“What must I do to be saved?”

~ Acts 16:30

TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, WE MUST KNOW SOME BASIC TRUTHS FROM GOD’S WORD…

1. God is HOLY.

In Isaiah 6:3, one angel said to another, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is

full of His glory!” God’s holiness is infinite. He is so completely and utterly righteous that He cannot

even be in the presence of sin. Concerning God, the prophet Habakkuk says, “You are of purer eyes

than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness” (Hab. 1:13). Indeed, God is holy!

 

2. Man is SINFUL, resulting in ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD.

Sin entered the human race when our first parents, Adam and Eve, willingly acted in defiance of

God’s word and God’s will (see Gen. 2:15 – 17; 3:1 – 19). Their sin infected the entire human race.

The apostle Paul explains it this way in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin

entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ”

God said through Isaiah, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have

hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:2). ALL of us are guilty! “For all have

sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). And our separation from God is eternal!

 

3. Man tries to reach God by his WORKS, without success.

We, fallen man, have always imagined that we can reach God (or heaven) by doing good works; these

works are often religious activities that we engage in to hopefully tip the scales of God’s favor in our

direction. But God says that our salvation is, “not by works of righteousness which we have done…”

(Titus 3:5a; see also Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8 – 9; Titus 3:5). And Proverbs 14:12 reminds us

that, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” We cannot work our

way to heaven!

 

4. God Himself provided salvation through JESUS CHRIST, who died on the cross for our sins

and rose from the dead.

We could never save ourselves. God knew this. Therefore, God acted. God accomplished in Christ

what we could never do for ourselves. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates His own love toward

us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul wrote, “For I delivered to you first of

all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He

was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3 – 4). How

can a holy, righteous God justify sinners? How could God’s justice and God’s mercy be satisfied

simultaneously? By sending His perfect, sinless Son to the cross, where He would become guilty of

all of the sins of all those who would ever believe. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He [God] made Him

who knew no sin [Christ] to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

5. God has provided just one way to be saved: FAITH IN JESUS CHRISTreceiving Him as

your LORD and SAVIOR (it’s not faith plus your works; it’s faith in Christ ALONE!).

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”

(John 14:6). The apostle Peter declared, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other

name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The apostle John

said concerning Christ, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children

of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). You see, to believe in Christ means you

receive Him into your heart; you put your full trust and confidence in Him to save you and to cover

you with His righteousness. Paul declared to the 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”

(Rom. 10:9). And finally, Paul reminds believers who were in the church at Ephesus that it was “by

grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of

works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8 – 9).

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE CHRIST RIGHT NOW AND KNOW THAT YOU’RE SAVED?

With the attitude of a child, simply pray…

Dear Lord,

I know that I am a sinner. I am sorry for my sin. I know that my sin has come between You and me. I am helpless to fix this problem, so I thank you for sending Jesus, Your Son, who died on the cross for my sin and rose from the dead! In Your power, I now turn from my sin and put my faith in Christ alone to save me; I receive Him as my SAVIOR and yield to Him as LORD. Thank you for saving me!

~ In JESUS’ name…Amen.”

 

IF YOU HAVE TRULY ACCEPTED CHRIST, YOU NOW HAVE…

A. A Life that is ABUNDANT and FULL!

Psalm 16:11

John 10:10

B. PEACE with God, peace with others, as well as peace in the midst of the storms of life!

Romans 5:1

John 14:27

John 16:33

C. The ASSURANCE of eternity with Christ!

John 5:24

John 6:39-40

1 John 5:13