenant was established by the Lord.
This concept of Jesus laying aside His godhood, coming to earth as a man, living by the standards of God’s law perfectly, then dying under its penalties, but being highly exalted at His resurrection, given all power in heaven and earth, is at the heart of the understanding of salvation.
Our first anomaly between what Paul preached and what the Church preaches is the placement of the title, Christ. It was Jesus, the Lord, who entered into the heavenly tabernacle with the blood of the Christ to ratify the new covenant. Thus Paul tells the jailer, “You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice the placement of the two titles, “Lord” and, “Christ.” The modern Church, as well as the Church of the last 1900 years, has reversed the titles, emphasizing faith in the Christ over faith on the Lord. Moreover, to believe on the Lord is a much different belief than to believe in the Christ but that is not where it ends. The word in has been exchanged with the word on.
The word, “in” means, “to be clothed by,” but the word, “on,” means, “a place arrived.” The Church emphasizes a belief in Jesus, the Christ, but Paul emphasized a belief on the Lord Jesus, even placing the title before the name. We are told that it is at the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow but that is not altogether accurate. It is because Jesus is Lord; it is the title and the power and authority that go with it that causes all to bow at Jesus’ name. Thus Paul places the title before the name.
Moreover, when we believe in the Christ, we are clothed with His righteousness, which is the meaning of the word “in,” but through belief in Jesus’ suffering and death, we arrive at the place of His resurrection, the meaning of “on.” The new covenant begins at Jesus’ resurrection. In order to be saved we must arrive at the place of Jesus’ resurrection and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, first of all, it means this Jesus has authority to command you, then, it also means His commandments become the foundation of your faith. To believe in Jesus the Christ is vastly different than to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and it is not belief in Jesus that saves; it is belief on the Lord. And here we have the answer to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7, “Many will attempt salvation but few will be saved.” Those who attempt salvation through belief in Jesus, the Christ, are unsuccessful because you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
Belief in the Christ will not save because Jesus died under the authority of the old covenant law; a covenant that neither offered eternal life, nor is still in effect. Jesus had to fulfill the old covenant before He could establish a new covenant. Jesus laid aside His power and authority in order to come to earth and die on the cross as a man. The Christ has no authority to save; therefore, belief in the Christ does not produce salvation; only the Lord can save. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has authority to save. Although it is the same Jesus, where you place your faith and what you believe about Jesus is critically important. The authority of Jesus the Christ and Jesus the Lord are vastly different. One has no authority and the other has all authority and no authority is left outside His authority. The new covenant, and therefore new covenant salvation, begins at the entrance to the holy place of the tabernacle. The outer courts provide cleansing from sin and a cloak of Jesus’ righteousness, both provisions of old covenant law, but having arrived at Jesus’ resurrection; it is incumbent upon us to believe on the Lord.
To believe in the one who died to wash away your sins is vastly different than to believe on Him who sets upon the throne of heaven. To believe in Jesus is to accept His payment of sin as your payment for your sin and to cease judging your behavior to be sin by old covenant standards. The action of your faith, “faith without works is dead,” is to judge yourself righteous in spite of transgressions against old covenant law because of Jesus’ payment for sin. However, to believe on the Lord is to keep the commandments of the Lord daily. Thus, the action your faith produces is obedience. This obedience is not to old covenant law as you must reckon yourself dead to sin according to old covenant law. It is obedience of the law of the new covenant; a law the Lord established by commandment. If Jesus is Lord, you will keep His commandments, but if your faith is not on His Lordship, you will disregard His commandments as not relevant to your life. And if your faith is in the Christ, they are not relevant to your life. A man must move beyond the brazen altar of the new covenant tabernacle before the commandments of the Lord come into focus.
Curiously, Paul placed the title, “Christ,” last, even though we know you must believe in Jesus before you can believe on Jesus. Paul was answering the jailer’s question, which was, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer quite plainly is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” But the Church, with its myriads of denominations, all preach, “Believe in Jesus, the Christ, and you shall be saved.” Notice the similarity? No one, except those paying close attention to the wording would notice or understand the difference and thus, many would seek salvation based upon the teachings of the Church but few would succeed in gaining it because it is not belief in Jesus the Saviour that saves; it is belief on the Lord.
Moreover, not only does the Church preach the wrong gospel, the Church labels as heretics those who seek to keep the right gospel. They not only do not enter the kingdom themselves, they also prevent and hinder those who try by their teaching that the commandments of Jesus (Acts 1:4) do not apply to Christians today. If Christians, or followers of Christ, are taught these commandments do not apply, then no one will keep them, and thus, no one exercises faith on the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul said you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
The Church preaches a false gospel, one that does not lead to salvation. Salvation is not found in the outer courts of the tabernacle but righteousness is and the Church has busied itself telling the world that righteousness is salvation. It is not true. Those who seek salvation based on the teachings of the Church will not find it. This makes the Church guilty of the same sin the Pharisees were guilty of when Jesus accused them of shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men. They did this by what they taught and did not teach. In order for lost souls to be saved they must hear the gospel of the Lord preached and place their faith on the lord Jesus Christ. In order for there to be any end times revival, any great harvesting of the latter day rain, there must first come a resetting of the foundation of the Church. Jesus must first destroy the false teachings of the Church in order to re-establish the true message of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What will it take to reset the Church on the proper foundation? There must first come a major upheaval, a destroying of what the Church teaches, a refocusing, and then the Lord will be able to focus the attention of His people on the truth.
Let’s go back and consider faith itself. The word faith means to believe. The Bible teaches that you receive what you believe. Mark 11:23-24 are the go to verses. Verse 24 states, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.” But James also states, “Faith without works is dead.” So what you believe must have corresponding action. If you believe Jesus has saved you from your sin, then run to the altar to repent of sin, your actions are contradicting your faith, proving you do not actually believe Jesus has saved you from your sin. Similarly, if you proclaim Jesus as Lord but do not keep His commandments, which is your reasonable service to your Lord, your actions are contradicting, or exposing, your faith or lack thereof. According to Mark 11:24, if you believe you receive a citizenship in heaven, you must keep the laws of heaven, which were handed down by the ruler of heaven, the Lord.
The Father God has stepped aside to give all power and authority over to Jesus. It is not the Father’s commandments that are pertinent anymore; it is the Lord’s. Just as old covenant saints had to keep the law of the old covenant in order to be “in covenant” with God, new covenant saints must keep the new covenant law in order to be in covenant with Jesus.
Notice the singular focus of Mark 11:24, “What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.” Faith must have a singular focus in order to produce results. The singular thing you desire must be focused on, believed on, acted on, and then received. While faith in Jesus’ death on the cross as a substitutionary offering will produce a clothing of righteousness that is independent of actions of unrighteousness, it will not produce eternal life. For eternal life, one would need to focus their faith on the Lord of heaven who has authority to grant citizenship in heaven. It is those who keep the commandments of the Lord of heaven by faith who are granted citizenship in heaven.
When it comes to Jesus, there is a multitude of faiths concerning Him that can be exercised. Was He a man? Yes and one might believe He was and would have faith in Jesus. Yet He was also God and some believe He is God and have faith in Jesus but this faith does not produce salvation. One can believe He died for sin and still fail to make it personal and fail to receive the washing from sin. But Jesus died under the authority of old covenant law, a covenant that did not offer salvation nor is any more in force. No faith in Jesus’ suffering or death can provide salvation though it can provide righteousness, which is what the law provided old covenant saints. It was Jesus, the Lord, who used the blood of the Christ to ratify the new covenant. The outer courts of the tabernacle, both the laver for washing and the altar for redemption, get their authority from the blood but the new covenant starts at the entrance to the holy place. To believe on Jesus, the Lord is to clothe yourself with His commandments and keep them. If our desire is to place ourselves solidly inside the kingdom of the Lord, we must keep the Lord’s commandments, making ourselves citizens. Faith without works is dead.
It’s not faith in Jesus the Saviour that saves; it is faith on Jesus the Lord that saves. And faith on Jesus the Lord looks vastly different than faith in Jesus the Saviour. The two cannot be mistaken. Consider Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” If our faith is on the Lord Jesus Christ, the evidence of our faith will be the gift of tongues flowing out of our mouths on a daily basis and this obedience is the substance of that we hope for, eternal life, for by it we make ourselves citizens of heaven. Faith in Jesus, the Christ does not produce the same results. Faith in Jesus, the Christ, produces a heart assured of righteousness and this assurance, this resting; this ceasing from striving to be righteous, is the substance and evidence of that faith. There is an outward component to the inward belief that is readably visible and that outward component is observable.
Consider Paul’s words to the jailer once more. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” We know Jesus laid aside His power and authority to come to earth as a man to die for men’s sins but was raised from the dead as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Phil.2:6-10. To believe on the Lord Jesus, we must place our faith on the resurrection side of the cross. Although the Lord Jesus is also the Christ, we are not believing in the Christ for salvation. We are believing on the Lord. If our faith is on the Lord, then commandments Jesus issued as Lord are critical to our faith and cannot be disregarded. If our faith is on the Lord Jesus, then obedience to the Lord’s commandments must be exercised to enforce our faith. Jesus is either Lord or He isn’t. If He isn’t Lord then any commandments He issued as Lord are irrelevant to faith in Jesus the Christ and since Jesus died as Christ before He was made Lord, faith must be exercised in the Christ first and the Lord’s commandments are irrelevant to faith in the Christ but it is not faith in the Christ that saves; it is faith on the Lord. Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” The certainty of, “you shall be saved” is dependent on, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” If our faith is not on the Lord, we are not saved though we are washed from our sins and clothed with the righteousness of Christ. It is not faith in the Christ, faith in the death of Jesus that saves; it is faith on the resurrection, faith on the Lord that saves.
Rom.10:10 confirms this as Paul states again, “for with the heart man believes unto righteousness (faith in the Christ) and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The confession is the result of faith on Jesus as Lord. If Jesus is Lord in reality, obedience of His commandments is critical and the first commandment, to be saturated with the Spirit, causes the gift of tongues to pour out of your heart. The action of the gift of tongues pouring out of your heart is your confession of faith on Jesus’ Lordship; it is the evidence of what you believe. Faith in the Christ or faith in the Saviour will not cause the gift of tongues to flow from your heart. Romans 10:10 confirms for us again, it is faith on the resurrection side of the cross that saves. While the Church is taught to believe in the Christ for salvation, to believe in the crucifixion side of the cross, it should be quite plain faith in the Christ does not produce salvation. Faith in the Christ produces righteousness, which in and of itself is a life changing experience, but is not salvation. Thus, the vast majority of people who are seeking salvation never realize it just as Jesus said.
Again, faith without works is dead. If we confess Jesus as Lord but fail to exercise faith on His Lordship, then we fail to access salvation. If Jesus is Lord, our faith in His Lordship demands the action of obedience of His commandments. If we do not obey His commandments our faith on His Lordship is dead faith. Dead faith does not produce any results. It should be obvious the demons knew Jesus was the Christ and would soon return as Lord but their faith did not produce righteousness or salvation. It had no works to back it up. Our faith must produce corresponding action. The man who believes Jesus has taken away His sin yet repents of committed sin, his actions belie his faith and it is obvious to those surrounding him that he does not truly believe Jesus has taken away his guilt. His faith is dead faith. The same is true of the man who calls Jesus Lord but does not keep His commandments. His actions belie His faith or lack thereof.
Look, the scriptures say faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10:17. Paul said, “How can they hear without a preacher?” The Church doesn’t preach a gospel of faith on the Lord; it preaches a gospel of faith in the Saviour; a gospel of righteousness. The Church looks to the cross for salvation. The gospel of faith in the Saviour is old covenant faith for the old covenant provided righteousness and Jesus died under the authority of old covenant law. The fifth commandment of the law was “Honor your father and mother that your days may be long on the earth.” A long and prosperous life is the fruit of righteousness. The gospel of the good news, the gospel of the new covenant, is not that of righteousness. It is the gospel of eternal life, not long life. Just as the leaders of the Jews exchanged the gospel of honor your father and mother with the gospel of sacrifice, Mark 7, making it impossible for the people to gain righteousness through the gospel they preached, Church leaders have exchanged the gospel of eternal life with the gospel of long life, making it impossible for any to receive eternal life. Faith, or the ability to believe, comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Without faith it is impossible to please God, Hebrews 11:5.
If the gospel of belief on Jesus as Lord is not preached, people have no way of knowing belief on the Lord Jesus Christ is how to receive eternal life and if no one exercises faith on the Lord; no one receives. All those who seek eternal life through faith in the Saviour will be disappointed. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth but it will be too late to change. Church leaders have done the world Jesus died to save a huge injustice, not to mention the Lord, who suffered and died to provide a blessing that no one receives. If all you hear is that belief in Jesus saves, that is all you know to believe. If you don’t hear that Jesus has been raised from the dead with all power and authority in all the earth and heavens and has issued commandments for you to keep; how will you know to keep them? If you are told, by leaders who have spent years in school ostensibly learning the truths of the scripture, to place your faith in the Christ and ignore the Lord’s commandments and you will be saved, will you not comply to receive eternal life? Faith must be specific. Faith in the Christ will provide you with righteousness but it is faith on the Lord that provides eternal life. Jesus earned the righteousness provided through faith in His death; it is conveyed to you by statute but the Lord conveys eternal life by authority. In order to believe Jesus has redeemed you from sin, wrapping you in His very own righteousness, you must first hear that truth. Likewise, in order to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you must first hear the gospel of the Lord preached.
Paul said, “If Jesus was not raised, your faith is in vain,” because it is not faith in the Saviour that saves. Those who believe Jesus is the Saviour do well; He is, but it is faith on the Lord that saves us. Even if Jesus was not raised, faith in His death would produce righteousness, it is conveyed by statute, but the Christ had no authority to offer salvation. It is the risen Lord who has authority to grant eternal life. If faith is not exercised on the risen Lord, eternal life cannot be granted. “The just shall live by faith.” While righteousness is a prerequisite to salvation, it is not salvation itself.
What are you believing? Are you believing in Jesus’ death on the cross for sin but expecting eternal life? If belief in Jesus the Christ saved, Paul would have said so. He didn’t. Jesus said the way of life is narrow, so narrow in fact that most people who seek salvation will miss it because of what they believe. To die having believed in the Christ is to die clothed with Jesus’ righteousness but out of covenant with God. Jesus established the new covenant after His death and the title, “Christ,” speaks of His death on the cross for sin, prior to the establishment of the new covenant. The righteousness of the Christ is conveyed by statute because Jesus lived up to the standards of God’s law, but salvation is conveyed by authority through obedience of Jesus’ law.
In order to receive Jesus’ righteousness all we have to do is believe He took our sin and died in our place on the cross. We receive righteousness by statute, but in order to receive salvation we must walk in covenant with the Lord; it is the Lord that saves. To be in covenant with God is to keep His commandments, only it is no longer the Father who sits upon the throne of heaven; it is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Romans 10:10 again. “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness (statute) and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (walking in covenant). Is the man who believes unto righteousness saved? No, but the man who with the mouth confesses is. Is it enough to say, “Jesus is Lord of my life?” Notice Romans 10:9, “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” Paul uses the phrase, “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus,” not the phrase, “confess Jesus as Lord.” It is not enough for us to confess Jesus as Lord; we must confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus. We do this by believing on the resurrection of the Lord. If Jesus is Lord, not just of the universe but of our lives, it is ludicrous to believe you can disobey the commandments of the Lord and Him remain Lord over you; it is ludicrous to think we can disobey the Lord’s commandments and still have Him be Lord. The confession made with the mouth is obedience of the Lord’s first commandment, to be saturated with the Holy Spirit (Acts1:4). It is how you, “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus,” Romans 10:9
Now, the question before us is: “Is God’s love greater than these discrepancies?” Let’s say a man believes in his heart that Jesus died under penalty of his sin and is clothed with righteousness but fails to confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus. Is God’s love so great to overcome the lack of obedience performed? Is the man saved by love? Let’s consider the evidence. At the very beginning, Adam was given one commandment to keep in order to stay in the Garden of Eden for all time but he was unable to keep that commandment and one failure was enough to plunge all of humanity for 6,000 years now into the dregs of sin. Apart from Jesus’ death and resurrection, there would be no salvation for any man and God’s plans for mankind would have been thwarted for all time. God’s love was not great enough to overcome Adam’s lack of obedience in spite of the truth that his sin affected every human being born after him. This one fact alone should be enough to convince anyone that God’s love cannot overcome our disobedience.
Moreover, Jesus Himself said, “Many will seek salvation but few will find it.” If many seek the way of salvation but few find it, then God’s love is not great enough to overcome the discrepancies between seeking and finding. Furthermore, Jesus said, “He that loves me, keeps my commandments,” (Jn.14:21, my paraphrase). It is not enough for us to create ways to express our love for Jesus; true love is expressed by obedience and God is love. Should love not be the prerequisite to spending eternity in heaven with God who is love? Those who love God keep Jesus’ commandments, while those who do not love God, do not keep Jesus’ commandments, 1Jn.2:3-4,5:2-3, Jesus is God. In addition, why is there so much legal terminology in the scriptures; why is God called the righteous judge?
Everybody knows John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” but overlook the meaning of “should.” The word should means, “expectation or probability.” Those who believe in Jesus should go on to believe on Him but most don’t. Since salvation is a completely voluntary effort, those who don’t go on to believe on the Lord Jesus after having believed in the Christ have made a decision not to participate in salvation. Look, is it not common sensical that if Jesus is Lord, any commandments He issued after becoming Lord would have to be kept? Otherwise He is not Lord and you are not saved. The love of God is expressed in that He gave His only begotten Son that we might be saved but the choice is still ours to make. God is love and He is righteous; as much as it breaks His heart to do so, He will honor your decision in love.
Because Jesus died under, and by, the authority of the old covenant law, fulfilling it thereby, belief in the work of the cross conveys righteousness. However, the new standard for righteousness established by Jesus after His death is current, and we live it concurrently. It is through living by this new law of righteousness that salvation is granted by the Lord of the new covenant. The righteousness of the old covenant is conveyed by faith in the truth that Jesus perfectly kept God’s law, then died under its penalties. However, having fulfilled God’s law, Jesus redefined what it means to be righteous in His sight by commandment after His resurrection; after He was granted all power and authority in heaven and earth by His Father. To those who keep His standard of righteousness, He grants eternal life. Jesus, as the righteous judge, judges those who keep His commandments as righteous and grants to them eternal life.
Those who believe in Jesus are made righteous by statute but salvation is a walk with the Lord. Notice the wording of Romans 10:10 again. “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” Is salvation not gained by faith as well as righteousness? Then why does Paul not say so? The confession of the mouth is also by faith but a different working of faith than the belief for righteousness. The man who believes in His heart that Jesus took his place on the cross is given righteousness immediately by decree but he must live out the belief that Jesus is Lord in order to gain salvation.
Speaking in tongues is designed to be offensive to the flesh; the flesh is offensive to God. However, speaking in tongues is not just the mechanism whereby you build yourself up on your most holy faith (Jude20); it is not just the mechanism whereby you pray out mysteries to God (1Cor.14:2); it is not just the mechanism that allows you to worship in a manner worthy of the Lord (1Cor.14:17); it is first and foremost the mechanism whereby you enforce your citizenship in heaven; it is how you gain eternal life.