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© Copyright 2007-2009 surefaithministries.com All rights reserved
Receiving Salvation
© Copyright 2007-2010 surefaithministries.com All rights reserved
because the Bible does not teach that. Preachers give a few scriptures and then ask, “Who wants to be saved?” This is not a
question of whether or not you want to be saved. The question is; are you willing to do what it takes to be saved?
What sounds very easy is in fact one of the most difficult things for most people to do. Today’s Christianity has become a work
and not a gift of grace, because people do not want to humble themselves. They want hear that they can pray a simple prayer
and have assurance that they’re going to heaven even though they still live like the world. Many people will never find Jesus,
because they are not looking for Him. They put all their faith in themselves and in their own ability to do works. They vainly
rededicate their lives to Jesus, they get a self-driven motivation, pretend they are a Christian for about a week, and then they are
right back to living their sinful life. Jesus did not die on a cross so you could pretend to be a Christian, still live in sin, and believe
that you are saved. He died on a cross so you could become a Christian, be free from your sin, and know by your faith that you
have been saved.
You cannot afford to play around with your eternity like this. Either you are saved from your sin or you are not. This is not a game,
because when it comes to your eternity it does matter who wins or loses. If you constantly have to get right with God, then
chances are, you have never been right with Him in the first place. God is not going to be serious with you if you are not going to
be serious with Him.
“Can’t I just ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and ask Him to forgive me?” You can, but there is no promise that you will
be saved, because it is not biblical. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you to ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart or to ask
Him to forgive you in order to be saved. You cannot just pray a simple little prayer and expect to get into heaven. That simple
prayer will do nothing for you if you do not humble yourself before God. Ignoring God’s law and living your life as you please will
get you nothing but a one-way ticket to hell. Until you humble yourself before God, you cannot be saved.
That simple prayer is the world’s way of receiving salvation. I am not here to give you the worldly way, but to show you what the
Bible says. I could tell you that everything is going to be fine no matter how you live your life. I could comfort you with loving Bible
verses, telling you that you are a good person. I could pray with you and have you repeat a simple prayer and then tell you that
you are saved. However, if I told you any of those things, I would be lying. I am not here to motivate you with a false assurance; I
am here to tell you the truth so that you may truly be saved.
Almost everyone that has ever walked into a church has prayed that simple prayer and most of them walked out just as lost as
before they came in. Why? First of all, as I said before, that simple prayer is not biblical. Second of all, until you humble yourself
before God and believe unto salvation, He will not even hear your prayer. Proverbs 15:29 says that the Lord is far from the
wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. John 9:31 says that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of
God and does His will, He hears him. If you want God to hear your prayer, you must be humble and believe.
You see, worldly people just pray that simple prayer asking Jesus into their heart; they go to church, read the Bible, and try their
best to be a good person. They feel that somehow they have earned salvation or that they deserve it because of their good
works. You cannot earn salvation. Don’t sit there and think, “Well, I’ve done things for God” Listen, I don’t care if you’ve spent
every second of everyday of your entire life doing the things that please God, all of it put together is not even close to the value of
one drop of blood that Jesus shed for you! Do you not realize what God has done for us? When we should have died in our sin
and gone to hell, God gave a perfect sacrifice for us. He gave His own life for people who hated Him and sinned against Him.
He shed His own blood so that we could be saved, and you are going to act as if somehow you deserve it? God only shows
mercy to the humble, and if you think that somehow you can earn your way into heaven, then you have not humbled yourself
before God.
In Isaiah 66:2 the Lord said, “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
You must go to God with a broken and repentant heart in order to receive His mercy. You cannot have any pride or act as if you
are good enough to receive salvation just because you pray a simple prayer. You cannot just say, “Lord, I want to be saved so I
can go to heaven. Yeah, I’ve messed up, but who hasn’t? I’m still better than most people out there, but anyway, I ask you to
come into my heart. I have sinned, but I have not done really bad things as some people have. However, I do ask that you would
forgive the sins that I have committed. Thank you Lord.” Does that prayer show any sorrow for sin or show any sign of being
humble? Does it show any desire to turn from sin? Look at what Jesus said about a person’s attitude in prayer.
Jesus said in Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.”
James 4:6 says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In verses 8-10, he says “Draw nigh to God, and he
will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, mourn, and weep:
let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift
you up.”
As you can see, God is not looking for the proud in heart. The problem with most people is they go to God and just ask Him for
forgiveness of their sins rather than being broken over their sin and confessing that they are in need of a savior. Most people will
not admit that they could be lost; even when they are given scripture showing them that they are not saved, they still refuse to be
humble and cry out to God in repentance. What is so hard about going to God and saying, “I am lost and need you to save me.”?
It is hard because they have too much pride to admit that they are lost and without any hope of receiving salvation without Jesus.
Pride will keep you from being saved. If you are humble, you will cry out to God with a broken and repentant heart and
acknowledge the fact that you are without any hope of being saved accept for by the grace of God.
A broken and repentant heart is not found in the people who believe they can be saved through a simple prayer. Most of the time
once a person prays that prayer, they believe they have been saved, but rarely do they ever repent, because their faith is in their
prayer. Your prayer does nothing for you if there is no repentance in your life.
In Mark 1:15 Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Jesus said in Luke 13:3 that unless you repent you shall perish. If you do not repent, then you have not humbled yourself before
God. You must repent, but you also must know what true repentance is; because many people think that it simply means to turn
away from sin. You can turn away from all your sin and still go straight to hell. Repenting does not mean to turn away from sin or
to stop committing it by your own ability, because that would mean salvation was no longer by grace, but by works. If you just
wake up one day and decide to stop cussing, you are not repenting, you are simply making your own decision to stop cussing.
That kind of repentance is nothing more than a work of your own self-righteousness. Repentance comes from a deep sorrow
because of sin, and a desire to be free from it.
Psalm 34:18 “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
What is the broken heart from? You have a broken heart once you acknowledge that you are a sinner, and you see just how
horrible and disgusting your sin is in the eyes of a Holy God. God saves the one who has a contrite spirit. A contrite spirit is one
that feels a sorrow because of their sin. This broken heart and contrite spirit is what leads you to true repentance.
Romans 6:21 “What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.”
Are the sinful things you are turning away from things that make you feel ashamed? Or are you just turning from a sin because
the Bible says not to do it? You must have a sorrow that causes you to want to turn away from sin; otherwise it will not lead to
true repentance.
2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh
death.”
You do not have sorrow just because you want forgiveness, but because you have sinned against God. It is like a child who
comes to their mother, crying because they know they did something wrong, and because of their love for their mother, they felt
sorry for what they did. This is godly sorrow, but the sorrow of this world is in vain. It is like the kid that just wants to act sorry so
they won‘t get their allowance taken away, or get grounded for only a week instead of two weeks. This is not true sorrow and
cannot lead to true repentance.
So, you see that it is true sorrow that leads you to true repentance, but what is repentance? The word, repent, means to change
your mind. Stop following what you believe, and believe the gospel. You might say, “But I’ve tried to stop sinning and follow
Christ and nothing happens.” That’s because you are not repenting and believing, you are trying to save yourself. Only Jesus
can make you righteous; you must confess that you are without any hope of receiving salvation without Him.
Paul said in Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Paul recognized that he was a wretched man and he was without any hope of receiving salvation except for in Jesus Christ. Only
Jesus Christ can save you from your sin and cause you to live in righteousness. You cannot save yourself by your own works.
However, this is what most people do when they rededicate their life to Jesus. They think they have to work for righteousness.
They get all excited and say, “I can do this; I’m just going to try as hard as I can, I’m going to go to church every Sunday, I’m going
to read the Bible every day and pray every night, I’m going to do everything I can to stop sinning and turn my life around.“ STOP!
Do you see the problem there? It has everything to do with you and nothing to do with God.
Paul said in Romans 10:2-3 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God.”
Those who try to establish their own righteousness have not humbled themselves before God and excepted His free gift. If
anyone could free themselves from sin and become righteous by their own works, then Jesus would serve no purpose. Why
would you need Jesus for anything if you could save yourself? You cannot possibly think that you can free yourself from sin by
your own power. What if you had to stop a freight train, but you didn’t want to use the brakes? You are not going to be able to stop
that train are you? Two things can stop that train. One is to use the brakes, or two, a sharp turn in the tracts derails the train
throwing it into the ditch.
So what about stopping yourself from sinning? Two things can stop you from sinning. One is to go to God, or two, your life falls
apart and you get to the point where you are like, “Man, my life is messed up; I can’t live like this anymore.” Maybe it will take you
falling to that extreme before you realize you need God to save you. However, most people who fall down get back up on their
own motivation, and a few days later they are right back to their sinful life, because they were never saved. They are going to fall
again. Why? Because they have pride, and they are trying to become righteous by their own works of the law and not by going to
Jesus Christ for their salvation.
Jesus said in John 10:1-2 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some
other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”
Jesus is saying that if you try to work your way into the kingdom, you are a thief and a robber. Climbing over a fence to get in
means that you worked your way in. In order to get in without working your way over the fence, you simply go to the door and
enter through it. Jesus is the door to heaven, and He tells you to come to Him and He will let you in.
Jesus goes on to say in John 10:9 “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find
pasture.”
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is the only way to heaven, yet people have the idea that their good works will get them into
heaven. That is not trusting in Jesus, that is trusting in works. Jesus said if you come to Him, you shall enter. He did not tell you
to bring a list of all the reasons why He should let you into His kingdom.
Jesus said in John 5:39-40 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
Jesus is saying that people search the scriptures or that they look at the good works they have done and they trust in those
things for their salvation rather than coming to Him. These people are not humble, because it is pride that causes them to
search for reasons why they should be allowed into heaven. You must be humble and put faith in Christ alone.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven.”
The point Jesus was making by saying you must become as little children is that you must become humble. Being humble is
becoming like that child who went to their mother crying after doing something wrong. Being humble means to admit that you
are weak and need strength; that you are wrong and need correction; that you are at fault and need forgiveness.
“Well, I messed up this time, but I’ll try harder next time.” You are not here to say you are going to give it your best and see what
happens. You are here to say your best is not good enough and believe on Jesus Christ to save you. You cannot try to earn
salvation by trying your best to be a good person. As I have said before, Christianity is not following a set of rules; it is becoming
a new creature in Christ. What kind of god would make you work for salvation? It is a free gift; you cannot earn it. You must lay
aside every amount of hope for salvation through your own works and believe only on Jesus Christ.
Titus 3:5-6 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour”
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus is saying that if you are working to be righteous, then come to Him and He will give you rest. Stop trying to work for
salvation; give your life to Jesus and He will change you.
Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 11:29-30 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Turn to Jesus and He will give you rest from the struggles in life. His yoke is easy and His burden is light, meaning that it will not
be difficult to follow His ways. Once you turn to Him, He will change your heart and desires to naturally be righteous, and you will
love to follow His commandments. Jesus can save you, but you must not harden your heart and rebel from the truth or let pride
keep you from being saved.
In Hebrews 4:7 Paul was repeating what David had said when he told the people, “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not
your hearts.”
Do not harden your heart or continue to believe you are saved by your own works. You cannot look toward your own
righteousness to save you. You must seek the righteousness of Christ through faith by believing on Him.
In Acts 16:30 a prison keeper came to Paul and Silas and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” In verse 31 Paul and Silas
answered him saying, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Notice that they did not tell him that he must
obey the law of God before he could be saved. Notice how they did not tell him to ask Jesus into his heart or tell him to ask
Jesus to forgive his sin. They simply told him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he would be saved. The man was already
humble, the only thing he lacked was believing.
Salvation is all about believing, the problem is, most professing Christians believe in vain. The reason John 3:16 is one of the
most accepted verses in the Bible, is because people do not understand what it means to believe. Yes, if you believe in Jesus,
you will have eternal life, but how do you know if you believe? How do you know you have not believed in vain?
Jesus said in John 5:38 “And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.”
If the word of God does not abide in you and you are still living in sin, then you have not truly believed in Jesus, and you have not
been saved. You have not put your faith in Him; instead, you have put faith in a simple prayer or in your own works of
righteousness. Neither of those things can save you, only Jesus Christ can save you! The only thing you must do to be saved is
humble yourself and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! People think, “But what about asking Jesus to forgive my sin?“ The Bible
does not tell you to ask Jesus to forgive your sin in order to be saved. It only tells you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! What
does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? What did He do for you? He died in your sin, right? He has paid it all; now
believe on Him alone for your salvation.
Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
When people pray, they normally ask Jesus to forgive their sin, but the Bible does not teach that. Why? Jesus has already paid
for your sin! By one offering of His own blood He has made perfect for ever all those who are sanctified. When Jesus died on the
cross, His blood covered all of your sin. Every sin that you have ever committed in the past and every sin that you will commit in
the future has been paid for. If you are constantly asking Jesus to forgive your sin, then you are not truly believing that His death
on the cross paid the price for your sin.
Someone might ask, “Well, what about 1 John 1:9. Doesn’t that mean we should ask for forgiveness when we sin?” No, the
verse does not tell you to ask for forgiveness.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
John is not telling you to ask Jesus to forgive your sin. He says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful. Remember, God is near
to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a contrite spirit. Confessing sin shows that you admit that you are
wrong. The proud at heart do not confess their sin, just as the example Jesus gave of the Pharisee’s prayer compared to the
humble publican. True confession comes from a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
John said that if you do sin, you have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ is that advocate. He stands and pleads your
innocence, because He has paid the penalty for all of your sin. John never tells you to ask Jesus to forgive your sin. Yes, if you
sin you will confess that you were wrong, but you will know that you have already been forgiven, because the blood of Jesus has
covered all of your sin.
In John 19:30, Jesus was on the cross, and right before He died, He said, “It is finished.” What is finished? Sin has been paid
for! He did not say, “It is finished, now is all people must do is struggle their entire life to keep all my commandments and they
will be saved.” Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace to all those who believe on the finished work of Jesus Christ! He paid it all
and does not tell you to do any works to receive it, or to even ask for it, He simply tells you to believe.
I remember one night when I questioned whether or not I was truly saved. I remember crying out to God to show me the truth. I
wanted to know without a doubt that I was His. At that very moment I heard in my mind “It is finished.” I felt a sudden peace come
over me. It was then that I truly understood that Jesus has paid it all, and is all I must do is believe on Him alone for my
salvation. Do not put trust in your works or in anything else except in His finished work on the cross. Believing on Jesus means
believing that He has paid the price for your sin and your salvation is in Him alone.
1 John 2:12 “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.”
If you are saved, your sins are already forgiven. They are not being forgiven as you commit them and ask for forgiveness. They
were paid for in full over 2000 years ago on the cross. Salvation is not a process where you have to continue asking for
forgiveness when you sin. Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace to all those who believe on the finished work of Jesus Christ!
It does not matter how you have lived your life or how many sins you have committed, there is still hope for you. That hope is in
Jesus Christ. He gave Himself up as a perfect sacrifice for sin so that you could be saved. God does not want anyone to perish.
2 Peter 3:9 says that God does not will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Is all you must be is
humble yourself, repent and believe.
Jesus said in John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace through faith. If one wants to receive this gift, is all they must do is humble themselves
before God, repent, meaning to turn from their own path toward salvation, deny self and believe in the gospel. Believing the
gospel means believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe that His blood truly covered all your sin. Believe that your salvation is
complete in Him alone and you will be saved.
question of whether or not you want to be saved. The question is; are you willing to do what it takes to be saved?
What sounds very easy is in fact one of the most difficult things for most people to do. Today’s Christianity has become a work
and not a gift of grace, because people do not want to humble themselves. They want hear that they can pray a simple prayer
and have assurance that they’re going to heaven even though they still live like the world. Many people will never find Jesus,
because they are not looking for Him. They put all their faith in themselves and in their own ability to do works. They vainly
rededicate their lives to Jesus, they get a self-driven motivation, pretend they are a Christian for about a week, and then they are
right back to living their sinful life. Jesus did not die on a cross so you could pretend to be a Christian, still live in sin, and believe
that you are saved. He died on a cross so you could become a Christian, be free from your sin, and know by your faith that you
have been saved.
You cannot afford to play around with your eternity like this. Either you are saved from your sin or you are not. This is not a game,
because when it comes to your eternity it does matter who wins or loses. If you constantly have to get right with God, then
chances are, you have never been right with Him in the first place. God is not going to be serious with you if you are not going to
be serious with Him.
“Can’t I just ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and ask Him to forgive me?” You can, but there is no promise that you will
be saved, because it is not biblical. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you to ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart or to ask
Him to forgive you in order to be saved. You cannot just pray a simple little prayer and expect to get into heaven. That simple
prayer will do nothing for you if you do not humble yourself before God. Ignoring God’s law and living your life as you please will
get you nothing but a one-way ticket to hell. Until you humble yourself before God, you cannot be saved.
That simple prayer is the world’s way of receiving salvation. I am not here to give you the worldly way, but to show you what the
Bible says. I could tell you that everything is going to be fine no matter how you live your life. I could comfort you with loving Bible
verses, telling you that you are a good person. I could pray with you and have you repeat a simple prayer and then tell you that
you are saved. However, if I told you any of those things, I would be lying. I am not here to motivate you with a false assurance; I
am here to tell you the truth so that you may truly be saved.
Almost everyone that has ever walked into a church has prayed that simple prayer and most of them walked out just as lost as
before they came in. Why? First of all, as I said before, that simple prayer is not biblical. Second of all, until you humble yourself
before God and believe unto salvation, He will not even hear your prayer. Proverbs 15:29 says that the Lord is far from the
wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. John 9:31 says that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of
God and does His will, He hears him. If you want God to hear your prayer, you must be humble and believe.
You see, worldly people just pray that simple prayer asking Jesus into their heart; they go to church, read the Bible, and try their
best to be a good person. They feel that somehow they have earned salvation or that they deserve it because of their good
works. You cannot earn salvation. Don’t sit there and think, “Well, I’ve done things for God” Listen, I don’t care if you’ve spent
every second of everyday of your entire life doing the things that please God, all of it put together is not even close to the value of
one drop of blood that Jesus shed for you! Do you not realize what God has done for us? When we should have died in our sin
and gone to hell, God gave a perfect sacrifice for us. He gave His own life for people who hated Him and sinned against Him.
He shed His own blood so that we could be saved, and you are going to act as if somehow you deserve it? God only shows
mercy to the humble, and if you think that somehow you can earn your way into heaven, then you have not humbled yourself
before God.
In Isaiah 66:2 the Lord said, “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
You must go to God with a broken and repentant heart in order to receive His mercy. You cannot have any pride or act as if you
are good enough to receive salvation just because you pray a simple prayer. You cannot just say, “Lord, I want to be saved so I
can go to heaven. Yeah, I’ve messed up, but who hasn’t? I’m still better than most people out there, but anyway, I ask you to
come into my heart. I have sinned, but I have not done really bad things as some people have. However, I do ask that you would
forgive the sins that I have committed. Thank you Lord.” Does that prayer show any sorrow for sin or show any sign of being
humble? Does it show any desire to turn from sin? Look at what Jesus said about a person’s attitude in prayer.
Jesus said in Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.”
James 4:6 says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In verses 8-10, he says “Draw nigh to God, and he
will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, mourn, and weep:
let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift
you up.”
As you can see, God is not looking for the proud in heart. The problem with most people is they go to God and just ask Him for
forgiveness of their sins rather than being broken over their sin and confessing that they are in need of a savior. Most people will
not admit that they could be lost; even when they are given scripture showing them that they are not saved, they still refuse to be
humble and cry out to God in repentance. What is so hard about going to God and saying, “I am lost and need you to save me.”?
It is hard because they have too much pride to admit that they are lost and without any hope of receiving salvation without Jesus.
Pride will keep you from being saved. If you are humble, you will cry out to God with a broken and repentant heart and
acknowledge the fact that you are without any hope of being saved accept for by the grace of God.
A broken and repentant heart is not found in the people who believe they can be saved through a simple prayer. Most of the time
once a person prays that prayer, they believe they have been saved, but rarely do they ever repent, because their faith is in their
prayer. Your prayer does nothing for you if there is no repentance in your life.
In Mark 1:15 Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Jesus said in Luke 13:3 that unless you repent you shall perish. If you do not repent, then you have not humbled yourself before
God. You must repent, but you also must know what true repentance is; because many people think that it simply means to turn
away from sin. You can turn away from all your sin and still go straight to hell. Repenting does not mean to turn away from sin or
to stop committing it by your own ability, because that would mean salvation was no longer by grace, but by works. If you just
wake up one day and decide to stop cussing, you are not repenting, you are simply making your own decision to stop cussing.
That kind of repentance is nothing more than a work of your own self-righteousness. Repentance comes from a deep sorrow
because of sin, and a desire to be free from it.
Psalm 34:18 “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
What is the broken heart from? You have a broken heart once you acknowledge that you are a sinner, and you see just how
horrible and disgusting your sin is in the eyes of a Holy God. God saves the one who has a contrite spirit. A contrite spirit is one
that feels a sorrow because of their sin. This broken heart and contrite spirit is what leads you to true repentance.
Romans 6:21 “What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.”
Are the sinful things you are turning away from things that make you feel ashamed? Or are you just turning from a sin because
the Bible says not to do it? You must have a sorrow that causes you to want to turn away from sin; otherwise it will not lead to
true repentance.
2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh
death.”
You do not have sorrow just because you want forgiveness, but because you have sinned against God. It is like a child who
comes to their mother, crying because they know they did something wrong, and because of their love for their mother, they felt
sorry for what they did. This is godly sorrow, but the sorrow of this world is in vain. It is like the kid that just wants to act sorry so
they won‘t get their allowance taken away, or get grounded for only a week instead of two weeks. This is not true sorrow and
cannot lead to true repentance.
So, you see that it is true sorrow that leads you to true repentance, but what is repentance? The word, repent, means to change
your mind. Stop following what you believe, and believe the gospel. You might say, “But I’ve tried to stop sinning and follow
Christ and nothing happens.” That’s because you are not repenting and believing, you are trying to save yourself. Only Jesus
can make you righteous; you must confess that you are without any hope of receiving salvation without Him.
Paul said in Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Paul recognized that he was a wretched man and he was without any hope of receiving salvation except for in Jesus Christ. Only
Jesus Christ can save you from your sin and cause you to live in righteousness. You cannot save yourself by your own works.
However, this is what most people do when they rededicate their life to Jesus. They think they have to work for righteousness.
They get all excited and say, “I can do this; I’m just going to try as hard as I can, I’m going to go to church every Sunday, I’m going
to read the Bible every day and pray every night, I’m going to do everything I can to stop sinning and turn my life around.“ STOP!
Do you see the problem there? It has everything to do with you and nothing to do with God.
Paul said in Romans 10:2-3 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God.”
Those who try to establish their own righteousness have not humbled themselves before God and excepted His free gift. If
anyone could free themselves from sin and become righteous by their own works, then Jesus would serve no purpose. Why
would you need Jesus for anything if you could save yourself? You cannot possibly think that you can free yourself from sin by
your own power. What if you had to stop a freight train, but you didn’t want to use the brakes? You are not going to be able to stop
that train are you? Two things can stop that train. One is to use the brakes, or two, a sharp turn in the tracts derails the train
throwing it into the ditch.
So what about stopping yourself from sinning? Two things can stop you from sinning. One is to go to God, or two, your life falls
apart and you get to the point where you are like, “Man, my life is messed up; I can’t live like this anymore.” Maybe it will take you
falling to that extreme before you realize you need God to save you. However, most people who fall down get back up on their
own motivation, and a few days later they are right back to their sinful life, because they were never saved. They are going to fall
again. Why? Because they have pride, and they are trying to become righteous by their own works of the law and not by going to
Jesus Christ for their salvation.
Jesus said in John 10:1-2 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some
other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”
Jesus is saying that if you try to work your way into the kingdom, you are a thief and a robber. Climbing over a fence to get in
means that you worked your way in. In order to get in without working your way over the fence, you simply go to the door and
enter through it. Jesus is the door to heaven, and He tells you to come to Him and He will let you in.
Jesus goes on to say in John 10:9 “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find
pasture.”
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is the only way to heaven, yet people have the idea that their good works will get them into
heaven. That is not trusting in Jesus, that is trusting in works. Jesus said if you come to Him, you shall enter. He did not tell you
to bring a list of all the reasons why He should let you into His kingdom.
Jesus said in John 5:39-40 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
Jesus is saying that people search the scriptures or that they look at the good works they have done and they trust in those
things for their salvation rather than coming to Him. These people are not humble, because it is pride that causes them to
search for reasons why they should be allowed into heaven. You must be humble and put faith in Christ alone.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven.”
The point Jesus was making by saying you must become as little children is that you must become humble. Being humble is
becoming like that child who went to their mother crying after doing something wrong. Being humble means to admit that you
are weak and need strength; that you are wrong and need correction; that you are at fault and need forgiveness.
“Well, I messed up this time, but I’ll try harder next time.” You are not here to say you are going to give it your best and see what
happens. You are here to say your best is not good enough and believe on Jesus Christ to save you. You cannot try to earn
salvation by trying your best to be a good person. As I have said before, Christianity is not following a set of rules; it is becoming
a new creature in Christ. What kind of god would make you work for salvation? It is a free gift; you cannot earn it. You must lay
aside every amount of hope for salvation through your own works and believe only on Jesus Christ.
Titus 3:5-6 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour”
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus is saying that if you are working to be righteous, then come to Him and He will give you rest. Stop trying to work for
salvation; give your life to Jesus and He will change you.
Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 11:29-30 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Turn to Jesus and He will give you rest from the struggles in life. His yoke is easy and His burden is light, meaning that it will not
be difficult to follow His ways. Once you turn to Him, He will change your heart and desires to naturally be righteous, and you will
love to follow His commandments. Jesus can save you, but you must not harden your heart and rebel from the truth or let pride
keep you from being saved.
In Hebrews 4:7 Paul was repeating what David had said when he told the people, “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not
your hearts.”
Do not harden your heart or continue to believe you are saved by your own works. You cannot look toward your own
righteousness to save you. You must seek the righteousness of Christ through faith by believing on Him.
In Acts 16:30 a prison keeper came to Paul and Silas and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” In verse 31 Paul and Silas
answered him saying, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Notice that they did not tell him that he must
obey the law of God before he could be saved. Notice how they did not tell him to ask Jesus into his heart or tell him to ask
Jesus to forgive his sin. They simply told him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he would be saved. The man was already
humble, the only thing he lacked was believing.
Salvation is all about believing, the problem is, most professing Christians believe in vain. The reason John 3:16 is one of the
most accepted verses in the Bible, is because people do not understand what it means to believe. Yes, if you believe in Jesus,
you will have eternal life, but how do you know if you believe? How do you know you have not believed in vain?
Jesus said in John 5:38 “And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.”
If the word of God does not abide in you and you are still living in sin, then you have not truly believed in Jesus, and you have not
been saved. You have not put your faith in Him; instead, you have put faith in a simple prayer or in your own works of
righteousness. Neither of those things can save you, only Jesus Christ can save you! The only thing you must do to be saved is
humble yourself and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! People think, “But what about asking Jesus to forgive my sin?“ The Bible
does not tell you to ask Jesus to forgive your sin in order to be saved. It only tells you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! What
does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? What did He do for you? He died in your sin, right? He has paid it all; now
believe on Him alone for your salvation.
Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
When people pray, they normally ask Jesus to forgive their sin, but the Bible does not teach that. Why? Jesus has already paid
for your sin! By one offering of His own blood He has made perfect for ever all those who are sanctified. When Jesus died on the
cross, His blood covered all of your sin. Every sin that you have ever committed in the past and every sin that you will commit in
the future has been paid for. If you are constantly asking Jesus to forgive your sin, then you are not truly believing that His death
on the cross paid the price for your sin.
Someone might ask, “Well, what about 1 John 1:9. Doesn’t that mean we should ask for forgiveness when we sin?” No, the
verse does not tell you to ask for forgiveness.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
John is not telling you to ask Jesus to forgive your sin. He says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful. Remember, God is near
to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a contrite spirit. Confessing sin shows that you admit that you are
wrong. The proud at heart do not confess their sin, just as the example Jesus gave of the Pharisee’s prayer compared to the
humble publican. True confession comes from a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
John said that if you do sin, you have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ is that advocate. He stands and pleads your
innocence, because He has paid the penalty for all of your sin. John never tells you to ask Jesus to forgive your sin. Yes, if you
sin you will confess that you were wrong, but you will know that you have already been forgiven, because the blood of Jesus has
covered all of your sin.
In John 19:30, Jesus was on the cross, and right before He died, He said, “It is finished.” What is finished? Sin has been paid
for! He did not say, “It is finished, now is all people must do is struggle their entire life to keep all my commandments and they
will be saved.” Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace to all those who believe on the finished work of Jesus Christ! He paid it all
and does not tell you to do any works to receive it, or to even ask for it, He simply tells you to believe.
I remember one night when I questioned whether or not I was truly saved. I remember crying out to God to show me the truth. I
wanted to know without a doubt that I was His. At that very moment I heard in my mind “It is finished.” I felt a sudden peace come
over me. It was then that I truly understood that Jesus has paid it all, and is all I must do is believe on Him alone for my
salvation. Do not put trust in your works or in anything else except in His finished work on the cross. Believing on Jesus means
believing that He has paid the price for your sin and your salvation is in Him alone.
1 John 2:12 “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.”
If you are saved, your sins are already forgiven. They are not being forgiven as you commit them and ask for forgiveness. They
were paid for in full over 2000 years ago on the cross. Salvation is not a process where you have to continue asking for
forgiveness when you sin. Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace to all those who believe on the finished work of Jesus Christ!
It does not matter how you have lived your life or how many sins you have committed, there is still hope for you. That hope is in
Jesus Christ. He gave Himself up as a perfect sacrifice for sin so that you could be saved. God does not want anyone to perish.
2 Peter 3:9 says that God does not will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Is all you must be is
humble yourself, repent and believe.
Jesus said in John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace through faith. If one wants to receive this gift, is all they must do is humble themselves
before God, repent, meaning to turn from their own path toward salvation, deny self and believe in the gospel. Believing the
gospel means believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe that His blood truly covered all your sin. Believe that your salvation is
complete in Him alone and you will be saved.