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How to be Saved

The good news of Jesus Christ is that salvation from sin, death, and shame is a free gift from God, wrought in the hearts of sinners by grace through faith alone

Acknowledge

Everyone intuitively understands that evil exists in the world. It's on television everyday, especially on the various news networks: senseless wars that take countless innocent lives, corrupt politicians that twist the law, etc. The tragedies are too long to list and it's easy to hate the evildoers behind them. But when the mirror is turned toward us, we're quick to make excuses, obscure the truth, and justify our misbehavior. We must yield to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and acknowledge that evil is within us, too. In the book of Romans, St. Paul the apostle wrote, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God" (Romans 3:10-11). Through the deceit of the Devil and the corruption of our fallen nature, we overlook the severity of our sins and distract ourselves with the sins of others. But the Scripture teaches, "He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). So the first step toward salvation and the forgiveness of sins is acknowledging that we are each sinners. St. John the apostle wrote in his epistles, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9).

Repent

There are many people who acknowledge their sins, confess them to one another, and tell the truth about their sinful habits, yet they don't renounce and turn away from them. Whether it's drunkards that won't give up the bottle, adulterers addicted to the thrill of infidelity, or even gluttons that can't resist the third helping. For so many, it's easier to continue in sin than to make meaningful changes to our lifestyle. But there is no use in acknowledging that we are each sinners without repenting and turning away from those sins for which we are guilty, especially habitual sins that easily entangle us. It's written, "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1). Repentance is about making a conscious effort to do better and think purer thoughts, though everyone stumbles and makes mistakes from time to time. That is why Scripture teaches, "Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes" (Proverbs 24:16). The difference between the so-called righteous person and the wicked isn't perfection and imperfection, the difference is between persistence and capitulation.

Believe

Now we speak about those who acknowledge their sins, and perhaps they even repent of them, yet they do not believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). The standard that everyone must attain for salvation is nothing short of the very perfection and holiness of God. But no one is so righteous, as St. Paul wrote, and no one even understands. The whole world is complicit in terrible tragedies, one after another. Though the so-called righteous person may rise again seven times, stumbling even once makes them guilty of the whole law of God, as St. James wrote, "For whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (James 2:10). Since none of us are righteous, holy, or perfect enough to attain salvation and the forgiveness of sins, God appointed Jesus to be our substitute who takes the punishment for our sins and whose blood pleads for our forgiveness. In Colossians, St. Paul writes, "When you were dead in your trespasses...God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:13-14). While we were helpless and hopeless, the sinful enemies of God, the Lord Jesus died on our behalf, taking our sins into His sinless body and nailing them to the cross. So now, because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, the wrath of God is satisfied and we're invited to repent, believe, and receive from the bounty of God's grace. It's written, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

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