Post by Messenger on Feb 25, 2008 17:28:18 GMT -5
What Must I do to be Saved?
You are not saved by your good deeds. You are not saved by being a member of a church. You are not saved by being sincere. You are not saved by your intelligence.
What must you do? You must believe in Jesus alone; you must trust Him alone; you must accept Jesus' sacrifice for your sins alone and nothing that you do in any way.
Though there are no rules or steps to becoming a Christian, the following is a Biblical summarization of what you need to know and do:
You must recognize your sinfulness before God: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned". (Romans 5:12)
You must recognize that your sin has caused a separation between you and God: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)
You must believe that Jesus is the only way to God: "I am the way, the truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but by Me." (John 14:6)
You must ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins because He has the authority to forgive you of your sins:
"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'". (Matthew 28:18) Jesus told you to ask Him for your requests: "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it". (John 14:14) Jesus is the one who forgives sins: "'But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins -- He said to the paralytic, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home'." (Mark 2:10-11) You must receive Jesus. John 1:12 says, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
You must turn away from your sin
"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30); and to "produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (Matthew 3:8).
If you want to be saved you must accept Jesus as your Savior. Pray to Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart. He will because He loves you. Salvation is only a prayer of faith away.
If you believe these things, you can pray a prayer like the one below, to receive Jesus into your life, keeping in mind that merely saying a prayer in itself does not save you, for prayer is not like a magic charm or incantation. Only faith in Jesus Christ alone saves.
"Father in heaven, I come to you confessing that I am a sinner, completely lost and without hope. I repent of my sinful ways and ask for Your forgiveness. I believe in my heart that Christ Jesus is the Son of God, that He completely paid for all of my sins by His death on the cross, and that You raised Him from the dead. I confess that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. I trust in Him, and Him alone, for my salvation. I believe that through His shed blood I have eternal life. I will pray, study, meditate and live by Your Word the rest of my life. Father, I ask that You fill me with the Holy Spirit. Please come into my heart and save and sanctify my soul. I love you, Lord, and offer myself to You completely and without reservation. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen."
If you prayed a prayer like this and meant it with all your heart, YOU ARE SAVED! You have been "born again" spiritually as a child of God. Your sins have been washed away and you are a person with a new nature.
After receiving salvation, you should join a Christ-centered church that preaches the gospel and be baptized. You should also pray and read your Bible daily, and regularly assemble with fellow Christians at your church.
Suggestions for Christian Growth:
Spiritual growth results from trusting Jesus Christ. "The righteous man shall live by faith" (Galatians 3:11). A life of faith will enable you to trust God increasingly with every detail of your life, and to practice the following:
Go to God in prayer daily. (John 15:7)
Read God's Word daily (Acts 17:11); begin with the Gospel of John.
Obey God moment by moment. (John 14:21)
Witness for Christ by your life and words. (Matthew 4:19; John 15:8)
Trust God for every detail of your life. (1 Peter 5:7) Holy Spirit -- allow Him to control and empower your daily life and witness.
(Galatians 5:16-17; Acts 1:8)
God's Word instructs us not to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together." (Hebrews 10:25) Several logs burn brightly together; but put one aside on the cold hearth and the fire goes out. So it is with your relationship with other Christians.
If you do not belong to a church, do not wait to be invited. Take the initiative; call the pastor of a nearby church where Christ is honored and His Word is preached. Start this week, and make plans to attend regularly.
In the course of your new life in Jesus Christ, you will continually struggle with sin. Sometimes you will, in a moment of weakness, succumb to temptation and sin. Please do not lose hope or be discouraged. Know that you are not alone and that other Christians go through these struggles. The Apostle Paul faced the same thing in his walk with Christ. Of his life he said,
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:18-24)
But Paul does not leave it there. He goes on to say,
"Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin."
While you will always struggle with sin until the day the Lord comes to take you home to heaven, do not lose heart. If you turn to the Lord in repentance and confess your sins, He will forgive you and make you clean again. 1 John 1:9 says,
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
As a new child of God you can be assured of salvation. Salvation is not a "maybe" or an "I hope to be". It is a sure thing that is based on the promises of God's Word. The Apostle John said:
"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:11-13)
Also as a new child of God you can share the same assurance that the Apostle Paul had:
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)
Bill
You are not saved by your good deeds. You are not saved by being a member of a church. You are not saved by being sincere. You are not saved by your intelligence.
What must you do? You must believe in Jesus alone; you must trust Him alone; you must accept Jesus' sacrifice for your sins alone and nothing that you do in any way.
Though there are no rules or steps to becoming a Christian, the following is a Biblical summarization of what you need to know and do:
You must recognize your sinfulness before God: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned". (Romans 5:12)
You must recognize that your sin has caused a separation between you and God: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)
You must believe that Jesus is the only way to God: "I am the way, the truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but by Me." (John 14:6)
You must ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins because He has the authority to forgive you of your sins:
"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'". (Matthew 28:18) Jesus told you to ask Him for your requests: "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it". (John 14:14) Jesus is the one who forgives sins: "'But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins -- He said to the paralytic, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home'." (Mark 2:10-11) You must receive Jesus. John 1:12 says, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
You must turn away from your sin
"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30); and to "produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (Matthew 3:8).
If you want to be saved you must accept Jesus as your Savior. Pray to Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart. He will because He loves you. Salvation is only a prayer of faith away.
If you believe these things, you can pray a prayer like the one below, to receive Jesus into your life, keeping in mind that merely saying a prayer in itself does not save you, for prayer is not like a magic charm or incantation. Only faith in Jesus Christ alone saves.
"Father in heaven, I come to you confessing that I am a sinner, completely lost and without hope. I repent of my sinful ways and ask for Your forgiveness. I believe in my heart that Christ Jesus is the Son of God, that He completely paid for all of my sins by His death on the cross, and that You raised Him from the dead. I confess that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. I trust in Him, and Him alone, for my salvation. I believe that through His shed blood I have eternal life. I will pray, study, meditate and live by Your Word the rest of my life. Father, I ask that You fill me with the Holy Spirit. Please come into my heart and save and sanctify my soul. I love you, Lord, and offer myself to You completely and without reservation. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen."
If you prayed a prayer like this and meant it with all your heart, YOU ARE SAVED! You have been "born again" spiritually as a child of God. Your sins have been washed away and you are a person with a new nature.
After receiving salvation, you should join a Christ-centered church that preaches the gospel and be baptized. You should also pray and read your Bible daily, and regularly assemble with fellow Christians at your church.
Suggestions for Christian Growth:
Spiritual growth results from trusting Jesus Christ. "The righteous man shall live by faith" (Galatians 3:11). A life of faith will enable you to trust God increasingly with every detail of your life, and to practice the following:
Go to God in prayer daily. (John 15:7)
Read God's Word daily (Acts 17:11); begin with the Gospel of John.
Obey God moment by moment. (John 14:21)
Witness for Christ by your life and words. (Matthew 4:19; John 15:8)
Trust God for every detail of your life. (1 Peter 5:7) Holy Spirit -- allow Him to control and empower your daily life and witness.
(Galatians 5:16-17; Acts 1:8)
God's Word instructs us not to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together." (Hebrews 10:25) Several logs burn brightly together; but put one aside on the cold hearth and the fire goes out. So it is with your relationship with other Christians.
If you do not belong to a church, do not wait to be invited. Take the initiative; call the pastor of a nearby church where Christ is honored and His Word is preached. Start this week, and make plans to attend regularly.
In the course of your new life in Jesus Christ, you will continually struggle with sin. Sometimes you will, in a moment of weakness, succumb to temptation and sin. Please do not lose hope or be discouraged. Know that you are not alone and that other Christians go through these struggles. The Apostle Paul faced the same thing in his walk with Christ. Of his life he said,
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:18-24)
But Paul does not leave it there. He goes on to say,
"Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin."
While you will always struggle with sin until the day the Lord comes to take you home to heaven, do not lose heart. If you turn to the Lord in repentance and confess your sins, He will forgive you and make you clean again. 1 John 1:9 says,
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
As a new child of God you can be assured of salvation. Salvation is not a "maybe" or an "I hope to be". It is a sure thing that is based on the promises of God's Word. The Apostle John said:
"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:11-13)
Also as a new child of God you can share the same assurance that the Apostle Paul had:
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)
Bill
