Romans 10:9-13 if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Christians can be very good at creating litmus tests. In the past when I have applied for pastoral positions I have always been fascinated by the litmus tests that churches put on their applications.

What is the role of women in church leadership? What is the definition of marriage? Which translation of the Bible do you preach from? Are you reformed? Are you evangelical? How old is the earth?

To some extent we can divide churches into two groups. The first is the boundary based church that defines the theological boundaries within which the church body must remain. The second is the center based church that focuses on moving people closer to Jesus. Neither is in and of itself wrong; both have advantages and disadvantages. I prefer the second.

In my view, most churches spend far too much time setting up boundaries to keep “them” out (or “us” in). We would be far better off if we spent that time and energy pointing people toward Jesus.

If we confess and believe in Jesus as risen Lord we are reunited with God, we are brought into fellowship with God, we are adopted into God’s family, we are redeemed, we are saved, we are a friend of God.

The main thing is to confess and believe in Jesus as risen Lord. Everything else is secondary, and is far less important.