What Must We Do?

Salvation God’s Way  
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). When God sent His Son to earth to suffer, bleed and die for our sins, He did everything in His power to save us. 
  
But what about us? What does God expect of us in order to procure our salvation? Unfortunately, there is much disagreement about this. If you ask five different people, you may hear five different answers, such as: 

• “Everyone that believes in God and attends church will be saved!” 
• “Every good person will be saved.” 
• “Everyone that believes in Jesus will be saved!”  
• “Everyone that keeps the 10 Commandments will be saved.”
• “Everyone that prays for salvation will be saved!” 

Clearly, these cannot ALL be correct. So how can we know for certain what God expects us to do in order to be saved? Jesus said,  "Sanctify (cleanse, purify) them by Your truth. Your WORD is truth” (John 17:17). To know what God expects, we must relay completely on His truth – the Bible. 

When we turn to the Bible it is not hard to ascertain what God asks us to do in order to be saved. Especially if we understand that we must examine EVERYTHING that God says concerning man’s role in salvation. If we focus on PART of what God says, we may miss salvation altogether.

So, what does God say?  

• We must hear (or read) the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16; 10:14, 17). 
• We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16 & 18; 8:24). 
• We must repent of our sinful ways (Luke 13:3 & 5; 2 Peter 3:9). 
• We must openly confess our faith in Jesus (Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:9-10)
• We must be baptized (Mark 16:16) for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16). 

These are the conditions God has set forth for us to obey in order to be saved. When the most important subject in Scripture is studied—salvation, let us ignore all man-made doctrines and simply obey God. 

Live for the Lord in 2024!
Dennis