What Must I Do to Be Saved?
What is it that makes one person
"savable" and the next one not? Why can't God save everyone? Couldn't
God take everyone to Heaven? What would happen if he did?
What does God look for to decide who
can go to Heaven? Does simply saying a certain prayer guarantee one's
salvation, no matter what one does afterward? Is He looking for merely a
legally justified record, people who have been "forgiven", or does he
also seek a changed heart? Is he looking for mere obedience, or trust and
friendship? Once he gets us there, how will He maintain order in his newly
cleansed universe?
Would you like to live next door to
someone for eternity who had lived a bad life on earth
if you knew that he had been forgiven, but was not a changed man? Or
would you feel more secure if you knew that he had not only been forgiven, but
completely changed?
Would you feel safe in the new earth
knowing that the only reason your neighbor didn't steal from you or kill
you was because God tells him not to? Or would
your feel more secure knowing that he didn't do these things because he
didn't want to do such awful things?
The good news is that although there
is no question that God is infinitely powerful, He is an equally gracious person
who values nothing higher than the freedom and dignity of his creatures, that
their lives, their worship, and their willingness to listen and obey may be
freely given!
Since the war in Heaven, there has
been a break-down in trust in God's universe. There can be no lasting or real
peace in God's family until mutual trust and trustworthiness is restored.
So all God asks of you or any of his children is trust. God can and will save all who trust him—a
trust based upon the very great weight of evidence and demonstration of his
trustworthiness.
BELIEVE ONLY
1. What did the apostle tell the Philippian
jailer he must do to be saved?
Acts
Note: The man was obviously afraid, so the
apostle Paul calmed his fears and explained to him that all he had to do was
simply to have faith, to "put
his trust in the Lord Jesus."
2. What is faith?
Hebrews
11:1
Note: Faith is a solid belief of things we
cannot see, yet know to be true. Based on the evidence God has given us in the
past, we can trust what He says, even though we cannot at the time physically
see it.
Faith, therefore, is evidence, for it is founded on
evidence. God does not bypass the human mind; He says, "Come now, and
let us reason together" (Isaiah
Although faith is founded upon
evidence that cannot always be seen with natural sight (we cannot see the wind,
but we can see the evidences of the wind.
Romans
3. Is our
faith merely to be a small part of our lives?
Hebrews
10:35-39
Note: Romans
4. How is
salvation through faith defined more simply?
John
17:3
James
2: 14, 19, 21-23
Note: Here we can see that "faith" is
simply a word to describe a relationship with God, as with a trusting friend.
Mere belief in God is not sufficient, for the Bible tells us that even the
devils believe (verse 19). Faith is simply being friends with God.
5. What is the basis of this faith-trust
relationship God wants us to have?
I Peter l :21
Note: God wants us to trust Him not on mere
claims, but upon the evidence. The greatest demonstration of what God is
like and how we can trust Him fully is in the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ.
6. What, then, will be the motivating power
behind this faith-trust relationship?
Galatians
5:6
7. Then isn't faith a blind trust, a "leap in the dark",
rather than a trust based upon evidence?
Hebrews 11:3
Isaiah 1:18
Note: God invites us to understand and
reason with him. He appeals to the logic of his intelligent
creatures.
8. How do
we gain this faith?
Romans 10:17
Note: By studying the evidence revealed in the
Bible, we learn what kind of person God is.
9. How far will this faith-trust relationship
take us?
Hebrews 11:8
2
Corinthians 5: 7
Note: When we have this faith-trust relationship
of love, trust, and admiration towards God, we will be willing to believe what he
says, accept what he offers, and do what he wishes, without reservation,
because we will have learned that he is totally trustworthy, based upon the
more than adequate evidence revealed.
10. Then will our faith be demonstrated in our
actions?
James 2:20
Note: We will not gain faith in doing
Christ's works; but by becoming closer to him, his
works will be a natural result.
11. How great
is this change brought about by a relationship with Christ?
John 3:3
Note: The change will be so great, that it will
seem as though that person was "born again"!
A PUBLIC DECLARATION
The change that takes place in a
person who believes in Jesus is such a crucial turning point on his life that
Jesus said it should be celebrated and confirmed by an appropriate ceremony,
called baptism. He even
made baptism a part of his Great Commission to take the Gospel to the
world. (Matthew 28:19)
Paul indicates how this significant
ceremony should be performed by his explanation of its meaning (see Romans
6:1-11). Baptism, he said,
represents the burial of old habits of sin, the end of rebellious lack of
trust, the recognition that it cost the death of the Son of God to do away with
sin. Then, just as Christ rose from the
grave and returned to his Father, so the Christian rises from the water of
Baptism to a new way of life. This
ceremony brings incomparable joy, satisfaction, peace and relief—we are
publicly announcing our decision to accept God's friendship!
Below are a few of the different forms
of baptism used today:
a) Immersion — (entire
body submerged backwards in water.)
b) Trine immersion — (entire
body submerged face forward three times.)
c) Aspersion — (being
sprinkled with water.)
d) Infusion — (having
water poured on you.)
e) Having rose petals or salt sprinkled on you.
f) Being anointed with
oil.
g) Having wine poured on
you.
h) Using no water.
i) Words spoken over the
phone or sent by mail.
j) The Holy Spirit in the
life.
k) Symbolic or figurative.
12. How many baptisms does the Bible recognize?
Ephesians
4:5
Note: God recognizes only one true form of
baptism. Early Christians symbolized
this experience by being immersed beneath the water. The word "Baptize" comes
from the Greek word "BAPTIZO", which means "to dip,
submerge, or immerse" an object in water, so that the
whole article is immersed, in the same fashion as a piece of cloth is
completely immersed in a vat of dye. All
other forms are not really baptism at all.
JESUS,
OUR PERFECT EXAMPLE
13. Who is my example in everything, including
baptism?
I Peter 2:21
14. What form of baptism did John use when he
baptized Jesus?
Mark l:9-11
Note: Please note that John baptized Jesus
"in" the
15. When John at first refused to baptize
Jesus, what did Jesus tell him?
Matthew
3:13-15
Note: Jesus did not need baptism, since He had
never broken His faith-trust relationship with the Father through sin. But He
explained to John that all of US do. So, to set a perfect example for righteous
living, it was necessary that He be baptized.
16. Why did John baptize in Aenon?
John 3:23
17. Philip, an evangelist who preached after the ascension of Christ,
baptized the treasurer of
Acts
8:27-39, especially verses
38,39
Note: Philip baptized the treasurer the same way
Jesus was baptized.
BAPTISM TODAY
18. Does God still want us to experience baptism
today?
Acts
10:44-48
According to the Bible, before a
person is baptized, the following takes place:
a) A person is taught and accepts Jesus'
teachings. Matthew 28:18-20
b) A person believes
these teachings from his heart. Mark
c) A person repents. Acts
d) A person turns away from sin. Romans
6:5,6, Matthew 3:7,8
e) A person experiences the new birth. 2
Corinthians 5:17, John 3:5
19. In light of what you have learned about
God, do infants need to be baptized?
Note: Like marriage, baptism should be entered
into by two consenting, reasoning adults. Baptizing infants is meaningless,
because they have no faith. An infant can be dedicated to the Lord, as
Jesus was as a baby, but baptism is meaningful only when it expresses the
believer's faith.
We have learned that we are saved by a
healing relationship with our Father, not by baptism or any other act.
20. What 2 points did Jesus make regarding the
new birth?
John
3:5
Note: It takes love and a formal ceremony
for a good marriage. There are also two aspects to the new birth; the spiritual
part is our new, love-relationship with Jesus; and the "official"
part is baptism, where we publicly pledge ourselves to him. Both are called for
in the Scripture.
BAPTISM
AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
21. Baptism is like a marriage ceremony in
which a person is uniting with, or married to Christ.
Read Galatians
3:27
Note: Baptism carries the same relationship to
being a Christian as the wedding to a marriage. Both ceremonies must be based
on a deep-seated love and full understanding, if they are to be meaningful. To
refuse baptism would be similar to two people claiming to love one another, yet
refusing to marry each other.
22. Some people worship on Sunday in honour of
the resurrection. What did Jesus ask us to do in honour of his death, burial,
and resurrection?
Romans
6:4-6
Note: Salvation, or the way in which God heals the damage sin has done,
centers in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection (I Corinthians 15:3,4). Baptism by immersion is a symbol of all three.
There is a DEATH
to sin. Next is a BURIAL beneath
the water. Then a RESURRECTION from the water to an
entirely new life. No other form of baptism fits this symbolism.
WHY WAIT ANY LONGER?
23. Once a person has a faith-trust
relationship with Jesus, and his views about God have changed, how soon should
he be baptized?
Acts 22:I6
24. When I refuse baptism,
what am I rejecting?
Luke 7:28-30
Note:
You are
rejecting God's purpose for your life—his plans of happiness and life for you.
CONCLUSION
"And
there came a voice from heaven, saying, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased."
Mark
Would you like
to prepare for baptism? Would you like to publicly declare your faith-trust in
your friend, God?
My response
to Christ is:______________________________