What Must I Do To Be Saved?
Must Believe Or Have Faith.
I."Except ye believe that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." (John 8:24.) "Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him." (Heb. 11:6.)
I. Must Believe Or Have Faith In What?
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16.) "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:31.) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." (Rom. 1:16.) "Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved, . . . . for I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures." (1 Cor. 15:1-4.)
II. How Does Belief Or Faith Come?
"So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Rom. 10:17.) "Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word." (John 17:20.) "Many other signs, therefore, did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name." (John 20:30, 31.)
III. How Many Faiths Are There?
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph. 4:5.) "Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints." (Jude 3.)
IV..Must Repent.
"Except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish." (Luke 13:3.) "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." (Luke 24: 46, 47.) "Now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent." (Acts 17:30.) "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." ( Peter 3:9.)
V. What Is Repentance?
Jesus said: "The men of Nineveh . . . . repented at the preaching of Jonah." (Matt. 12:41.) Here is what they did: "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way." (Jonah 3:10.) "Wherefore, 0 King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision; but declared . . . . that they should repent and turn to God doing works worthy of repentance." (Acts 26:19, 20.) Godly sorrow is not repentance, but it leads to repentance: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation." (II Cor. 7:10.)
VI. Must Confess Jesus Christ.
"Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 10:32, 33.) "As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God." (Rom. 14:11.) "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:11.) "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 10:9, 10.)
VII. Must Be Baptized.
Jesus said: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." (Mark 16:15, 16.) Jesus answered: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' (John 3:5.) "And Peter said unto them, Repent ye and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38.) "Which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." (I Peter 3:21.) "As many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ." (Gal. 3:26, 27.) "And many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized." (Acts 18:8.)
VIII. What Is Baptism?
"And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens rent asunder and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him." (Mark 1:9, 10.) "And they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip: and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:38, 39.) "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6:4.) "Having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." (Col. 2:12.) "Let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water." (Heb. 10:22.)
IX..How Many Baptisms Are There?
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph. 4:5.)
X. What Does This Make Us?
"Beloved now are we the children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be." (I John 3:2.) "Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you." (John 15:14.) "Ye are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:26.) 'Ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone." (Eph. 2:19, 20.)
XII. Of What Church Or Religious Body Are We Members?
"Upon this rock I will build my church." (Matt. 16:18.) "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth." (I Cor. 1:2.) "Now are ye the body of Christ, and members thereof." (I Cor. 12:27.) "And gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body." (Eph. 1:22, 23.) "And he is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." (Col. 1:18.)
XIII. How Many Bodies Or Churches Are There?
"We who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another." (Rom. 12:5.) "Seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread." (I Cor. 10:17.) "For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and were all made to drink of the same Spirit." (I Cor. 12:13.) "There is one body, one Spirit, even as also ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." (Eph. 4:4-6.)
XIV. What Name Shall We Wear?
"Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." (Isa. 62.2.) "The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." (Acts 11:26.) "I bow my knees unto the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named." (Eph. 3:14, 15.) "If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name." (I Peter 4:16.) At an early period, divisions and a tendency to wear human names began, but Paul said: "I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment, for it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them which are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?" (I Cor. 1:10-13.)
XV. The Christian Life.
"That life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me." (Gal. 2:20.) "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed, and broke it, and he gave to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took a cup and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it." "This do in remembrance of me." (Matt. 26:26, 27; Luke 22:19.) "As often as ye eat this bread and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come." (I Cor. 11:26.) "And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread." (Acts 20:7.) "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." (Heb. 10:25.) "Adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge; and in your knowledge temperance; and in your temperance patience; and in your patience godliness; and in your godliness love of the brethren; and in your love of the brethren, love; .... for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble: for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (II Peter 1:5-11.)