USA And The Gospel

USA And The Gospel

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, December 8, 2025 (Donate)

The Protestant USA Has Been Inundated With All Other Religions

This heading really speaks for itself. But let's unpack this a little more. 

The United States, which was at one point one of the most Christian nations on earth, has been inundated by all sorts of [false] religions—Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, sexual humanism, New Age, paganism, atheism, secular humanism and the like. Sadly, the United States was even the source of some new false religions like Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism.

The fact is that all religions are false except God’s, which is based on the 66 books of the Bible. God and His Word are the very foundation for the concepts of truth and falsity or right and wrong—God defines it. Even the concept of truth comes from the Bible’s foundation.

Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

Like other places in the world, people in the United States can be deceived to believe false religions. With religions like secularism and atheism (i.e., no God, big bang, evolutionism, naturalism, materialism, etc.) being freely taught in government schools, it’s easy to see how so many kids for generations have been led into false beliefs.

Furthermore, when people are taught religions like atheism, which are not defensible logically, they are easy targets for false religions to swoop in and steal their minds like sea gulls on a buffet line on a beach.

And yet, Christianity continues to grow and is defensible against all opposition. It is fastest growing religion on earth—particularly by conversions (by the power of the Holy Spirit!). In fact, there are more Christians alive today than there ever has been. Consider that we started with about 11 disciples (Judas hung himself and then his body was split open by rocks below).

Even groups that disagree with biblical teachings like Jehovah’s Witnesses (denial of Jesus deity), Mormons (polytheistic), and Muslims (denial of Jesus resurrection), they all agree the Bible is true—of course, they want to put their religious qualifications on it. Nevertheless, when tallied, this means that more than half of the world’s population is connected to the belief that the Bible is true.

In Hinduism, which is monistic (i.e., “all is one”), their supreme “god” who manifests into 3 gods (Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma), and then millions of gods, is Brahman. Interestingly, pondering the oneness of Brahman and Bramha and doing a little research, reveals that he married Sarasvati and had of course there is another woman convoluted in the lore, Ghaggar.

One can’t help but see the how real people Abraham (Brahman/Brahma), Sarah (Sarasvati) and Haggar (Ghaggar) were elevated to a god-like status in this religion showing it is just a form of ancestor worship predicated on the Bible’s truth about Abraham. Whether Hindus realize it or not, their religion took from a godly man in the Bible and then warped and paganized him into a monism religion. If all is one then being logical and illogical are one and the same; therefore, everything is meaningless in that religion—if they were consistent and if they were not consistent!

On top of all these, Confucianism, Shinto, animism, Voodoo, witchcraft, veganism, wicca, Taoism, agnosticism, spiritism, and so many more religions have all made their way to the USA. The USA today is a melting pot of cultures…and religions. Sadly, many want to mix religions together—this is called syncretism or compromise.

Catholic Church building in Cusco, Peru; Photo by Bodie Hodge

I saw Catholicism in Peru mix (syncretize) with the local pagan gods. In the USA, people from Peru look at us and wondered why some Christian churches mix their Christianity with secular humanism (i.e., they add big bang and millions of years and evolution instead of six-day creation). Other churches mix a form of Christianity with sexual humanism (i.e., the sexual immorality movement (SIM) with LGBT).

When churches do this, they mock God’s Word by denying its clear teachings and accept tenets from false religions and elevate false beliefs to supersede what God says. Sadly, there are many in the United States (and the Western World) that need to get back to God’s Word from the first to the last verse. God is ultimate truth and it is by His Word that we will be judged on Judgment Day.

Of course, the Bible is true and the source of all truth that God, who is the truth, revealed to us. God promised to preserve His Word and He has done that—there are tens of thousands of manuscripts and fragments that show what we read today is the same that they read 2000 years ago.

The Bible’s Vital Teaching

So, what does the Bible teach? Let’s start with the good news, then let’s discuss the bad news, and then the Good News—yes, we capped it for a reason.

The “good news”

The good news is that God created everything perfect and very good. He tells us this in Genesis 1:31 and Deuteronomy 32:4. This is what was expected from a perfect God—a perfect world. There was no death or bloodshed or diseases or natural disasters. There were no cancers or heart attacks.

God is a God of life and the source or all life and all things. So the world was full of life and there was no death. God created Adam and Eve—the first two people and our direct ancestors. Your and my life came from them.

God made them unique from animals, plants, angles, and rocks. God made man in His eternal, ruling, intellectual, covenantal, image (Genesis 1:26-27). God gave us something to rule over (dominion) and had a covenant with Adam (e.g., Hosea 6:7), and made us in a way to have a covenant relationship with Him. Because we are made with a non-physical eternal aspect (our soul/spirit), this means it will go on forever.

The “bad news”

The bad news is that all people are sinners by nature and by choice. Ever since Adam’s (and Eve’s) rebellion in Genesis 3—which was basically high treason against God, mankind has inherited a sinful condition. This also means we are separated from a close relationship with God through spiritual death. We also have corruption and suffering to our bodies that will lead to physical death.

Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

God is perfectly holy and just, so every sin must be punished. Scripture teaches that “the wages of sin is death,” meaning eternal separation from God under His righteous judgment (i.e., eternal conscious punishment in Hell). No human effort, good works, or religious acts can erase guilt or earn forgiveness—thus, all these false religions that try to “earn” a form of salvation are meaningless. Any war waged against an infinitely all-powerful God will easily lose. 

Left to ourselves, we stand condemned, unable to meet God’s perfect standard and wholly incapable of saving ourselves. The nature and punishment for sin has to do with the nature of God and His infinite power. God is infinite and eternal and so the just punishment from God would be an infinite punishment that would go on for eternity.

Having God’s infinite wrath on us for eternity is not something anyone would want for their sin! This is devastatingly bad news: mankind is stuck in a hopeless situation without divine intervention.

The “Good News”

The Good News is that the triune God Himself provided the solution in Jesus Christ. Out of love, God the Father sent His Son to take on human flesh, live a sinless life, and willingly bear the penalty for sin on the cross. Jesus willingly laid down His life (John 10:17) because He loved us (John 3:16-18).

Jesus died as the perfect infinite substitute, fully satisfying God’s infinite justice. His bodily resurrection on the third day proved His victory over sin and death and confirms that His eternal sacrifice, which was once for all, was accepted.

Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace and mercy, not earned but received through repentance and faith in Christ alone. Those who believe are forgiven and reconciled to God. We are seen as spotless and righteous before God because Christ’s perfect righteousness was transferred or “imputed” to us (Romans 4:23-5:1).  

Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

Christ took our sin, and covered its full cost on the Cross and with His bodily resurrection gifted believers an eternal life. We too will follow our Lord in bodily resurrection. This is the Good News (also called the Gospel, which literally means, “good news”). We become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) passing from death to life (1 John 3:14), adopted as God’s children (Ephesians 1:5), and gifted the Holy Spirit who lives in us to walk in obedience and hope (Acts 2:38).

Regardless of what country you live—the USA or internationally—it is time for an important question: Have you received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? It doesn’t matter how bad you’ve been and how far from God you were or what false religion you have been entertaining, it is only one step back to Him.

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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children. 

Being Saved

 

What Does It Mean to Be “Saved”?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, July 18, 2024 (Donate)

All Scripture, NKJV

People might tell you that you need to be saved. But do you feel like you’re only getting half the story? Are you like me? I get tired of sitting down in the middle of something like a story, show, etc. and wondering what’s going on. I think most people feel like this when they hear about Jesus for the first time. In my past, I would hear things like:

Bottom of Form

“Good news! Good news! Here’s how to get saved: Believe in Jesus!!”

I was thinking, “Saved from what? Jesus who?” Obviously, there was something missing in the approach that these well-meaning Christians used with me, and it is important, then, to learn to be better witnesses.

Perfect Creation . . . Then the Bad News

First of all, it’s tough to understand the good news of being saved if you don’t understand the bad news. So, let’s go back to the beginning. In the beginning, God created everything:

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[1]

When God created everything He said it was “very good.” This meant that everything was perfect. The whole creation was perfect. In fact, God says that all His works are perfect, and we would expect that from a perfect God. Man lived in the perfectly created earth (i.e., a paradise) with a perfect relationship with God.

Genesis 1:31
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.

Being that the original creation was perfect, there was no death before this (Genesis 1:29–30).[2] God gave man and woman the freedom of contrary choice.[3] The first two people God created were Adam and Eve, who were allowed to freely eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were to live forever with God. Again, there was no death. However, Eve was tempted by a serpent (being influenced by Satan, who had rebelled against God in the heavenly realm), and then both Adam and Eve also rebelled against God by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; thus, they sinned (sin is rebellion against God[4]).

Genesis 2:16–17
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:1–6
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; “but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

The result of Adam’s sin (rebellion against a Holy Creator) was God’s judgment through many curses. God cursed the ground, which mankind had dominion over (Genesis 1:28), to bring forth thorns and thistles. He sentenced man and woman to die, fulfilling what was spoken in Genesis 2:17. He also cursed the animals and, especially, the serpent.

From this act of rebellion, we (i.e., humans, descendants of Adam) inherit “original sin.” This, in a layman’s sense, means that we are sentenced to die and are prone to sin because we were in Adam when he sinned.[5] In essence, these curses are like God removing some of His sustaining power, so the creation is no longer upheld in a perfect state, but in bondage to sin and death (Romans 8:21)—hence, we now suffer things like cancer, sickness, suffering, and finally, death.

Genesis 3:14–19
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread    Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. 

In spite of our sin, God loved us so much that He had already planned a way for us to return to a perfect relationship with Him. To provide forgiveness and salvation, God gave the first prophecy of many regarding the way back to a restored relationship with Him. Genesis 3:15 says that the seed will be that of a woman.[6] This refers to the future event—the virgin birth of Jesus—being the “seed of a woman” and not of a man.

Death and Sacrifice Point Toward a Savior

In the New Testament, Paul confirms what is written in Genesis 2:17 when he says that the wages of sin is death. One sin is enough to cause death!

Romans 6:23a
For the wages of sin is death

Since the wages of sin is death, God, in Genesis 3, shows that a life must be taken to cover the sin of Adam and Eve. Therefore, to make a temporary atonement (cover the sins for a time), God killed these animals on behalf of Adam and Eve clothing them with the skins.

Genesis 3:21
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

The punishment demanded from an infinitely holy God, who cannot look upon sin, is an infinite punishment. Animals are not infinite, and so, they cannot ultimately take away the sin, but merely cover it. Mankind needed a perfect, infinitely holy sacrifice. Jesus Christ, who is the infinite and holy Son of God, stepped into history to take that punishment on Himself. We ultimately need a perfect sacrifice, and the perfectly obedient life of Christ was God’s plan for the ultimate atonement.

But after Adam and Eve sinned, people began making animal sacrifices to cover their sins—an animal life for sin. A few examples follow.

Abel

Genesis 4:4
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering.

Noah

Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Abraham

Genesis 22:13
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

Israelites

Leviticus 1:3
‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD.

The Law of Moses (i.e., Genesis–Deuteronomy) revealed sin as rebellion against God. The moral laws are summarized in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5). Even with the Law, people continued rebelling and turning away from God (Romans 3:20). But God sent the ultimate and final sacrifice—far greater than any animal sacrifice—that would be sufficient to cover sin against a perfect God (Hebrews 10:1–14).

Jesus Christ, the Savior, Steps into History

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God sent His Son (i.e., the second person of the Triune God[7]), Jesus, to humble Himself and enter into a sin-cursed world to live a servant’s life on earth just like one of us (Philippians 2:8). He entered the world just as was prophesied—through the virgin Mary.

Jesus was without sin (1 John 3:5) and did everything perfectly according to the Law. Then, He would allow mankind to sacrifice Him on the cross. Jesus would be the final sacrifice because he obeyed God completely and was without defect—only He could satisfy the infinite punishment we deserve. His method of sacrifice (crucifixion) was even outlined many years before in Psalm 22. He was the perfect sacrifice (far exceeding the most perfect, unblemished animal) because He was the perfect man and also perfect God (Colossians 2:9).

Matthew 5:17
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

When God stepped into His creation, He offered what is called “grace.” Grace means that we were to be rightly punished for our wrongdoings, and then the one who sentenced us to that punishment took the punishment upon Himself because of love for us. We rightly deserved death by God’s judgment. But God took that punishment upon Himself by dying in our place as Jesus Christ. He exercised that grace because of His love for us.

Jesus didn’t come to the world to sentence it to death—the world was already condemned by sin. He came to save us from that sin. This indicates that God really is a God of love.

John 3:17
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Ephesians 2:1-7
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

A second death is still the punishment that God will give to those who do not turn to Him. The second death is called hell and is separation from God—being completely separated from all that is good.[8] Even Satan himself has no power there. Jesus came to be the final sacrifice to allow us to be saved from this penalty due to sin against a holy God.

When Jesus rose and conquered death, people no longer needed to present an animal sacrifice to cover up their sins. For those who trust in Christ will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Bible warns that the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. All other sins can be forgiven up to the moment of death.

Matthew 12:32
“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is rejecting the Holy Spirit to the point of death. The only way to reject the Holy Spirit is not receiving Jesus as your Savior during your lifetime. This corresponds to Jesus saying that He was the only way back to God the Father.

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The Free Gift of Salvation: Belief in Christ

Jesus, being the perfect sacrifice, offers the free gift of salvation. God loves you so much that He sacrificed His own unblemished Son to suffer the wrath against sin and die on the Cross. He commands you to repent (change your mind and turn from sinful ways) and trust in Him:

2 Corinthians 7:10
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.[9]

The Bible is clear in several passages how to receive salvation. It doesn’t mean you are perfect after you are saved, but it does mean that you are perfectly forgiven and saved from the penalty of sin by God’s grace.

Ephesians 2:8–9
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Romans 10:9–10
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Mark 16:16
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 16:30–31
And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

These verses point out the importance of belief in Jesus Christ. It is a simple and free gift. It doesn’t matter how many steps you’ve taken away from God; it is only one step back. If you are not a Christian, then consider more deeply the claims of Jesus, and please take a few minutes to pray to God in the name of Jesus to forgive your sins and to receive Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. Then please take some time to sit down with a Bible-believing pastor in a local church to help direct you as you begin your new life with Christ. Read your Bible every day and seek to understand and obey what you read.

Originally published: https://answersingenesis.org/gospel/salvation/what-does-it-mean-to-be-saved/

Reprinted with permission.

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[1] See also John 1:1–3.

[2] Ken Ham, “Two Histories of Death,” Creation 24(1):18–20, December, 2001.

[3] Whether this is still the case has been up for debate for centuries and is not for discussion in this short article.

[4] Bodie Hodge, “Who Sinned First?” March 14, 2008.

[5] See Romans 5:12–14 and 1 Corinthians 15:22.

[6] See also Isaiah 7:14.

[7] Mark Bird, “The Trinity,” July 30, 2008; Bodie Hodge, “God Is Triune,” February 20, 2008.

[8] See Matthew 10:28; 23:33; 25:41–46.

[9] See also Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3–5; Acts 17:30.