Acts 16:29-31, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Repeatedly in the inspired Holy Scripture we are taught simply to BELIEVE ON JESUS to get to Heaven, nothing else. Yet, in most churches today (which are really religious cults), we hear foolish teachings to “Become a Christ follower,” “Invite Jesus into your heart,” “Make Jesus your Lord,” “Surrender all to Christ,” and “turn from your sinful ways” to get to Heaven, all of which are lies of Satan intended to prevent lost sinners from seeing and believing the truth of the Gospel of free grace (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
Here is the Gospel which Jesus directly gave to the Apostle Paul (Galatians 1:12)...
1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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:”
The Gospel is comprised of THREE elements:
- Jesus DIED on a cross to pay for our sins
- He was BURIED.
- Christ physically RESURRECTED from the dead three days later.
These FACTS are what you must place your trust (faith, reliance) in to get to Heaven, and NOT the following junk theology:
- get water baptized
- become a Christ follower
- forsake a lifestyle of sin
- turn from your past sins
- surrender your will to God
- confess your sins to a priest
- pray a Sinner's Prayer
- speak in tongues
- keep the Sabbath Day
- join a church
- keep the Seven Sacraments
- live a holy life
- live a lifestyle of repentance from sin
- perseverance in holiness to the end
- faithfully run the race
- be willing to turn from your sin
- love God
- keep the Ten Commandment (the law)
- tithe
- ask Jesus into your heart
- publicly confess Jesus
- do good deeds
You may do all of these religious things and yet never have been born-again (saved) at all. Jesus said in no uncertain terms in John 3:3b, 'YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.' The only way you can be born again is the BELIEVE THE GOSPEL (the GOOD NEWS) of Jesus crucified and risen. 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” Getting to Heaven is so simple. You just need to BELIEVE that Jesus did it all for you. Simply by faith, taking God at His written Word, receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried but then raised up from the dead three days later. That is THE GOSPEL by which all who BELIEVE IT are instantly, irrevocably and forever saved (Romans 1:16).
The truth is that don't don't have to give your life to Christ to get to Heaven, Jesus gave His life for you on Calvary's cross, to pay your debt of sin. Romans 5:10, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.
Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. No amount of religious devotion, faithfulness to life a holy life, or good works can save you from eternal damnation burning in the fires of Hell. John 3:3b, 'YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.' Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty! Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.
Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work. If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from? The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. God's simple plan of salvation is we we are SINNERS and Jesus is the SAVIOR.
Biblical repentance to be saved involves changing your mind about two things: 1) WHO YOU ARE, and 2) WHO JESUS IS. When you change your mind to acknowledge that YOU ARE A guilty SINNER in God's sight (Romans 3:19-20), and Jesus is the only SAVIOR (John 1:29); and you place your TRUST (hope) in Jesus Christ as your only means for eternal life, you are saved (Galatians 3:26). All God the Father requires to be saved is that you trust in the name of His only begotten Son, Jesus. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
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