Are You SURE Your Saved!

How To Be Saved

Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”  Long ago Isaiah wrote these words and the truth of them stands today. All men sin, Romans 3:23. You are a sinner. God will not tolerate sin because He is holy, 1 Peter 1:16. The consequences of sin is death, the eternal separation from God in hell, and, “...The wages of sin is death…”, Romans 6:23.   But, what is sin? “Sin is lawlessness” the New King James Version says in 1 John 3:4.

   “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”, KJV.   In other words, when we do anything that is outside of the authority of God, we have sinned. Sin carries the most serious consequences, but thankfully, God has given us instruction, the Bible, so that we will not sin (miss the mark).  Know this, you are a sinner.  If you have not been saved you will suffer the wrath of God in the last day if you do not obey almighty God, Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"

   What do we need to know to avoid the wrath of God? 1 Peter 1:3, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

The word teaches us all we need to know, God has given us everything, and the most important thing it teaches is that the solution to sin is Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.  Because God is holy and can not be in the presence of sin, we must have our sin removed, taken away, we must be redeemed, (bought back into a sinless state), and Jesus is the only way.

1 Peter 1:17-21 “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” This was written to christians, reminding them that they were redeemed by the blood of His Son , Jesus.  He died a horrible bloody death on the cross. It is His blood that cleanses us from sin, Eph 1:7. Sin has a great price.  God is a holy God, and the wages of sin is death. God could have caused us to pay the price for our sin but His love is so great that instead of letting us pay the price He sent His only Son to pay that price. His love for us is boundless.

But, is that all?  Did Jesus die to redeem us and we do nothing?  Do we have any responsibility? We already see that He does not want us to sin. Not sinning is part of our obedience.  Obedience is our part. We must do something. God demands obedience to the faith. When Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”; it is telling us that it is through the faith we are saved.  Many say faith is just simple belief, (it is used that way sometimes) but Bible faith in this verse is what Jesus called “the way”, it is The Faith or the entire body of beliefs supplied by the Spirit of God. It is “not of yourselves”, it does not come from us, but God has shown us the way back to holiness by the faith He has supplied. This verse is greatly misunderstood and misused, it has nothing to do with believing your way into heaven and everything to do with telling us God’s grace and God’s faith save us.  Another way to put this is we must practice or exercise faith, similar to the way a doctor practices medicine. We must learn how to get into the faith and then continue to improve on our behavior, keeping His commandments, John 14:15; 1 John 5:2. IN OTHER WORDS IT IS OBEDIENCE.

So, how do we begin, how do we get into the faith?  When Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again, He walked the earth again, a second time. He taught and appeared before many people.  He showed Himself to His apostles so that they would believe He really was the Christ. He had conquered death! He continued to teach.  In Matthew 28:19, He said, ... “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."   He now, by proving He was the Christ by His resurrection, gave man the opportunity to fully recognize His authority over all things in heaven and on earth. He commanded the apostles to go and make disciples and He told them (in part) how, by baptizing them by the authority of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Other verses tell us more. Mark 16:15-16 records a very similar thing. Here, He was giving them a commission, and He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved”  Preach the gospel, He said,or the good news. One of the most important parts of the gospel is what He says here about baptism, that “he who believes (who believes who he is and what he did) AND is baptized, will be saved.” Why does Jesus include these two parts of the gospel, belief and baptism? They must be two of the key parts of the gospel. They must be very important and because, He did His part by giving His life, our part is to believe AND be baptized. We are to keep His commandments and baptism is one of His most important commandments. The book of Luke continues the story.

Luke 24 is where the transition and link, from the Gospels to the book of Acts is recorded.  Luke 24:36-49 records Jesus proving He is the Christ, (verses 36-45). Then He repeats the Gospel message, the good news and then here the link between the gospel books and the book of Acts happens.  He tells them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the “promise of My Father” and for power to come. That power would be the Holy Spirit. John 14:15-20, tells us that the Comforter, The Holy Spirit, would guide them into all truth and it is then that they would truly have full understanding. See also, John 16:5-13.

Acts was written by Luke and Luke repeats the words of Luke 24 in Acts chapter 1.   Luke says that before in his other writing (the book of Luke) that Jesus said to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Comforter. Acts 1:4-9 repeats these same instructions and then Jesus ascends into heaven, leaving them to do His work. But He does not leave them alone.

The apostles start putting things in order in chapter one.  They (with God’s help of course) pick a replacement for Judas. Then in chapter two, the Holy Spirit comes, just as Jesus promised.

   “​ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4.

The Spirit of God here displays power (as Luke had said) as a sign that these men have a message from heaven, and to empower them to speak in languages they did not know as a sign that the apostles should be listened to and so that many from different nations would hear the gospel in their own language.  Then Peter preaches the gospel for the first time. This is the message all men and women need to hear and obey. From this day forward even til today, people can hear and respond to this gospel. What did he preach? He proved using Old Testament prophecy that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, that He is risen from the dead after being murdered on the cross, and that they were responsible for His death.  They realized their sin, that they were guilty and they asked, “what shall we do?” Then he told them more good news, “...Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” He told them many other things it says, and those things are outlined in other parts of Acts. 3000 people were baptized that day and as each one was baptized he/she was added to the church. That is where those who obey the gospel are placed, by God, into the church, Vs 47.  Paul later would say that he would preach Christ, and Him crucified, 1 Cor. 1:23, the same message preached here by Peter.

People who want to be saved from sin must:  First, understand who Jesus is and that He shed His blood for their forgiveness, and that He rose from the dead and lives today, Mark 16:16; Col 1:14; Rom 3:25.  Second, they must repent of sin, Matt 4:17; Acts 2:38 and Acts 17:30, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (turn from a life of sin).  Third, they must confess that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, Matt 10:23; Rom.10:9; Acts 8:37, (an example of confession by the Ethiopian Treasurer). Fourth, be baptized, fully immersed, in water.

Jesus considered baptism so important that He singled it out as one of the most important aspects of the gospel. What does the New Testament say about baptism?  What is Biblical baptism?

It is immersion (being placed fully under water). John baptized in Aenon ”because there was much water there”, John 3:23. The Ethiopian Treasurer in Acts 8 went down into the water and came back up out of it, Acts 8:38-39.

It is for, (it’s purpose is), the taking away of sins, Acts 2:38 (remission); Acts 22:16 (wash away sin), and Mark 16:16 (baptized, be saved).

Without being baptized in water, you cannot get “into Christ” nor “put on Christ”, Gal 3:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”   Romans 6:3, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”

Romans 6:1-7. Because of baptism we have our only opportunity to enter into the new life that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 3, (Rom 6:4,“even so we also should walk in newness of life.”), also it says, “herethat our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed”, when we are “planted” in the “likeness of his death”, (baptism). BAPTISM CLEARLY TAKES AWAY SIN!  Eph 4:17-24, esp vs. 24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

Romans 6:3 and 4, Baptism is like the resurrection itself where just like Jesus was buried and rose from the dead we also, when buried in water, rise up out of it alive again after our obedience to Christ and there in (baptism) contacting the blood of our Savior, Romans 5:8-9.  He rose alive again/we rise out of water alive, free from sin!

If you will say that baptism is not necessary then you might as well consider the blood of Jesus Christ unnecessary.

Colossians 2:12 says “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;” Baptism washes away sin. Acts 22:16.

Baptism saves us, 1 Peter 3:21, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”  Not only does this verse plainly say that baptism saves us, but it does exactly what Jesus did, connects it to the gospel when it says “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”. Is baptism the gospel? No but it is one of the most important parts and Jesus himself made it so when He made it part of His commission to the Apostles.

Justification, or you being made just before God, is through One Man, Jesus, but only if you are buried with Him in baptism.  Romans 5, and the justifying blood of the Savior is connected to baptism by the first phrase of chapter 6 when it says, “What shall we say then?”.  It continues the discussion of Grace and justification by saying that these christians were buried with Him in baptism and gained the new life!

Every single person saved in the New Testament on and after Pentecost (Acts 2), was baptized in order to have his sins taken away.

But aren't we saved by faith alone?  NO. Nowhere in the Bible is that said. In fact the only time you find the words Faith alone or “only” is in James 2:24 where is says we are NOT saved by faith only.  The problem is people just hear someone tell them things and don’t study for themselves. There Is also NOT a sinners prayer. Nowhere after the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, is anyone told to pray for salvation, or just believe. Belief by itself is NOT salvation, it is just the beginning.

Jesus built His church, and there is only one way into it.  I have outlined that way above. Another discussion is the idea people have that “any church will do, but if you do not obey the gospel, you will not be added to His church like the people in the book of Acts were.  There is only one church, Eph 4:4, (the body is the church, a lesson for another time). There is only one way into His church, one faith, one baptism. The church of Christ is where you want to be, because that is where obedience puts you.

“Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.” Romans 16:16

I can help you find a scriptural church of Christ local to you, email me! clint@balaamsdonkey.org