| What does the Bible say that we must do to become a Christian? God in his great love and mercy gave us Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins. We did not deserve his grace, but he gives it to us if we only accept it. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” This passage gives God the glory and honor for giving us Jesus. None of us could be saved without God’s grace. Although God’s grace makes salvation possible, there are some conditions that God has given us in order to receive his grace. The Bible tells us that we must first have faith or belief in God and his son Jesus. Ephesians 2:8- 9 tells us that we must have faith in order to receive God’s grace. Jesus in John 3:16 told Nicodemus that belief is necessary. The scriptures make it obvious that we must believe in Jesus or else he will not save us. Some mistakenly stop here with belief. As important as belief is, it cannot save a person by itself. James 2:19 (NIV) says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” The devil and his demons KNOW that there is a God. If belief by itself saves us then they would be saved. Everyone knows that isn’t going to happen. The next condition of God’s grace that the Bible gives is found in Luke 13:3 when Jesus tells the people that they need to repent or else they will perish like others before them. On the day of Pentecost when Peter preached the people stopped him in the middle of his sermon after he had told them that they had killed Jesus the Lord and Christ. In Acts 2:37b-38 (NIV) it says, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The word repent is one that we do not often use, but simply means to change our actions because we have changed our mind about who is the Lord of our life. We are also told in Romans 10:9-10 to confess Jesus as our Lord and we will be saved. It is essential to acknowledge him as Lord. Matthew 10:32 (NIV) says, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” We certainly want Jesus to acknowledge us at judgment. When our belief has convinced us to repent of our sins and confess Jesus as our Lord we are ready to complete what God has told us to do to receive his grace. The Bible tells us that we then need to be baptized. All the recorded conversions in Acts end with the people being baptized. Peter told the people on Pentecost in Acts 2:38 as we looked at earlier to, “Repent and be baptized.” Many people look no further than John 3:16 to find out about salvation, but even in that chapter in verse 5 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” As we looked at earlier there is more to do than believe. I Peter 3:21 even tells us that baptism saves us if our conscience is right. The apostle Paul’s conversion is recorded in Acts 9 and again in chs. 22 and 26 in Paul’s own words. What we find is that while on his way to Damascus he was blinded by a vision from Jesus and spoke directly to Jesus. We are also told that he prayed and fasted for three days and nights after being led to Damascus. I guarantee he was as sincere during this time as anyone has ever been, but when Ananias came to him he said in Acts 22:16 (NIV) “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” If Paul had not been forgiven of his sins at the vision, after talking with Jesus and praying and fasting for three days and nights, then what makes so many convinced that they can be saved without being baptized. If we believe, repent of our sins, confess Jesus as our Lord and are baptized then we have met the conditions that God has set for receiving his grace. Have we earned salvation by doing these things? Certainly not! We can never earn or deserve salvation, but God gives it to us when we believe him enough to obey him. Once we become a Christian, it is not the end but simply the beginning. We then need to live our life doing what God wants us to. We find those things out by reading and studying his word. If this study has generated some questions in your mind then please look at your Bible and feel free to contact our minister at minister@haywoodchurch.org or call the church office at (828) 627-9065 Thank you for reading all of this and please remember one thing. It doesn’t matter what our opinion is, but it does matter what God’s word says. |
CENTRAL HAYWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |