SPELLING EDITED or more precisely WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? BIBLE STUDIES ON SALVATION Before we begin this study in God's word I want to give you a list of the studies that I have at this time which are related to this subject of SALVATION. These other Bible studies that will complement this study that you are about to read entitled “HOW CAN I BE SAVED?”. I have also INCLUDED the studies that I have written on HEALING as well because in TRUTH healing is indeed a PART of our salvation whether you have come to realize it or not as yet. And as always I suggest that you read the studies “OPENING PRAYER” and “THE WHOLE MATTER” to prepare your own heart to hear from God and also to know my heart toward you. Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you seek the truth of the whole word of God. “Almighty God LOVES you SO MUCH!” “WHAT Does being SAVE TRULY MEAN?” “GOD'S WORD IS LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE!” “WE ARE NOT SAVED BY OUR OWN GOOD WORKS!” “THE WORKS of the LAW VERSES GOOD WORKS!” “I AM THE WAY"-WHAT DID JESUS MEAN?” "WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TRULY FORGIVE?" “WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF GRACE?” “IT IS ALWAYS GOD'S WILL TO HEAL YOU!” “WHAT DOES IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS MEAN?” “WITHOUT HOLINESS NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD!” “WHY WE ALL NEED THE FEAR OF THE LORD!” “IS ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?” “GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION FOR MANKIND” HOW CAN I BE SAVED? or more precisely WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? The following question is one of the most important questions that I have to ask every person who visits my site here at AMatterOfTruth.com. As always I encourage you, the reader, to read the WHOLE matter BEFORE you conclude any matter to be SOUND BIBLICAL teaching based upon the WHOLE word of Almighty God. I encourage you to read the “OPENING PRAYER” and the short introductory study called “THE WHOLE MATTER” before you read any study here on this website. Many websites and even many churches for that matter will give you just a QUICK short answer to this question of “How can I be saved” that may be true in part but in TRUTH these short quick answers do NOT give you the WHOLE word of Almighty God and have actually DECEIVED some to sincerely believe that they are saved, when in TRUTH, according to the WHOLE word of God, they are NOT truly saved. So then, after you read this in-depth introductory Bible study on WHAT you MUST DO in order to be saved, then I would encourage you to follow up and read the other studies in God's word of truth that are related to this subject of salvation so that you will UNDERSTAND the DIFFERENCE between being SAVED, and actually OBTAINING the promise of ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come. I will have LINKS throughout the different Bible studies here on AMatterOfTruth.com and in some of these studies that I give to you, the reader, I also include a list of all the related studies on that particular subject. Also at the top are some categories with a list of all the related studies to that particular subject. At the end of this study I will again post a list of all the related studies on this subject of SALVATION and what you must DO to be saved, as in, being brought into right relationship with Almighty God , AND as well, enduring unto the END in order to obtain ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come. These studies that I have posted here on AMatterOfTruth.com can also be found in the sidebar menu as well as at the top under the category “How can I be saved”. But for now please read this study on what you must do in order to be saved AND to obtain eternal life in the world to come because there is a DIFFERENCE between initially being saved and actually RECEIVING eternal life in the world to come. Suppose I were to ask you the following questions and you were to answer this two-part question in all honesty and truth with sincerity of heart and mind, what would your answer be? If you were to die today, suddenly, and without any warning whatsoever, would you go to heaven? And will you obtain ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come? If your answer to this two-part question is one of the following:
Or if you CANNOT positively answer this question with an emphatic YES I am SAVED and I am going to go to heaven when I die, and I WILL obtain ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come. And I will reign with Jesus on the earth for a thousand years. And the second death shall not ever have any power over me. Then you need to read this study in God’s word of truth to the very end. If you CANNOT answer this question of whether or not you are saved leaving absolutely NO doubt in your heart, then you are NOT saved, and you are NOT going to heaven, and you will NOT obtain ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come. Plain and simple you are not ready to face the final judgment. The purpose of this study in God's word is that I want you to be ASSURED that you can know without any doubt that you ARE saved. So many Christians go through life HOPING that they will be saved. They go to church faithfully, but yet they live in fear not knowing if God has forgiven them. I want you to know and understand that the Bible clearly teaches us that we can KNOW without a doubt that at the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior we are saved. But I ALSO want you to understand and know that there is a DIFFERENCE between being saved when we accept Jesus as our savior AND our actually obtaining eternal life in the world to come. I will explain more about this a little later on in this study, but for now, I am speaking to those of you who do not have a witness from the Holy Spirit within them that ASSURES them that they are born of God and have received forgiveness of all their past sins. So even if you have gone to church all your life, believe in God, read the Bible almost every day, and have tried to live a good moral life. BUT you cannot confidently say for sure that you KNOW that you know that you KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW that you are saved WITHOUT a DOUBT. And you are NOT positively sure that you going to heaven when you die, and that you WILL without fail RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come, then you are NOT yet ready to meet your Maker. Please know and understand that God is not willing that any perish, but desires all of mankind to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. If you have ANY DOUBT that you are saved, then you are NOT saved, and you are NOT going to heaven. You will NOT inherit ETERNAL LIFE in the world to COME. You are NOT TRULY BELIEVING the word of TRUTH of Almighty God, the ONE TRUE God, that will bring you that ASSURANCE that you are indeed saved right NOW. You are NOT TRULY RESTING in Jesus as your Savior. DO NOT BE DECEIVED! No RELIGION can save you. If your belief is in Islam and you follow the teachings of Muhammad and the Quran, then you are NOT saved and you will die in your sins and be cast into the lake of fire on the Day of Judgment. If you are Hindu or you follow the teaching of Buddha, then you are NOT saved and you will die in your sins and be cast into the lake of fire on the Day of Judgment. NO RELIGION can save you. Not even Judaism can save you. No individual church denomination can save you. No matter what church you may attend, you simply going to church will NOT save you! DO NOT BE DECEIVED! And especially do not be deceived if your church dogmatically teaches that they are the ONLY TRUE church and therefore if you do NOT belong to their church then you are NOT saved and CANNOT BE saved UNLESS you join THEIR church and you are baptized in THEIR church denomination. No church membership can save you. In other words, just being a MEMBER of a church will NOT save you. Being baptized in the Roman Catholic church cannot save you. Being baptized as a Mormon or a Jehovah's Witness cannot save you. Nor just going to or attending church services will save you in and of itself. But faithfully attending church will or SHOULD lead you to be become saved, because HEARING the truth will bring saving faith to the hearer in most cases. Now if you have been attending a church for a while and you cannot positively without a doubt say with confidence that you ARE indeed saved, then change churches, because that particular church is not teaching the FULL gospel of Jesus Christ. Being a good person and doing good works cannot save you. Even believing that there is a God won’t save you, for the devils believe in God, but we know that they are not saved. ONLY YOUR FAITH in the NAME OF JESUS, and YOUR FAITH IN the sacrifice, which Jesus has made specifically for YOU can SAVE you! Be assured that Jesus, the SON OF Almighty God the Father died for YOUR sins. The word of TRUTH CLEARLY and PLAINLY teaches us that in order to be saved, AS IN, being forgiven of all your PAST SINS and being placed into a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with the ONE TRUE and ONLY ALMIGHTY God, then you MUST BELIEVE that Jesus is the SON OF Almighty God, the Father. You must believe that Jesus DIED on the cross for YOUR SINS and that Almighty God raised his Son Jesus from the dead. The Bible is very clear on the fact that there is NO OTHER NAME given to mankind whereby we MUST be saved other than the NAME of Jesus, which means the SALVATION of YAHWEH. No other faith on earth other than Christianity believes that Jesus is the MESSIAH, the SON OF Almighty God the Father. The Jews believe in the one true God, but they do not believe that Jesus is their MESSIAH nor do they believe that Jesus is the SON OF Almighty God the Father. The Muslims believe in the God of Abraham, but they do NOT believe that Jesus is the SON OF Almighty God. The Hindus believe in a supreme being, but they do not believe in the one true God of the Holy Bible. Even some Christians do NOT base their faith upon the whole word of God, but rather some base their faith on man-made doctrines and traditions of men, which have deceived many. IF your faith is not based upon the sure foundation of God’s word, the Holy Bible, the ONLY word of TRUTH, then sooner or later your faith will fail, and you may be in danger of LOSING the so great a salvation that God is offering all of mankind. So then, build a strong foundation for your faith upon the word of God, the HOLY BIBLE, and not upon church traditions or some other book that some other prophet or angel has said is from the one true and only Almighty God of the Holy Bible. The Bible assures us that we can KNOW without a doubt that we are saved. No other faith gives the believer this kind of ASSURANCE and PEACE that Almighty God loves you and has forgiven you of all your sins. If you sincerely believe with all your heart that you are a Christian and that your church is the one true church BUT you have no absolute assurance that you ARE saved right now and you only have the hope that you will be good enough to be found worthy then you are NOT SAVED. You are not RESTING in Jesus as your Savior. Being saved does NOT mean do all you can do first and then hope that God's grace will do the rest like Mormonism of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints and the Watchtower Bible Society of the Jehovah's Witnesses teaches. So then, WHAT must I DO to be Saved so I too can have this ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE that I AM SAVED and God has forgiven me of all my past sins? Let’s begin this study in God's word by looking at I John 5:10-13, which says. 1 John 5:10-13. “He that BELIEVES on the SON OF God HAS the WITNESS in himself: he that believes NOT God has made him (Almighty God the Father) a liar: because he believes NOT the record that God gave of His SON. 11. And this is the record, that God has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in his SON. 12. He that has the SON has life; and he that has NOT the SON OF God has NOT life. 13. These things have I written unto you that BELIEVE on the name of the SON OF God (WHY?); THAT (Or so that) you may KNOW that you have eternal life, AND that you may BELIEVE (Or AND that you may CONTINUE BELIEVING) on the name of the SON OF God.” Again the NAME of God's only begotten Son is Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, which means YAHWEH saves or the salvation of YAHWEH. In other words, Almighty God chose to save those who believe that Jesus died for their sins and who call upon the name of Jesus to save them. When we truly believe upon the name of Jesus, the SON of Almighty God, the Father. then God gives us a WITNESS within our spirits, whereby we KNOW without a doubt that we are SAVED and HAVE ETERNAL LIFE ABIDING IN US so long as we REMAIN FAITHFUL and CONTINUE to BELIEVE in the teachings of Jesus, the New Testament of the Bible. Look again at 1 John 5:10, 13 in the Phillips Modern English translation of the Bible. Let us read 1 John 5:10 first. “The man who really believes in the SON OF God will have God’s testimony in his OWN heart.” You can not depend on the faith of someone else and their belief in the Son of God in order for YOU to be saved because God desires to testify or to speak to your OWN heart that you are saved. And if you really and truly BELIEVE that you are saved then God will place within YOUR heart a WITNESS that ASSURES you that you are saved without a doubt. Verse 13 from the Phillips Modern English translation says. “I have written…so that you may be QUITE SURE that, here and now, you possess eternal life.” This witness or testimony that ABIDES or LIVES within our heart becomes a knowing and a REST or peace deep on the inside of you which cannot be denied and NO man can convince you otherwise that you are not saved. This absolute rest and peace deep inside of you is vital because there are many deceivers in the world claiming you must keep the feast days, the weekly Sabbath and the dietary laws under the old covenant in order to be saved. I call those church denominations the seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christians because they have not properly understood from the Bible itself that Jesus IS our Sabbath REST and that we ENTER INTO REST from all our OWN works of righteousness to become GOD'S workmanship. Any Church that ADDS to the SIMPLICITY of the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ is basing salvation on WORKS first before you can be saved and that is NOT what the Bible ITSELF teaches us in SIMPLICITY. And every one of those churches has NO ASSURANCE that they ARE SAVED right now. Romans 8:10 says it this way. “The Spirit itself (Himself) bears witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God.” Romans 8:10 from the Living Bible reads. “For the Holy Spirit speaks to us DEEP in our hearts (Our spirits) and tells us that we are REALLY and TRULY God’s children.” God’s word clearly teaches that we can KNOW without any doubt that we are his children and that we possess eternal life right now if so be or provided that we REMAIN in the faith to endure unto the end. You see, the very moment you accept Jesus as your personal Savior and ask forgiveness of all your sins you PASS from death unto life, in that, the SENTENCE of DEATH that came upon ALL of mankind because ALL have SINNED passes from you and you are placed back into a right relationship with God. You see, this WAGE of SIN which is DEATH, this SENTENCE of DEATH has been nailed to the cross in the Son of man, Jesus Christ, for ALL your PAST sins and any sin you are committing presently or any sin you commit in the future IF SO BE that you REPENT of all present and all future sins. In other words, if you were to DIE while willingly living in SIN by ignoring the leading of the Holy Spirit for you to repent and confess your sins, then you will PERISH and you will NOT inherit eternal life in the world to come. Therefore it is VITAL that you REMAIN in the FAITH AND that you ALSO OBEY the WORDS of Jesus. So then, as long as you CONTINUE to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, and walk in the light as Jesus is in the light then the blood of Jesus continually CLEANSES you of all your sins and you will have this eternal life ABIDING in you as a SURE PROMISE. Not that you have ACTUALLY RECEIVED eternal life as yet but rather that it ABIDES in you as a WITNESS assuring you that God is always FAITHFUL. And that which HE has PROMISED to do HE WILL DO. This passing from death to life does not mean that you will not die physically, but rather you are promised eternal life when Jesus returns for those that have REMAINED FAITHFUL to OBEY his WORDS and have CONTINUED to believe in him. Please understand that this is just an introductory Bible study and the other studies that I have listed will explain FURTHER about walking in OBEDIENCE to the words of Jesus AFTER we have INITIALLY been saved in order to receive eternal life in the world to come. In other words, we are saved TO OBEY. We are saved to be EMPOWERED to DO GOOD WORKS of RIGHTEOUSNESS. And one of those WORKS that the disciples of Jesus asked to those who were saved is “Have you been BAPTIZED since you believed”. I will share more on the importance of OBEYING the teachings of Jesus and his disciples to be BAPTIZED in water by submersion at the end of this study and in the complementary studies that I have suggested for you to read along with this study on How to be saved? The Bible says in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death and the GIFT of God is eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ. When you personally accept Jesus as your savior, then you are redeemed from death and you are given the promise of eternal life that abides in you as the Holy Spirit bearing witness with your spirit that you are saved. I will explain in easy to follow steps what I mean by accepting Jesus as your Savior in a moment. Again this does not mean that you will never die physically but rather when you die physically and you have the promise of eternal life abiding in you when you die then God will raise you from the dead at the second coming of Jesus. And then at the time of this resurrection, you will be given an immortal glorified body of flesh and bone just like Jesus to live eternally with the Lord IF SO BE that you are FOUND to be a GOOD and FAITHFUL servant when you die or when Jesus comes again. Let me explain what I mean by this. When a true born-again believer who dies being faithful to obey the teachings of Jesus will pass from death to eternal life. BUT they will not actually receive their new glorified immortal body of flesh and bone UNTIL the coming of Jesus. Their SOUL and spirit which are connected go to heaven to be with the Lord and their body goes to the grave. In Matthew 24:13 Jesus tells us ONLY those who endure unto the END shall be SAVED. Yes, you are SAVED, AS IN, you are FORGIVEN of ALL your PAST sins in order to be placed back into a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Almighty God the Father the very moment you REPENT of your sins and ask Jesus into your life to help you live a life that is pleasing to Almighty God. But THIS PART of SALVATION is ONLY the BEGINNING of the process of your being saved ETERNALLY. For you see, the Bible ALSO says that Jesus is not only the AUTHOR of our faith but that he is the FINISHER of our faith as well. After you are initially saved you still have a MORTAL body and your old flesh wants to rule over the NEW you, your inner man created as a NEW creature IN Jesus Christ. Now God is CONFORMING us into the IMAGE of his dear Son to become God's ETERNAL sons and daughters. This is what it means that Jesus is the FINISHER of our faith. Please read Hebrews 12:2 which says. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the JOY that was SET BEFORE him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Just as Jesus had the JOY of eternal life and reigning on his Father's throne set before him, so also have we the JOY set before us of RECEIVING our reward of ETERNAL LIFE that has been PROMISED to us, IF SO BE, that we CONTINUE BELIEVING by OBEYING the word of TRUTH, the gospel of our salvation, to endure unto the END. You see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is ONLY those of us, who REMAIN saved or more precisely, it is ONLY those BELIEVERS in Jesus Christ, who REMAIN FAITHFUL to the WORDS of Jesus by WALKING AFTER the Spirit and OBEYING the Holy Spirit of Almighty God that will inherit eternal life in the world to COME. In other words, you must be found faithful even unto death holding fast to your faith in Jesus Christ until you die or until Jesus returns in order to be counted worthy of salvation and receive eternal life. The Bible clearly WARNS us as believers that any one of us CAN be DECEIVED by the enemy to fall back into a lifestyle of sin and lose our salvation after we have received Jesus as your Savior. In other words, the whole word of God does NOT teach that once you accept Jesus as your savior that you can never lose your salvation no matter what. Do NOT be deceived! Please read the study entitled “DOES THE BIBLE TEACH THAT ONCE YOU ARE SAVED, THEN YOU ARE ALWAYS SAVED?” which deals with the doctrine of eternal security. This is an in-depth study that addresses all the scriptures on both sides of this controversial subject. In order to arrive at the truth, one must look at “THE WHOLE MATTER”. So then, once you SEE the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God in WHAT it TRULY means to be SAVED, in that, SALVATION is a PROCESS that ONLY BEGINS when we accept Jesus as our Savior, then you can UNDERSTAND that it is ONLY this FIRST STEP in our BEING SAVED that can NOT be EARNED by any WORK that we DO. This is where Ephesians 2:8,9 fits into the PLAN of SALVATION. Ephesians 2:8,9. “For by GRACE are you SAVED through faith; and that NOT of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. NOT of WORKS, lest any man should boast.” Be careful of WHAT you hear being TAUGHT by anyone and consider closely what you were TAUGHT in the past, because it may not be the WHOLE word of TRUTH. Yes, it is by the GRACE of Almighty God that we are SAVED and NOT of our OWN WORKS of RIGHTEOUSNESS that we have DONE, BUT this is ONLY the FIRST STEP in God's PLAN of SALVATION that he has for us. Bear with me for a moment and I will explain what I mean by this being ONLY the FIRST STEP of God's PLAN of SALVATION. You see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ when we first accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and REPENT of our SINS then we are FORGIVEN of ALL our PAST SINS, which will NEVER be brought up or remembered against us for all eternity. In other words, we have been made into the RIGHTEOUS of God THROUGH this sacrifice or atonement that Jesus provided for ALL of mankind to be a partaker of this FREE GIFT of SALVATION when we first BELIEVED and ALL our PAST sins are forgiven. However, as I have been saying, this is just the FIRST STEP of God's PLAN of SALVATION. The REASON that we are SAVED or more precisely the REASON that all our sins are FORGIVEN and we have been PLACED BACK INTO RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Almighty God is so that we can be FILLED with the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, who then EMPOWERS us to LIVE a RIGHTEOUS and Holy life before God so that we become God’s workmanship. We are no longer doing good works in our OWN strength so all boasting has been removed by God. Please read the CONTEXT of Ephesians 2:8,9 by continuing on and reading verse 10 as well, which many preachers of the grace of God leave out of their sermon, or if they do include it, they do not seem to place very much EMPHASIS upon it. Ephesians 2:8-10. “For by GRACE are you SAVED (Or more precisely placed BACK into RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God which is one of the many meanings of the Greek word “SOZO” translated here as saved) THROUGH FAITH; and THAT (The GRACE of God, the FAITH that God has given every man, and the free gift of being placed back into right relationship with Almighty God is) NOT of yourselves: it (All that I just mentioned) is the GIFT of God: 9. NOT of WORKS, lest any man should boast. (WHY? What is the REASON for God doing all of this?) 10. FOR we are HIS WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus UNTO (Or for the purpose of DOING) GOOD WORKS, which God has before ORDAINED that we should WALK in THEM (So then, the VERY PURPOSE of DOING GOOD WORKS of RIGHTEOUSNESS is WHY Almighty God has made us become NEW CREATURES in Christ Jesus. Therefore if so be that you do not have a DESIRE in your heart to do good works that are pleasing to God, then I myself would QUESTION as to whether or not you are TRULY SAVED!).” So then, in verse 10 you can clearly see that the REASON WHY we have been saved, as in, being forgiven of all our PAST sins in order to be placed back into a right relationship with God so that his Holy Spirit can dwell in us to empower us is to DO GOOD WORKS of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Please know and UNDERSTAND that you cannot do these good works in your OWN strength unto the END but rather it is Almighty God the Father, the eternal Holy Spirit DWELLING IN you, who empowers you to DO these GOOD WORKS of righteousness. It is Almighty God himself, who puts that great desire deep within you to do his will. So as long as this desire remains in you to stop sinning and DO GOOD WORKS, then you can be ASSURED that you are BEING SAVED. You may still be giving into temptations and being overcome by sin but as long as you KEEP FIGHTING that good fight of FAITH by REPENTING of your sins and asking God to forgive you of your sins, then you are made PERFECT again just as if you have never sinned each and every time you repent and ask forgiveness of your sins. Please read the study "HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE FREE FROM SIN!" but for now one of the things that God desires or wills for us to do is to be baptized in water by submersion to be saved. Please read the study "DOES BAPTISM SAVE US or HOW BAPTISM SAVES!" for a deeper understanding of why we should be baptized. Again please read the many other studies that will complete what this study does not cover in-depth. You see, if you base your faith on the WHOLE word of God ALONE you will have the same peace that the apostle Paul tells us about in Romans 8:38, 39 which says. Romans 8:38,39. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Yes, anyone of us can BECOME fully persuaded that we are saved and that there is nothing that is going to keep us from going to heaven. But this does not mean that each and every believer is AUTOMATICALLY given this being FULLY PERSUADED that they will never be separated from the love of God the very moment that they accept Jesus as their Savior. This ETERNAL SECURITY of KNOWING, as in, of you yourself having the ASSURANCE that you yourself will never fall away from the faith is a process that requires each one of us to feed upon the promises of God's word. And also keep in mind that at any time this FAITH can be diminished to the point of even being lost IF the individual believer does not KEEP him or herself in the word of TRUTH. So then, this ETERNAL SECURITY that any believer can develop to become FULLY PERSUADED in his or her OWN heart and mind does NOT mean that each and every believer can never lose their salvation. In other words, by no means does the Bible teach that once a person accepts Jesus as their Savior, then they are GUARANTEED that they can never lose their salvation no matter what as some falsely teach. The whole word of God does NOT teach that a true born again believer can NEVER LOSE their salvation. Please read the study “IS ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?”. However, the Bible does teach us that each and every believer WILL have that WITNESS of the Holy Spirit that they are placed back into right relationship with God and ALL their past sins are FORGIVEN. God gives the WITNESS that we ARE SAVED right NOW so that we will CONTINUE to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God who died for our sins to persevere unto the end to obey the commandments of Jesus and to never to deny him as our savior. I will say it again. If you do NOT have this witness, this peace, this testimony deep within your spirit that absolutely assures you that you are saved right NOW, without a doubt, leaving no uncertainty whatsoever in your heart or mind that you ARE SAVED. Then you are NOT saved and you are not going to heaven because you are only HOPING to be saved. You have not yet made that quality decision to believe God’s WORD over what you see and feel. The feelings of salvation come after one TRULY BELIEVES. SO THEN, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? Now, in this section, we will just be looking at what one must DO in order to INITIALLY RECEIVE the FREE GIFT of salvation, which is to be forgiven of all your past sins and placed back into a right relationship with Almighty God. Then in the next section, we will discuss briefly as to what one must DO in order to receive the END of their salvation, which is to actually receive their reward of eternal life in the world to come. So then, the first step to INITIALLY receive the FREE GIFT of salvation that must be taken in order for you to be saved is for you to come to the REALIZATION that you are a sinner and that you NEED a Savior. You cannot save yourself by your OWN righteousness. And you will not reach out to be saved until you come to the knowledge of the truth that we ALL have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God before we accepted Jesus as our Savior and were forgiven of all our past sins. An alcoholic cannot and will not be delivered or saved from alcoholism UNTIL he or she ADMITS that they NEED to be delivered from alcoholism.
The Bible says in Romans 3:23 “For ALL have sinned, and have come short of the glory of God.” The Bible itself teaches us that we all have sinned and NOT that we all have inherited a sin NATURE from Adam’s original sin. Please read the study “THE FALSE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN!” for all the verses that prove that we did NOT inherit a sinful nature from Adam. Many preachers use Romans 3:10, which in truth is referring to the end of the age when wickedness has come to full, but nonetheless, we ALL have sinned at one time or another in our lives and therefore we ALL have fallen short of the glory of Almighty God and are in need of being saved. Romans 3:10. “As it is written, there is NONE righteous, no, NOT ONE.” Again plain and simple it does not matter how good or righteous you may be or think that you are, you still need a Savior, because Almighty God HIMSELF, the one who created you, says that you do. God himself has CONCLUDED all to be under sin including his chosen people Israel. These are God’s words and not my own words. You see my dear friend, it is by God's GRACE and MERCY that Almighty God has concluded ALL of HUMANITY to be under sin. Please read Galatians 3:22 which says. “But the scripture has concluded ALL under sin, (Why?) that (Or so that) the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be GIVEN to them that BELIEVE.” Or would you rather it remain as it was in the Old Testament where you had to offer your best and choicest lamb as a sacrifice every year for all the sins that you committed during that year while having all those sins on your CONSCIENCE throughout the whole year? You see, it does not matter what you or anyone else thinks or believes. The only thing that matters is what the WORD OF ALMIGHTY GOD clearly and plainly says. Proverbs 16:25 tells us that. “There is a way that SEEMS right unto a man, but the END thereof are the ways of DEATH.”
So I implore you my dear friend to base your FAITH upon the WHOLE word of God ALONE. It may SEEM to you that you are alright and you may say in your heart, “Well I may not be perfect, but I am certainly better than some of those Christians I know”. And this may be true, but God does not look upon our OWN righteousness or good works as a means to save us. I will say more about this in greater depth in the study entitled “WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF GRACE”. Many Christians do not know the true Biblical meaning of grace and consequently, they are misguided in their belief of salvation and HOW they must be saved. In other words, they SAY that they are Christians, but in truth, they are NOT, because they are not bearing any fruits of righteousness, and they honestly and INCORRECTLY believe that they can continue to live in SIN and still be saved. The Bible says that there are those who SAY they are Jews, but they are NOT. Read Revelation 3:9 which says.
“Behold, I will make them a synagogue of Satan, which SAY they are Jews and are NOT, but do lie,...”
We are told in Matthew 15:6-9 that man has taught us many doctrines and commandments of men. And these man-made doctrines of men which seem right to us but in reality, they are vain and make God’s commandments of no effect. Therefore you cannot be saved until you FIRST come to understand the FACT that you are a sinner and you need a Savior and also that you cannot save yourself.
This brings us to the SECOND STEP that you must take in order to be saved.
Ephesians 2:8,9 says,
“For by grace are you saved through FAITH; and that (Speaking of faith is) NOT of yourselves: it (Speaking of all three, faith, grace and salvation) is the GIFT of God: NOT of WORKS, lest any man should boast.”
You see, salvation is a gift of God. But also Grace is a gift of God.
And the faith we have is the gift of God as well.
Yes! Even the FAITH you NEED in order to RECEIVE your salvation is a gift of God. The Bible says that God has dealt EVERY man the measure of FAITH. This means that God has given to every human being the ABILITY to BELIEVE. So BEFORE one becomes a Christian they ALREADY possess ALL the FAITH, or all the ABILITY to BELIEVE that they NEED to receive their salvation. In other words, faith is NOT a WORK, as in, being your OWN work. The Bible teaches us that God GAVE every man the same measure of FAITH, as in, the same ABILITY to BELIEVE. Any one of us can increase our faith or become more aware of the faith that each and every one of us ALREADY possesses. I explain how to do this in the study “BIBLE MEANING OF FAITH!” But, for now, please know that having faith does NOT always mean that a person has faith in the RIGHT things. What I mean by this is that faith comes to everyone by HEARING and CHOOSING either to believe or not to believe. In other words, every person has been given this gift to BELIEVE whatever they CHOOSE to believe. To say this another way, a person’s choice to BELIEVE or not to believe something that they HEAR is the ABILITY that God has GIVEN to every human being. Simply put you have the ABILITY to CHOOSE to believe or not to believe. That is the simplest way to define the GIFT of FAITH to believe in Jesus or in whatever YOU choose to believe. So once again, your own good works cannot save you. However, good works should and will follow you IF you are truly saved. Some have erred in their understanding of what being saved truly means because of their misunderstanding of what God’s grace means. Nonetheless, we are ultimately saved by GRACE through FAITH, because you cannot consistently and continually do good works without God’s grace which we can only obtain through God's gift of faith. Even those who BOAST that they can be saved by their OWN good works have SINNED because in the eyes of God the BOASTING of man is a SIN. We are NOT saved by our OWN good works that we do in our OWN strength.
Romans 3:20-23,27 says.
“Therefore by the deeds of the LAW there shall NO flesh be justified in his sight: 21. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested (Or is made known to us). 22. Even the righteousness of God, which is BY FAITH of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all that BELIEVE; for there is no difference. 23. For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. …. ...27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? NAY: but by the law of FAITH.”
It is by your faith in JESUS CHRIST alone that you are saved! And your faith came by the GRACE of God, who sent his Son to reveal himself to all of mankind. But the question is “Saved from what?” In truth, we are saved from the bondage of sin. Yes, it is also true that ALL our PAST sins are forgiven us and we are placed back into a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Almighty God, but what some Christians have not yet realized is that we have been set free from the DOMINION that sin once had over us. Some Christians are wrongly and incorrectly taught that they are SINNERS after they have been born again to become NEW CREATURES IN Jesus Christ. This kind of false teaching keeps Christians UNDER the bondage of sin. So then KNOW dear child of God that Jesus has set you FREE from the BONDAGE of sin the very moment that you received Jesus as your Savior by asking him to forgive you of all your sins. Then the next question is WHY or for what reason are we saved from the bondage of sin? And the answer is so that we may LIVE unto God in righteousness and DO the good works of righteousness which God has ORDAINED us to do. In other words, Almighty God saved us to serve him in righteousness. And the ONLY way that we can continually and consistently OVERCOME sin is BY the FAITH that God has GIVEN us BY his GRACE. In other words, we do not DO these good WORKS of righteousness in our OWN strength. The bible teaches us that Jesus lived his life FREE from SIN as an EXAMPLE for us to FOLLOW in his STEPS. For a deeper understanding of this Biblical truth please refer to the study entitled “HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE FREE FROM SIN!”.
This brings us to the THIRD STEP that you need to take in order that you might be saved.
Acts 4:12 tells us that there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. JESUS is the only name whereby men can be saved.
Jesus said in John 14:6.
“…I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, NO man comes unto the Father BUT BY ME.”
Jesus is the life, our everlasting life IF we believe in Him unto the END and OBEY his commandments written in the New Testament under the New Covenant.
I John 5:12 says.
“He that has the SON has life; and he that has NOT the SON OF God has NOT life.”
In other words, if you do indeed believe in God, but do NOT believe that Jesus is the SON OF God, then you are NOT saved. You do not have eternal life abiding in you if so be that you do NOT believe that Jesus is the SON OF Almighty God the Father AND that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised his SON Jesus from the dead after three days. And therefore, you are not going to receive eternal life in the world to come, if so be, that you do NOT believe that Almighty God sent his SON Jesus to die for your sins. This is why I say Muslims who believe in Islam are NOT saved. For you see, they do NOT believe that Jesus is the SON OF Almighty God let alone that Jesus DIED for their SINS. The Bible teaches us that the Jews are God's chosen people, but UNLESS they come to the knowledge of the TRUTH that Jesus is the SON OF Almighty God and that Jesus is their MESSIAH, who died for their sins, then they are NOT saved.
The Bible says this in John 3:16-18,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten SON, that whosoever believes in HIM (God's only begotten SON) should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not his SON into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through HIM (Jesus the SON OF God who died for the sins of the whole world) might be saved. 18. He that believes on HIM (Speaking of the SON OF Almighty God the Father) is not condemned: BUT (Or take HEED and be WARNED that) he that believes NOT is condemned already, because he has NOT believed in the NAME OF the only begotten SON OF God.”
Remember that Almighty God HIMSELF the creator of all things has CONCLUDED ALL of mankind to be UNDER SIN. And also remember that Almighty God himself has provided only ONE WAY to be saved and that is HIS WAY. Once you have come to this knowledge of the truth that you are a sinner because God has concluded you to be a sinner so that HE can save you and that you cannot save yourself by your OWN good works then you are READY to be saved. Jesus is the ONLY name under heaven and in all the earth given among men whereby you MUST be saved. Now, all that is left for you to be saved is to accept this truth into your heart and CONFESS it with your mouth. Let me explain what I mean by confessing what you believe in your heart.
This brings us to STEP FOUR on “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?” or “HOW TO BE SAVED?”.
Romans 10:8-10 says.
“But what says it? The WORD is nigh you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is the WORD of FAITH, which we preach: 9. That if you CONFESS with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt BELIEVE in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shalt be SAVED. 10. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth CONFESSION is made unto salvation.”
The word “confession” here literally means to speak the SAME thing continually without changing what you say you believe. In other words, you cannot change or waver in what you confess and still expect to be saved. It also means to declare openly your deep convictions of the truth, to acknowledge a covenant. Also, notice the phrase “the word of faith which we preach”. The Bible teaches us in 1 Corinthians 1:21 that it pleased God by the foolishness of PREACHING to save them that believe. It is not the preaching of God’s word alone that saves you, but rather it is YOUR BELIEVING the word of God, which you heard preached or that was taught to you from the word of God that brings about your salvation. So just hearing the word of God alone is not enough to save you. You must be a DOER of the word and NOT just a hearer only DECEIVING your own self.
Look at Hebrews 4:2 which says.
“For unto us was the gospel preached, AS WELL AS unto them, BUT the word PREACHED did NOT profit them, NOT being mixed with FAITH in them that heard it.”
Before you can be saved you must believe or have faith in God's word. And true faith comes only through the word of God. One can believe and trust in the Quran, but this is not true faith in the word of TRUTH, which is the Holy Bible. The Jews can believe and trust in the Torah and the Old Testament, but the Old Testament speaks of JESUS to be the coming MESSIAH as the chosen one of Almighty God to redeem mankind back to himself. The Jews were looking for a coming KING to rescue them and did not understand that their Messiah must suffer and die for their sins FIRST before God would HIGHLY EXALT his SON to become a King of kings and a Lord of lords to rule and reign in his Father's kingdom. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by HEARING and that hearing, or more precisely, understanding comes by the word of God. First, we hear then we understand or receive what we hear into our minds and then the word sinks down into our heart or our spirit to become HEART faith. Once our hearts are filled with ABUNDANCE of God's WORD then out of our heart the mouth speaks forth that “word of faith”. OR if one's heart is filled with things other than the word of Almighty God, then that person's mouth will bring forth the "word of unbelief" or that which contradicts what the Bible teaches. So then, whichever is the abundance in our heart the mouth will speak forth to bring it to pass. In other words, if it does not come out of your mouth boldly with full assurance, then it is not truly written upon your heart. It may be working its way in you or working its way down into your spirit, but it has not yet been rooted soundly within you, as in. your inner man. Head knowledge is not the same as heart knowledge. So keep meditating upon God’s word and your faith will grow within you and will come the abundance in your heart. Please refer to the study entitled “BIBLE MEANING OF FAITH” for a deeper understanding of the faith within us.
Hebrews 11:6 says.
“But without faith, it is impossible to please him (God): for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
You must USE faith before you can receive anything from God INCLUDING the gospel of salvation.
James 1:6,7 says.
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man (Speaking of the man that wavers in his or her faith to) think that he shall receive ANYTHING of the Lord.”
I myself WAVERED in my faith before I became steadfast in faith to believe God’s word OVER what I had been taught in the Roman Catholic church. I had to make a firm quality decision for a once and all lifetime decision to believe God’s word OVER what I was taught by the Roman Catholic church. And once I made that quality decision never to waver I was saved. The Bible says, in Matthew, that out of the abundance of the HEART the mouth speaks. So as you meditate and consider the word of God that was just preached or taught to you in this study on "HOW CAN I BE SAVED?” you will begin to transfer it from your mind, HEAD KNOWLEDGE, to your spirit or heart. So then the more you consider the word of God the more and more the word of TRUTH will penetrate into your heart, which is A KNOWING DEEP IN YOUR HEART, until finally there comes to you an overflowing abundance in your heart that just seems to come forth out of your mouth, without your head getting in the way. Once the word of truth is received into your heart in this ABUNDANCE, the Bible says that you have believed UNTO righteousness, and then CONFESSION comes forth from this abundance in your heart to produce salvation in you. In other words, you are on the brink of being saved as you consider and receive the word of truth deep into your heart. The word is NIGH you and even in your mouth, that is to say, the word of God that has become the abundance in your heart is aching within you to be spoken forth. So then. all you need to do now is to speak or CONFESS the word of God, which you believe without a doubt in your heart to be the word of God and continually confess these words of faith that have been written upon your heart, and consistently maintain this SAME confession of faith unto the end.
Now I do not mean that you must continually and constantly confess, as in, to never shut up, but rather what I mean by continuing in your confession of faith is for you not to waver or CHANGE your confession of faith. Do NOT let DOUBT creep into your heart, because the more you consider and meditate on thoughts of doubt the more they become the ABUNDANCE of your heart and eventually you will speak forth that which is in our heart. The word of God says that we walk by faith and NOT by sight. So many times we are tempted to look at the circumstances rather than to REMAIN STEADFAST in the knowledge of the truth that God has revealed to our hearts. Please read the study "THE POWER OF OUR WORDS" for a deep understanding of what Jesus taught us about guarding our hearts lest we are deceived.
This brings us to step five.
The Bible says that the word is nigh you, even in your mouth, that is, the word of FAITH. All that is left for you to be saved is to CONFESS the word of God that is in your heart.
Question: Do you believe in your heart that there is only ONE TRUE God, the creator of all things? Then confess it!
Confession: God, I believe that you are the only true and wise God and that you created all things.
Question: Do you know in your heart that you are a sinner and that you need a Savior? Then confess it!
Confession: God, I now know that I am a sinner and have fallen short of your glory.
Question: Do you believe in your heart that God sent his only begotten SON, Jesus, to lay down his life as a ransom for many, which includes you, and that the price that Jesus paid was the total price needed for your redemption back to Almighty God? Then confess it.
Confession: Almighty God, I truly believe in my heart that you have sent your only SON, Jesus, to pay the whole price of redeeming me from my sin. I believe that your SON, Jesus, freely laid down his own life on the cross to be my ransom and save me.
Question: Do you believe in your heart that Almighty God the Father, has raised his Son, Jesus, from the dead so that those who believe in Jesus as His SON should also be raised to eternal life? Then confess it!
Confession: And I believe, God, that you have raised your Son Jesus from the dead, and that one day you shall also raise me from the dead by your Holy Spirit, and crown me with eternal life.
Question: Do you believe in your heart that you are now saved according to the word of God alone, and NOT by what you see, feel, or what man says? Then confess it!
Confession: Heavenly Father, I believe with all my heart that I am now saved according to your word. I will not be moved from this assurance of my salvation that you have forgiven me of ALL my past sins and you Father have brought me into a right relationship with You by cleansing me of all my sins. I will not be moved by what I see or feel. Your word says that I am saved, therefore I am saved. So I thank you, Father, in the name of your Son Jesus whom you sent to die for my sins. Help me now to live my life according to your way of righteousness.
Now that you have completed step number five of CONFESSING your faith there are still things you must do in order to remain saved to receive the END of your salvation. When I say the END of your salvation this means that a believer must REMAIN steadfast in their faith UNTIL they actually RECEIVE what they are believing to receive FROM God. One of the first things a believer should be seeking to receive from God is the ASSURANCE and PEACE of KNOWING without a doubt that God has heard their prayer and they know that they know that they know that they ARE saved. Remember that ONE of the meanings of the word "SAVED" means that you are brought back into right relationship with Almighty God by the CONFESSION of your FAITH. Also, remember that the word “confession” means to say the same thing continually or consistently. That means when doubt and unbelief try to creep in and steal your faith, then no matter how you feel you must continue to CONFESS the word of FAITH that is in your heart when you first believed. God is not a man that he should lie and his WORD is TRUTH. The enemy of your soul may try to steal your faith by speaking to your mind saying something like, “You know you just got a little emotional yesterday when you prayed that sinner’s prayer. You don’t really believe that stuff, do you? I mean, here it has only been one day and you are right back at doing what you used to do. Nothing has changed. Maybe God did not hear you. It could be that you are not good enough yet to be saved. Take a look around. All these so-called Christians that told you all this junk in the first place are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. Do they look saved to you? It could be that just maybe you are not saved at all???” Question after question may bombard your MIND, but you must continually and consistently maintain the SAME positive confession of your faith unto the END if you are to receive your salvation. The Bible calls this RESISTING the devil and assures us that if we resist these thoughts of doubt, fear and unbelief unto the end that the devil will without fail flee from us and these thoughts of doubt fear and unbelief will leave us. This applies to ALL areas of salvation that you are standing in faith and you are believing to receive from God. I explain what I mean by this in the next study called "WHAT DOES BEING SAVED TRULY MEAN?", because some Christians have not come to the knowledge of the truth that HEALING is also a part of what it means to be SAVED. The English word “SAVED” comes for the Greek word “SOZO” which means saved, as in, being HEALED, being rescued, being protected, being delivered, and being BROUGHT into RIGHT RELATIONSHIP. Some Christians have never been taught that healing has already been provided for them by the stripes that Jesus bore before he died on the cross for their sins. All that some Christians have ever been taught is that saved means to be forgiven of all their sins. But this is not the WHOLE truth of the WHOLE word of God. And I save ARE BELIEVING in the PRESENT tense, as in CONTINUALLY believing because we ARE HEALED the moment we first believe but we do not receive healing until it is MANIFESTED or OBTAINED. And the same is true with eternal life. We ARE BELIEVING that we have eternal life abiding in us right now but we do not actually RECEIVE eternal life until Jesus returns. In other words, you have been BROUGHT into a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Almighty God by your confession of FAITH and now you are on the ROAD to or in the WAY of SALVATION that will one day LEAD you to obtain ETERNAL LIFE in the world to COME, IF SO BE, that you REMAIN in the WAY of or on the ROAD of salvation. Jesus is the author of your faith and Jesus is the FINISHER of your faith as well. IF SO BE that you CONTINUE to believe and OBEY what the Holy Spirit shows you in the word of Almighty God. So then, if DOUBT and UNBELIEF come your way, then you must,
Quench these fiery darts of the wicked one by holding up your shield of faith by continually confessing God’s word.
CONFESS:I am not moved by what I see or feel but only by the word of God that is true and real. Confess God's WORD. Then be steadfast in your confession of faith and you shall be saved. God will write his word upon your heart and upon your mind (Hebrews 8:10). He will put his testimony deep within your spirit that you are saved and that you are his child, and you WILL KNOW without a doubt that you are saved! You will have this TESTIMONY within you that you KNOW that you have been FORGIVEN of ALL your past sins. Let me summarize just briefly the steps of being saved.
First, you hear the word of God. Then after you have heard or read God’s word, YOU have to make a CHOICE. No one can make that choice for you. You are the one who has to decide whether or not you BELIEVE what you have read or heard. There are ONLY TWO options that you can choose from when it comes to being saved! Either you answer steps A, B, and C with an ABSOLUTE YES or you don't! The ONLY way to be SAVED is to answer steps A, B, and C with an ABSOLUTE YES! Step (A). Say or confess "I Accept what I just heard as being true." Then follow up with the next step. Step (B). Say or confess, "I Believe in my heart God’s words above all else." And then follow up with the next step. Step (C). Then, you must Confess the TRUTH of God's word as though it is SO, even though it may not seem or feel like it is so in the natural, that is, rationally speaking. So you must hold fast to your confession of faith until you actually RECEIVE what you are BELIEVING in God's word of TRUTH to receive.
OR you can make the CHOICE to do one of the three things below, which will result in your NOT being saved! And keep in mind that making no choice at all will result in you NOT being saved!You can (1). Reject what you just read as being foolishness. The opposite of to accept is to reject. Therefore, if you don’t accept what you just read as truth, then you automatically reject it as being foolishness. There is NO neutral ground, either you BELIEVE God's word unto salvation or you DO NOT believe and NOT making a decision to believe you automatically remain lost.You can (2). Refuse to believe. Again the opposite of believing is doubt and unbelief. And no unbeliever will obtain eternal life. You can (3). Renounce God’s word as being the TRUTH by actively saying so or just possibly ignoring it. The opposite of confessing FAITH in Jesus the Son of God is remaining in condemnation.
Remember that John 3:17 says that he that believes NOT that God sent his Son Jesus into the world to save the world is CONDEMNED ALREADY because he has NOT believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God, JESUS. So in truth, God does not condemn anyone, but rather WE condemn OURSELVES by NOT believing the gospel of our salvation. In the same way, God does not withhold healing from us but rather healing is not allowed to flow freely to us because of our own UNBELIEF. God may have made the rules, but he has clearly laid them out for us in his word. Do not blame God. Read his word and hide it in your heart. Our only enemy is the adversary the devil. God is always FOR us and he is never against us. There is NO NEUTRAL ground so you have to make a choice. If you do not actively make a choice, by confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, then the choice of eternal damnation has already been made for you by the word of God. When God's WORD of TRUTH says that whosoever does NOT believe in the name of Jesus, the Son of God is CONDEMNED ALREADY, because they have NOT BELIEVED, then that person shall REMAIN dead in their sins and they shall be cast alive into the lake of fire to be destroyed body and soul never to rise again. In other words, the word of TRUTH clearly and plainly teaches us that there is no neutrality or middle ground. Jesus said if you are not for me, then you are against me. The wages of sin is death, and without Jesus, there is no forgiveness of sin. Therefore by refusing to believe in Jesus the Son of God you are automatically condemning yourself to outer darkness and eternal damnation. Hell and destruction in the lake of fire is your destination, not heaven. This is not just my opinion, but is what the very word of Almighty God HIMSELF clearly teaches! Some have wrongly perceived the attitude of God in this area. They view God sitting on a throne just waiting to send people to hell when in reality people send themselves to hell by NOT BELIEVING the word of God. The Bible tells us that God is NOT WILLING that any should perish, but that ALL should come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. The word of God also assures us that God takes NO PLEASURE in the death of the wicked. Jesus said this in John 12:48.
“He that rejects me, and receives NOT my words has ONE that judges him; the words that I have spoken, the SAME shall judge him in the last day”.
Revelation 21:7,8 says,
“He that overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. 8. BUT the fearful, and the UNBELIEVING, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have THEIR PART in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.”
The unbelieving are those who make their own choice to BELIEVE to NOT believe the TRUTH. Unbelief is the same as believing TO NOT believe. I only put it this way so that you can see the unbelief is faith in REVERSE. The SAME steps of being saved also apply to a person remaining in an UNSAVED state. They have chosen to believe Satan’s LIES by doing NOTHING. If you ask then if they believe in Jesus and they say no, I do not believe that Christians stuff, then they are CONFESSING their FAITH in what THEY believe. So to believe anything other than the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ is having faith in the WRONG message. And the Bible calls that UNBELIEF. Those in unbelief HEAR the wrong message first. The receive and believe the wrong message. And then they confess the wrong message. The wrong message can be anything such as evolutionism.
Deuteronomy 30:19 says,
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore CHOOSE LIFE that both you and your seed may live.”
IT IS YOUR CHOICE!
This A-B-C formula works in every area of God’s word for RECEIVING what God has ALREADY provided for ALL of mankind, SALVATION, which includes much more than going to heaven and forever being with the Lord when you die physically! This brings us to another study which deals with the question “WHAT DOES BEING SAVED TRULY MEAN?” There is more to our SALVATION than most of us have been taught. The word “saved” is the Greek word “SOZO”, which means saved, healed, rescued, delivered, protected, being made whole, and being placed back in right relationship with God. There are many benefits for us as believers NOW in THIS life, and in the world to come ETERNAL LIFE. However, it will be ONLY those of us who have been found to be a good and faithful servant unto the END who shall be given the right to the tree of life to obtain ETERNAL LIFE. Some Christians have not yet been made aware of the package of many benefits in which a believer can receive NOW in this present world that is provided for us under the umbrella of the term “salvation or being saved” which I cover in this in-depth study of God's word on the subject of salvation. In other words, there is far more to the meaning of the word saved, than just being forgiven of our sins, so I encourage you to follow on in your seeking the truth of the whole word of God by reading the study "WHAT DOES BEING SAVED TRULY MEAN?" Also, some Christians have been FALSELY taught that as soon as they accept Jesus as their Savior that they are ETERNALLY saved. Therefore, they came to believe that they can NEVER ever lose their salvation no matter what they do or do not do. If you have been taught the doctrines of Once Saved Always Saved or Eternal Security, then I implore you to read the study called "IS ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?"
Now if you have indeed completed the five steps to becoming what the Bible says as being BORN-AGAIN, then WELCOME to the kingdom of God, for I know this WORD of TRUTH has set you free. Desire the sincere milk of the word of God that you may grow spiritually thereby (I Peter 2:2). Always remember that true salvation is FAITH-based on God’s word ALONE! May God bless you richly as you CONTINUE to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God. Remember that you are SAVED, in that, you have been FORGIVEN ALL of your PAST sins and have now been placed back into a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Almighty God. Never allow the devil to steal from you that assurance and peace of KNOWING that you ARE saved. KNOW that God has placed his very own Holy Spirit within you to lead and guide you into all truth, but also know that God wants you to be FILLED with his Holy Spirit so you will be empowered to live your life free from sin and also DO the WORKS that Jesus did. Please read the studies "THE POWER AND THE AUTHORITY OF THE BELIEVER!" and "STIR UP THE GIFT THAT IS WITHIN YOU!"
Know that your new life in Jesus Christ is likened to that of a newborn baby that NEEDS to feed upon the sincere milk of God's WORD every day. As you read God's word be faithful to OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit. In other words, when the Holy Spirit leads you into the TRUTH that you are to be BAPTIZED in water, then follow on to OBEY this leading of the Holy Spirit. If so be that you have sincerely and honestly been a DOER of the word of God and you have done what I have taught in this study then your ARE SAVED, in that, you have been FORGIVEN of all your past sins and now Almighty God the Father, the eternal Holy Spirit DWELLS IN you to empower you to live your life without sin. So welcome to the family of God, the body of Jesus Christ, the called-out ones to live godly lives before our God and his Son Jesus and to walk in love one toward another. You have completed the FIRST part or step of being saved, which is broken down into five basic steps that you just read in this study in God's word. Now on to NEXT step or part of salvation, which is to LIVE what you BELIEVE unto the end in order to be found that good and faithful servant to be given the RIGHT to eat of the tree of life in the world to come. This is what the Bible calls receiving the END of our salvation, which is the HOPE of every believer. Salvation is a PROCESS that must be CONTINUED unto the END in order for you to obtain eternal life in the world to come. This PROCESS of salvation to receive the END of our salvation, which is our reward of ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come absolutely without fail REQUIRES that we must OBEY the words and teaching of Jesus and his disciples. And one such teaching is to be BAPTIZED in water by submersion as an outward physical ACT of obedience demonstrating our old man of the flesh dying and our remaining dead and buried to our old lifestyle of sin and then our coming up out of the water represents our being raised from being spiritually dead to a new life of living in righteousness. Please read the very first sermon preached by the disciples of Jesus throughout the New Testament.
Acts 2:22-43.
“You men of Israel (AND WHOSOEVER of any human being in all the world who shall), HEAR these WORDS; Jesus of Nazareth, a MAN approved OF God among you BY miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know: 23. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24. Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25. For David speaks concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27. Because you will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28. You have made known to me the WAYS of life; you shall make me full of joy with your countenance. 29. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. 30. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31. He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32. This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. (This whole passage of scripture is quoted from the Old Testament scriptures that are PROPHECIES speaking of Jesus, the prophesied coming Messiah, whom the Jews rejected and crucified. Peter is preaching and teaching them and us that this Jesus, who was crucified for the sins of the whole world, and that his God and Father raised his Son from the dead as a SIGN to all the world that Jesus is truly the SON OF Almighty God the Father and the ONLY NAME under heaven that has been given among men whereby we MUST be saved.) 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this, which you now see and hear. (In Acts chapter 1 Jesus instructs his disciples to NOT go out and preach the gospel until AFTER they are ENDUED with POWER from on HIGH speaking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, sometimes referred to as being FILLED with the Holy Spirit with the evidence or SIGN of speaking in other tongues. Please read the studies "THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF THE BELIEVER" and "STIR UP THE GIFT THAT IS WITHIN YOU!" for a deeper understanding of how to RECEIVE the infilling of the Holy Spirit and power from on high) 34. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he said himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit you on my right hand, 35. Until I make your foes your footstool. 36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37. Now when they HEARD this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, WHAT shall we DO? (In other words, these HEARERS of God's word were asking the disciples of Jesus as to WHAT they MUST DO in order to be SAVED?) 38. Then Peter said unto them (Or Peter ANSWERED their questions as to WHAT we ALL speaking of YOU and every other human being in the entire world must DO in order to be SAVED and here is the ANSWER to that question), REPENT, and be BAPTIZED every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39. For the PROMISE is unto YOU, and to your children, and to ALL that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41. Then they that gladly GLADLY RECEIVED his WORD were BAPTIZED: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42. And they CONTINUED STEAD FAST in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (And that is HOW we save OURSELVES through the ABILITY that God gave to every human being to CHOOSE to RECEIVE God’s so great a salvation and to CONTINUE steadfast unto the end in our choice to BELIEVE the gospel of our salvation) 43. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”
Remember that to be TRULY saved is to be a DOER of the word and NOT just a HEARER ONLY whereby the hearer ONLY is DECEIVING their own selves. I have a list of studies below that will help you grow and become strong in the Lord and in the power of HIS might. Always be FAITHFUL to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. If this study has blessed you, then pass it on to a family member, a friend a co-worker, a neighbor, spread the word of truth wherever you go. Tell others about this website here at AMatterOfTruth.com and pray that their eyes of understanding be opened to the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. May God bless you richly as you CONTINUE to seek him and draw closer to him.
Your brother is our Lord Jesus Christ, Always and Forever in Christ Jesus, Mark.
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BIBLE STUDIES ON SALVATION
Here again, is a list of the studies that I have presently at this time that are related to this subject of SALVATION that is related to the study “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”. I have also INCLUDED the studies I have written on HEALING as well because in TRUTH healing is PART of your salvation whether you realize it or not. “Almighty God LOVES you SO MUCH!” “WHAT Does being SAVE TRULY MEAN?” “GOD'S WORD IS LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE!” “WE ARE NOT SAVED BY OUR OWN GOOD WORKS!” “THE WORKS of the LAW VERSUS GOOD WORKS!” “I AM THE WAY"-WHAT DID JESUS MEAN?” "WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TRULY FORGIVE?" “WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF GRACE?” “IT IS ALWAYS GOD'S WILL TO HEAL YOU!” “WHAT DOES IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS MEAN?” “WITHOUT HOLINESS NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD!” “WHY WE ALL NEED THE FEAR OF THE LORD!” “IS ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?” “GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION FOR MANKIND”
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