What Must I Do To Be Saved?

 

We must believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be saved by God’s amazing grace. Since we all are sinners by our thoughts, motives, and actions we need God’s forgiveness. If we are honest, we all would have to admit that often we do not live up to our own expectations. It stands to reason then, that we certainly do not live up to the impeccable requirements of a perfectly holy God! One thing we all correctly confess is that “nobody is perfect.” Sinfulness in each of us is why we are so painfully imperfect. We need to be saved by Jesus Christ because of our sinfulness.

Who is Jesus Christ? He is the Son of God and God the Son—the mighty Creator and able Sustainer of the entire expansive and massive universe. He became a man that He may fulfill God’s redemption plan to become the Sacrifice for the sins of all humanity. Jesus is the only Person to ever live a perfectly sinless life, and this demonstrated that He alone could make the perfectly sinless Sacrifice payment for all sins. He did this to save us from our sins. What does "save" mean? It means that upon faith in Christ and His Sacrifice, God forgives our sins, adopts us as His children, places His Spirit within us, reserves a place for us in Heaven, and grants us eternal life all for free. To be saved also means to be rescued from the eternal penalty of sin, which is everlasting conscious suffering in a literal Hell. This is why God became a man. What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the fact that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and on the third day He arose from the dead demonstrating that He was indeed God, and that He had satisfied all requirements of payment for our sins. His suffering, bloodshed, and death on Calvary's cross are the full payment for our sin, and God completely accepted Christ's payment on our behalf. Yes, Christ paid our sin debt in full!

What is meant by “believe”? To believe is to place our trust/full confidence in Jesus Christ who died in our place taking the responsibility for our sins upon Himself. To believe is to fully acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God, and the only means of establishing a relationship with God. In addition, believing is accepting the truth that Jesus Christ literally, physically, and supernaturally rose from the dead. God saves us graciously when we believe Him--what the Bible records concerning Christ. What is grace? Grace is God freely giving us salvation and forgiveness without us deserving it or earning it through our works, efforts, religious rituals, or attempts to please God. Salvation is to be received as a free gift offered by a gracious God who loves us enough to take our punishment for sin upon Himself. Now read carefully the following Bible passage because it reveals specifically how we can place our faith in Jesus Christ and receive the gift of eternal life.

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.11, For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12, For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom 10:8-13, 17)

This passage reveals that upon acknowledging that Jesus Christ is God and Lord, we trust with all our hearts that He died to pay for our sins and that God was so pleased with Christ’s Sacrifice that He raised Jesus from the dead. Presently, the living resurrected Lord Jesus is waiting to save (rescue from the eternal consequences of sin in Hell) anyone who will turn to God while believing the Gospel. Anyone who calls upon God in repentant prayer asking for forgiveness—to be saved—is guaranteed by God that He will respond and rescue them from the guilt and offenses they have amassed against Him. We can believe this and act on God’s Word by crying out to Him for mercy on us as sinners who have lived to date in rebellion against Him. God, for Jesus’ sake, will have mercy and save us if we do so!

Again faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY to enter into a Relationship with GOD. There is absolutely no other means or ways for us to be saved. Read carefully the following verses because they communicate this vital truth to us most convincingly.

• ·        Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
• ·        Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
• ·        For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
• ·        Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21)

Salvation is through Christ Jesus alone. It does not matter how hard we work, sincere we are, how much we serve, how long we have been a part of some church or religious organization, or how hard we try; we cannot secure our own salvation. God can save anyone who truly turns to Him regardless of how sinful, wicked, rebellious, and offensive our lives have been to Him. We must repent (have a change of mind and heart leading to a change of direction) and come to God through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the full and complete payment for our awful sins.  Sin is vile rebellion against a righteous and perfectly holy God. It includes our thoughts, desires, and deeds! Yes, every human being, without any exceptions, stands utterly guilty before God until we receive His forgiveness.

Turn from sin and its devastating eternal consequences unto Jesus Christ to save you. Ask Him in faith to save you immediately. Turn from your past of unbelief and rejection of God's salvation and use your faith to embrace Jesus Christ fully as your Lord and Savior. In faith cry out to God and ask Him to forgive you for your sin; ask Him to give you eternal life because you accept Jesus Christ. God will save anyone who comes to Him on His terms. This is His solemn promise to you. Turn to God through faith in Christ today!