What the Bible Says about

and Salvation

“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 NIV

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16 NIV

We MUST Believe Without Faith it is impossible to please God We MUST believe that God exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him – Hebrews 11:6 We MUST believe that Jesus IS who He claimed to be – John 8:24; 14:6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

We MUST Believe Faith is a CHOICE not a feeling! Faith actually feels counter-intuitive - Mark 9:17-24 We choose to believe based on the evidence we have been given – Romans 1:18-20; Psalm 19:1-4

We MUST Confess Confess our sin We MUST admit that we have a SIN problem! – Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 John 1:8-10; Psalm 32:1-7 We MUST confess our own weakness in dealing with sin – Romans 7:14-25; Hebrews 4:15-16

We MUST Confess Confess Jesus as Lord “ . . . if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”– Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 John 4:15 Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven . . . “ – Matthew 10:32-33; 1 John 2:23

We MUST Repent Not just the big and obvious sins! When a person decides to become a Christian, they first repent of the obvious sins in their lives – drugs, alcohol, etc But there are other sins that are often ignored and are not easily overcome – bad attitudes, prejudices, pet sins – Ephesians 4:17-32

We MUST Repent Repentance is a mind-set It’s a decision we make to purge ALL sin from our lives – Colossians 3:5-10 Repentance is not a one time event, it’s an ongoing commitment to dealing with every sin in our lives! – Luke 13:1-5

We MUST Be Baptized Baptism is a commandment, not a suggestion Jesus taught that baptism is necessary for Salvation – John 3:3-5; Mark 16:15-16 The New Testament is full of examples and teachings that emphasize the importance of baptism – the book of Acts; Romans 6:1-4; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-12; 1 Peter 3:21

We MUST Be Baptized Baptism symbolizes several things in our lives It symbolizes a death, burial and resurrection – Romans 6:1-3 It symbolizes a cleansing of our past sins – Acts 22:16 It symbolizes a circumcision of the heart – Colossians 2:11-12 It symbolizes a new birth – John 3:3-5 It symbolizes our commitment to Jesus!

We MUST Persevere in Obedience God doesn’t expect us to be perfect – Romans 3:10; 3:23 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us! – 1 John 1:8, 10 That’s why Jesus came to save us! – 1 John 2:1-2

We MUST Persevere in Obeience But He DOES expect us to keep trying! We MUST be faithful, even unto death . . . – Revelation 2:10 We MUST persevere in doing God’s will! – Hebrews 10:35-39

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” Hebrews 10:35-39 NIV