How to Be Saved

According to the scriptures, all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and God wants all of us to be born again (of water and of His Holy Spirit) so that we can be saved (John 3:3-8; John 3:16-18). Acknowledge that you are a sinner. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died for your sins, was buried and rose again (Romans 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

ROMANS 3:23

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

JOHN 3:3-8

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

ACTS 2:36-38

36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Pater said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost. 

MARK 16:15-16

15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” 

JOHN 3:16-18

16 "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. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

TO BE SAVED YOU MUST:

• Hear the Gospel/ Hear the Good News of Salvation of Jesus Christ. The Good News that Jesus Christ was crucified, that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day defeating death, paying in full for the sins of all mankind (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
• Respond to the Gospel: Admit/acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you have fallen short of God's perfect standard of righteousness (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). Believe the Good News of God's Salvation that Jesus Christ of Nazareth (whose Hebrew Name is Yahushua, and who is known to others as Yeshua) is God's only way of salvation (Acts 16:30-31: Romans 10:4; John 14:6). Believe in His death, burial, and resurrection, believe He died for your sins to reconcile you to God. Believe and accept the fact that Jesus is your only Savior, believe that He died on the cross to forgive your sins and save you from your sins (John 1:10-13; Acts 13:38: Matthew 1:21; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; Romans 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:18; 19, 21; 1 Peter 2:24; Acts 1:1-3: 1 Thessalonians 5:9). 
• Count the Cost of becoming Jesus' disciple and then make a serious decision that you want to have Jesus as the Lord of your life (Luke 14:25-34)
• Repent: turn from your sins/evil ways AND TURN BACK TO GOD'S WAY (Matthew 4:17; Luke 3:7-9; Acts 2:37-38; Acts 3:19; Acts 17:30-31;  Acts 26:20; 2 Corinthians 7: 9-10; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 1: 18-32; Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:1-5;  Romans 13:13-14; 1 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 21:6-8 )
• Get Water Baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins: Ask some true disciples of Jesus Christ to baptize you (fully submerge you in water). This is very important. When those who believe the gospel are baptized, they are baptized into Christ, and participate in his death, burial and resurrection. Their old sinful nature is buried with Jesus during baptism, and when they raise up out of the water, they are raised up with Jesus to start a new life with Him. (Acts 2: 37-41; Acts 22:16; John 3:1-8, Mark 16:15-16; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-14; Romans 6: 1-18; 1 Peter 3:20-21; Acts 10:43-48).
• Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 38; Luke 3:16-17; John 14:15-18; John 16:7-15; Acts 1:6-8, Acts 2:1-18; Acts 8:9-25; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 19:1-7; Romans 8:1-17, 26
• Live a life consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ and worthy of your repentance (Acts 26:20; Romans 8:1-17, 261 Peter 2:21-25, Ephesians 6:17-18; Galatians 5:1-25).  

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 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT NOW THAT I AM SAVED? HOW SHOULD I LIVE NOW THAT JESUS IS NOW THE LORD OF MY LIFE?

Now that Jesus is the Lord of your life, His will for you must become your will. In order to know what His will for you is each day, you will need to get to know Him for WHO HE IS so that you can follow Him. In Matthew 16: 24-26, Jesus told His disciples how their life must be. That scripture simply states this:

MATTHEW 16:24-26 (KJV)

24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Since Jesus Christ of Nazareth is now your Lord, you have to live a life of total obedience to Him. You will need to turn away from your way of living (lose your way of life) and start living the way He expects you to live (so that you can find the life He created you to live). You are His disciple now, not just for one day, but rather, for the rest of your life. To live a life that pleases Him, you need to get to know Him daily by:

• Reading and meditating upon His Holy Word (the Bible) each day.
• Putting into practice what He is teaching you in His Word and by His example when He was a man living and walking upon the earth.
• Praying to Him daily without ceasing
• Seeking His presence and His face daily
• Listening out for His voice daily in your spirit
• Listening and looking out for His instructions and directions each day in every thing you are doing, planning, saying 
• Living a life of total obedience to Him, His Word, and His Voice
• Building close relationship with other true disciples of Christ and encouraging each other daily
• Living a life of continuous daily repentance- in complete holiness, righteousness, humility, unity, patience, trust, faithfulness, reverence, purity, etc.

This is a total change in your way of living. You have to make every effort to walk in His path which is the narrow path that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). Your life is now hidden in His. You cannot live to please this world nor anyone or anything in it - your number one priority now is living to please Him. He wants you to love Him with all of your heart, mind, soul, spirit, and strength. He is alive and well today and He wants to have an intimate close relationship with you, His child.

Being a disciple of The Lord is a very rewarding life. You are never alone. He is always with you. He loves you. He watches over you, He directs you, and He leads you. And, He is speaking to you daily and He wants you to come to know Him better and hear and listen for and to His Voice. Welcome to the family of God!!!

WHEN WE DO OUR PART, WHEN WE TO OBEY GOD AND BECOME BORN AGAIN, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?  WHAT DOES GOD DO?

God’s Part in our Salvation

1. God will forgive our sins, making us righteous or in right standing with Him.

2. God will rescue us from Satan's kingdom, translating us into His kingdom, now and eternally, setting us free from the bondage of sin. We actually are promoted above darkness in authority.

3. God will receive us into His family as dearly loved children, giving us an inheritance, making us heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.

4. God will purify us on the inside; God will make us a brand new person on the inside.

5. God will  give us the gift of the Holy Spirit

6. God will become our guide.

7. God will become one with us, to partner with us.

8. God considers us to be a part of the body of Christ

9. God accepts us as His chosen bride (there is no longer male or female Galatians 3:28).

10. God will teach us daily how to truly worship and serve Him; He expects His true worshipers to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

IMPORTANT QUESTION: HOW DO I KNOW FOR SURE THAT I AM SAVED?

Imagine getting ready to board a plane to get to that vacation island that you have saved up for years, only to find out your ticket is invalid! That would be a devastating moment for anyone. Jesus gave us a plan such that even the unschooled could know and understand through the power of his Holy Spirit. The foundation of your redemption is based upon hearing the true gospel, faith, repentance, obedience.

It is pertinent to understand that the devil is going to always put fear in our hearts and cause us to doubt our secure position. Which is why every believer must always be ready to give an answer when someone asks them about their hope (1 Peter 3:15).

A friend of mine told me that her minister once asked the congregation, “How many of you believe that you are going to heaven?” Out of a group of about 60 people 3-4 hands went up. Could it be that they were not convinced that God would do His part? There was a time that I too doubted my salvation. I did not know that God intended for me to clearly know. The enemy sometimes have God’s children believing that salvation is like the lottery, we all can buy into it, but not everyone is guaranteed to win.

The first thing we must do is examine our experience and knowledge against the word of God, NOT WITH YOUR EMOTIONS! Paul talk about making sure that he is not disqualified for the prize in 1 Corinthians 9:27.

  

1 John 5:13

“I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”

EXAMINING YOURSELF TO THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVIDENCE OF SALVATION:

1) Is my trust completely in Jesus? (Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 John 4:15)

2) Is there a change in my life after I was born again? Is the Fruit of Salvation / the Fruit of the Spirit evident/visible in my life?

The MOMENT we truly accept Jesus Christ of Nazareth as our personal Lord and savior, we are born of God's Spirit and God CHANGES our heart. We will start living our lives differently and begin to act differently because of God's Spirit within us. However, some people may visibly CHANGE much quicker than others since visible life CHANGES may vary from person to person, depending on how engrossed in sin that person was at the time of their conversion. But, God knows each person's heart. Nevertheless, when a person is saved, that person should be different; different, NOT PERFECT. And, each of us should continue to strive to mature spiritually in the Lord each day. (Romans 8:9, 12-14; Galatians 5:22-24; 1 John 3:14 & 18-20; 1 John 2:3-4).

3) Does God's Holy Spirit within me witness to my spirit that I am born of God? Do I have confidence and peace in my heart that I am God's child and that God is my Father? 

It is normal that at times you may experience some doubts since Satan often accuses God's people and torment them with lies in order to instill some kind of doubts about their salvation. The devil wants you to think you are not saved; resist him and his lies and he will flee. You should always look for the truth concerning your salvation - through the Word of God, not the whispers of the devil. God is willing and able to keep you saved to the end. Trust God and HIS Word Only. (Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6)

4) Do I know and feel the Presence of God's Holy Spirit within me, guiding, teaching, convicting me daily? (1 John 4:13; Romans 8:14; Hebrews 12:5-8)

5) Reflect regularly on the moment you sincerely surrendered your life to the LORD and the many times throughout your life He has made Himself REAL to you. Be encouraged, trust God. God is a good God. He will not let you be tricked by the devil, and no one can snatch you out of HIS hand. (John 10:28-29)

If you still doubt your salvation, go to the LORD again about this. Repent before him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and your doubts. Continue with this for as long as it takes - until there is no longer any doubt in your mind that you are a child of God. This issue must be completely settled forever. In addition, you must continue to make every effort to mature spiritually in the LORD each day, and to be ready, willing and prepared to help others to find the LORD and do the same.

REMEMBER: SALVATION IS FOR EVERYONE

ROMANS 10:5-15 (NLT)

5 "For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says, 

"The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart."

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”