Jesus-Word.jpg
 

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

BY DON BANTUM

 

Genesis 2:17. but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it YOU WILL SURELY DIE."

Genesis 3:4. "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.

Many, if not most, people seeking to favorably turn their lives around seem obsessed with having their numerous sins forgiven. Mankind, however, has a much larger problem than simply the issue of sin. Mankind’s greatest problem is death! As God has declared in Genesis 2:17, man is dead. That's right; each of us where born spiritually dead.

God said to Adam, "…when you eat of it, you WILL surely DIE." But the serpent said to the woman, "YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE," and man chose to believe the serpent that fateful day, rather than to believe God. Man chose DEATH rather than LIFE. Adam and Eve didn't die a physical death that day, but they did DIE, and they took all of us down with them, as we are all born in Adam. Adam died a spiritual death. Death is the absence of LIFE, and the LIFE of God departed from Adam, who became separated from God -- through disobedience (sin).

Romans 5:12. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned

Ephesians 2:1. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

So, what's the SOLUTION TO DEATH? LIFE! Yes life is the only solution to the problem of death. SALVATION, then, is a matter of LIFE and DEATH. We were all born dead and in need of LIFE. The only LIFE available to us is the LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST.

Adam was the only man created "spiritually alive" and Jesus was the only man "born spiritually alive." Jesus is LIFE.

Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 3:10. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

What's the CURSE OF THE LAW? Death! When you break the law or a command, the punishment for doing so is death, not a paddling, not in and out of fellowshep, death, as it is written in Romans 6:23.

The Jew's didn't kill Jesus the day he was crucified; neither did the Romans. We killed him; every one of us nailed Jesus to the cross that day. Realistically speaking, love hung him on that cross, and love held him there until his death.

But thank God it didn't end there. Jesus was buried, and on the third day HE WAS RAISED FROM THAT DEAD. It is written that God raised him from the dead. It is also written that the Holy Spirit raised him to life again. In addition, it is written that Jesus raised himself from the dead. These statements are all true because Jesus is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the three personages of the TRINITY. All three are the one true GOD.

John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Nearly everybody has most likely heard, read, or memorized John 3:16, but far fewer are familiar with the two verses immediately following that particular verse of Scripture. Those two verses proclaim: "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:17-18)

Jesus declares that "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal LIFE." Believes what exactly? What must we believe to be saved? That's the key question, isn't it? Well-meaning and sincere people believe many things about Jesus; yet they aren't saved. Let's face it; even Satan believes Jesus is God. In fact, he KNOWS without a doubt that Jesus is God. He was there and witnessed his birth, death, burial, and resurrection on the third day, yet Satan isn't saved.

In order to be truly saved one must put saving faith in Jesus, by living in complete dependency on Jesus…for life. Not trying to gain any righteousness through self-effort; and not attempting to keep oneself forgiven through endless confession of what God already knows all too well..

Some are convinced we must be baptized in order to be saved. Others believe we must speak in tongues. Suppose one has no tongue or just can’t speak? Nobody today is speaking in “biblical” tongues. The spiritual gift of tongues involves actual languages; understandable to those for whom they are intended. If it's just gibberish, or babbling nonsense, it isn't a language at all. How can people of various languages hear the wonders of God's perfect love for them and come to faith in him, unless they hear Christ's gospel message being delivered with clarity? God is not the author of confusion, SATAN IS. Still others think we must attend worship services on Saturday in order to be saved. What they fail to understand is that Saturday is just a day of the week, and it was to be a day of rest for the people of God. That day was given for man, as a day to rest, to rejuvenate his mind and body. Man wasn't created to serve a day of the week, but to serve the living God.

Jesus is our rest today; we no longer rest in a day of the week, we rest in JESUS, because HE has done all the work for us. Everything we couldn't do was accomplished in HIM. And anything we try to add to Jesus, we are really removing from Jesus. Whatever it is with which we may be preoccupied, whether it's going to church on Saturday, being baptized, or speaking in tongues, what we are really doing is making our deeds of greater or equal value to that of Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Acts 4:12. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Romans 5:10. For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, SHALL WE BE SAVED THROUGH HIS LIFE!

John 5:24: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal LIFE and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to LIFE.

John 6:40, For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal LIFE, and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:47. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting LIFE.

John 6:48. I am the bread of LIFE.

John 10:28. I give them ETERNAL LIFE, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

John 11: 25. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the LIFE. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

John 20:31. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have LIFE in his name.

Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 2:25. And this is what he promised us—even ETERNAL LIFE.

1 John 5:11. And this is the testimony: God has given us ETERNAL LIFE, and this LIFE is in his Son.

1 John 5: 13. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may KNOW that you have ETERNAL LIFE.

Placing your faith in Jesus and all He has done, and believing in your heart that Jesus is God, and that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that he died in YOUR PLACE, taking your sins away on that cross, and was buried and raised to LIFE again on the third day, is the way of salvation. Jesus gave his life for you, so he could live his life through YOU. Think of it as the “exchanged life.” You give him all you are, which is wretchedness and death, and he gives you all he is, which is forgiveness of sins, LIFE EVERLASTING, and the removal of a guilty conscience, plus he say's here;

Hebrews 13:5. because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

You'll never be alone ever again, you'll never have to face the problems of life on your own. The same God who created the Universe, comes to live his LIFE in you. You and Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit are a team.

1 John 2:27. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

2 Corinthians 5:18. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19. that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So, you can plainly see, it's all about Jesus. After he cried out from the cross, "IT IS FINISHED,” there wasn't anything left to do, Christ did it all. What we must do is believe and be saved. So, dear friend, if you truly believe you are a Child of the Living God, and I too am a Child of God, that makes us brothers in Christ Jesus. We have passed from death to LIFE. Praise Jesus, and we say, “Thank YOU Father for all YOU HAVE DONE.” Now REST in that fact. If you have any questions, feel free to E-mail me and I will contact you as soon as possible.

Hebrews 12:2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Why did Jesus sit down? Because his work here on earth is finished. If you have placed saving faith in Jesus, your work is also finished, and you, too, can sit down and rest in the finished work of Jesus on your behalf. Jesus said he has made you perfect, that he has made you complete, and that he has given you everything you need for LIFE and GODLINESS. Now what can YOU add to what Jesus has done? Nothing! Just bow your knees before Jesus, and say, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you for going to the cross in my place. Thank you for your resurrected LIFE, for coming to LIVE that LIFE in me, and thank you for your promise to NEVER LEAVE ME OR FORSAKE ME. And thank you for ETERNAL LIFE."

Now if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to E-mail me, and I will get back to you with an answer to your question or comment as soon as possible. May God bless you as you walk by faith in the resurrected Christ Jesus, who is GOD. .

 

BACK TO TOP

 

HOME PAGE

STATEMENT PAGE

ABOUT US

CONTACT US

THE FREE GIFT OF LIFE !

SUPPORT PAGE

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

GUILT

BELIEF AND FAITH

THE TRINITY

BAPTISM

TONGUES

THE SABBATH

THE WORD

TITHING UNDER A NEW COVENANT

AM I TRULY FORGIVEN?

THE NEW COVENANT

SALVATION, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

THE DEITY OF CHRIST JESUS

TAKING COMMUNION

IS GOD DISAPPOINTED WITH ME?

IS GOD MAD AT ME?

DOES JESUS REALLY LOVE ME?

THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS

THE BLAME GAME

LAW AND GRACE

LINKS PAGE

 

 

Copyright © 2007-2012 All rights reserved. designed by Don Bantum, P.O. Box 1251, Paradise, California 95967-1251- E-mail