The Truth About Salvation

Introduction
We’re all Sinners (Rom. 3:10, 23; 5:12).
Romans 3:9-18
Romans 3:21-26
Romans 5:12-14
A sinner is one who has transgressed God’s law. 1 John 3:4
It makes no difference how good someone might be. James 2:10
The penalty of breaking God’s law is eternal death.
What will that be like?
Mark 9: 47-48
Matthew 8:12
Revelation 20:14-15
Any and all sin brings forth a death sentence.
Romans 6:23
However God has provided a way of escape.
That is by eternal life offered through His Son.
There is nothing more important than to ask:
“What Must I Do To Be Saved?
There is no better place to find the answer than God’s words in the Bible.

Hear
Romans 10:13-17
I must call upon the Lord to be saved.
I must believe in order to know to call.
I must hear and learn God’s word to believe.
One cannot “call on the name of the Lord to be saved” if he does not hear the Gospel.
What about those who have not heard?
Romans 1:18-20
Ignorance is not an excuse
Acts 17:30-31
No one is exempt.
People will not be lost because of ignorance. They will be lost because of sin.
Only the blood of Christ can wash away sins.
We come in contact with that blood through baptism. (Acts 22:16)
One must hear they are guilty of sin, and only faith in Jesus can take away that sin.
God will not overlook sin.
If He did, He would cease to be a just God.
The only way God could keep us from paying the price for our sin was to pay the price Himself. Isaiah 53:5-6

Believe
What must a person believe?
This question has plagued many preachers.
How much knowledge should a person have to be a candidate for baptism?
They must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Deity (John 8:24)
They must believe in the death burial and resurrection of Christ. (Romans 5:8; 10:9)
They should understand the nature of the Body of Christ (the church).
Salvation is IN Christ (2 Timothy 2:10)
Eternal Life is IN Jesus (1 John 5:11)
Salvation is found only in the one Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4-6)
Know the Kingdom of God is about Christ (Acts 8:12)
We are baptized into one body, which is the church, which is the body of Christ, which is Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:22-23)
One cannot be baptized into Christ and become a member of a human organization.

Repentance
Repentance involves three things.
Sorry for what you have done against God (2 Corinthians 7:10).
A “Change of Heart” (Matthew 21:28-31)
To turn from sin because you realize sin is what separates you from God (Isaiah 59:2)
You learn to hate sin as much as God hates sin.
A change in your life.
No longer to live as the people of the world live, but to seek spiritual thoughts.
Bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8)
The change in one’s life needs to be evident to all around you.

Confession
Like a qualifier for baptism.
Going through the motions without the faith is just getting someone wet.
They must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He died on the cross for YOUR sins.
Romans 10:9-10
Acts 8:36-37

Baptism
Washes away sins (Acts 22:16)
Doth also now save us (1 Peter 3:21)
Commanded (Acts 2:38; 10:47-48)
Jesus taught that baptism was a condition of salvation (Mark 16:15-16)
The only way to get INTO Christ (Galatians 3:26)
Actually the simplest command that is only required once in a persons life.

Live Faithfully
If one does not do this, all the rest is vanity.
After we become a Christian, we are to live as a Christian ought to live to the very best of our ability.
Many are baptized, but do not live faithfully.
There is a cost to becoming a Christian that some do not consider before baptism.
Luke 14:27-33
Becoming a Christian requires a full commitment (Revelation 2:10).
It requires a new way of thinking.
Colossians 3:1-4
Galatians 2:20
Spending the rest of your life trying to get to Heaven, and helping others get there as well.


Conclusion
What must I do?
Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, be Baptized, and Live Faithfully.
If you are not a Christian, what more do you need to know to become one?
If you are a Christian, but not living faithfully as you should, why not be restored to Him.

By Carey Scott

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