Salvation through head or heart ?
Well, as Christians, people might be thinking is this even a legit question? Is it even possible for such a thing called salvation through head?
Because, as Christians we know that salvation is a gift of God, as the Bible says in
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT):
“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done,so none of us can boast about it.”
Salvation starts when you repent from your heart and take a “U-turn” in your life. Meaning, whatever wrong/sinful things you were doing before, you stopped doing them from the time you realized that God has forgiven your sins through His one and only Son Jesus Christ, and realize that you’re saved by the grace of God.
You might ask, why is it a heart thing but not a head thing? How can we be sure of this?
Well, I firmly believe that with your head, that is with your “knowledge” or “smartness,” you can reject the truth and continue to sin, continue to live the sinful way of life. With your head you can say that I’m already righteous why do I need a savior, why do I need Jesus? This directly opposes the very fundamental truth of the Word of God that everyone is born a sinner, due to the fall of Adam.
If I have not personally experienced or dealt with people who believe that salvation is something that can be “achieved” by their head or some very careful rituals/practices, I wouldn’t be writing on this topic. I have seen and experienced people who firmly refuse the Truth through their own “knowledge” rather than believing the Word of God.
But for the sake of argument if you say, “ok, we don’t really care what you think; what does the Bible say or is there any proof to your point that salvation is something from your heart not from your head?” To add to the point that salvation is something that should be of our heart but not of our head, let us look at few verses from Bible:
Proverbs 4:23:
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
NIV version of the same verse Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Think about it, everything in our life “flows” from our heart not from our head. Of course, we need our “head”, means we need to be wise/intelligent/smart. But our smartness is not to be applied in relationships, certainly not in a relationship with the living God.
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” I believe that, our own understanding here in this verse, Proverbs 3:5, is surely our head/knowledge. Also, note that here, it says ‘Trust in the Lord with all our heart”
and
Ephesians 4:22, 23 says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.”
One version says “renew your mind” and we know that the mind is something that is head related not heart related.
Paul asks us to not only to renew our mind but also to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) This is certainly not a one-time process, rather a continual process or we can call it our “Walk with God”.
Finally, I would like to end with the story of King Solomon. When God appeared to him in his dream and asked what Solomon wanted, Solomon replied that he wanted an “understanding heart” to rule his people as the king of the country. Just because he asked for an “understanding heart” God said, I’ll give that, plus wealth and fame like no other king who ever lived on earth.
The salvation that comes through the heart (of understanding), the Truth/the Word of God, will give us the eternal life, a relationship with the living God, and everything else that we ever wanted in this life and the next to come.