Today will you stand up for Jesus and tell the world that He is the One way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)? Will you share your story of why you follow Jesus? Will you show someone the simple way Jesus has ordered salvation?
I don’t want to be mean or unkind, but Jesus Himself said not everyone who calls me Lord will enter Heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in Heaven (Matthew 7:21). I would do you a terrible disfavor by telling you some other way to become a Christian and be saved than the Bible spells out. In fact, Paul said I would be cursed for doing that.
Did you know that not one single preacher in the New Testament, no apostle or writer ever told someone to say the sinners prayer to be saved? In fact, prayer was never even mentioned as a part of the salvation plan.
Let’s be very careful and do what the preachers, and the apostles said a person must do to be saved. There is a progression of the requirements mentioned in the New Testament regarding salvation. There is not an example of a person being told every one of the requirements at one point. Why? Because we find people at different points in the progression. So we need to examine all the accounts where people are told what to do to be saved.
We start at the most logical point, a person must HEAR the gospel. Without hearing the gospel a person wouldn’t even know they are lost and that Jesus died to save them. Romans 10:17 teaches us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
When a person hears the gospel, they must BELIEVE that Jesus is God’s Son and that He died to save all who obey Him. Notice, ““And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV). Jesus Himself told us “… unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” (John 8:24 ESV). Unless a person believes he is lost and that Jesus died to save him, then doing any of the rest of the commands of the Lord are useless to save.
When a person comes to believe Jesus is the only Savior, he must turn his life around. In REPENTANCE a person stops living in sin and turns and tries to live holy and acceptably before God. Like Paul told Timothy “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12 ESV). That is true repentance. Jesus said “… unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3 ESV)
Jesus requires people to CONFESS Him in order to be saved, ““Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8-9 NKJV). Paul emphasizes this in Romans “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” (Romans 10:9-10 NKJV). We need to remember that a person who does not believe and repent would accomplish nothing by confessing Jesus. The demons believe in Jesus, but are lost because they do not repent or confess Him, (James 2:19).
On the first Pentecost after Jesus rose from the dead, hundreds and hundreds of people gathered to listen to the first Gospel sermons preached by the apostles. Peter convinced many of the hearers that they sinned by crucifying Christ. They believed this preaching and were moved to ask “What must we do to be saved?” Peter plainly told them “… Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NKJV). In this instance the clear steps were told to people who already believed in Jesus were told in addition to that belief they had to REPENT and be BAPTIZED to be saved.
So far we have these obligations spelled out for us: Hear, Belief, Confession, Repentance and Baptism. Not one time is any person told to say a sinner’s prayer, or “ask Jesus into their hearts”. A serious perusal of every instance of salvation is silent on a sinner’s prayers and just asking Jesus into one’s heart.
One last requirement mentioned for people to be saved is to remain faithful to the Lord until we die (Revelation 2:10). Peter taught, “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”” (2 Peter 2:21-22 NKJV)
Worship Thoughts 