WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

There is a misconception that only "good" people will go to Heaven. Perhaps you would like to know what the Scriptures say about this.

A man came to Jesus. A man that most would consider to be a good and devout man. He was a religious ruler of the Jews and a teacher of Israel in the Law which God gave to Moses. And yet, Jesus told him that if he wanted to see the Kingdom of God, he would have to be born again. (John 3:1-8) Now you would think that this would have been a good time for Jesus, who always spoke the truth from God, to have said to a man such a this: "Just keep doing what you are doing and you will enter the Kingdom of God." But He didn't say that. He told him that he (as well as everyone else) had to be born again (in other words, born of the spirit) if he wanted to enter the Kingdom of God.

Now, in contrast, in the gospel of Luke 23:39-43, where it deals with the account of the two malefactors who were crucified with Jesus (malefactor means evil doer), one of these men mocked Jesus, but the other one reprimanded the mocker saying: Have you no respect? We are here because of the evil that we did, but this man (referring to Jesus) is innocent. Then he asked Jesus if He would remember him when He entered into His Kingdom. Jesus answered this man's request by guaranteeing him a place in Paradise. A man who, even by his own admission(Luke 23:41) was a criminal, was given this promise by Jesus Himself! Now ask yourself, what good works did this man do (or would he ever get to do considering he was about to die) to deserve to be in Paradise? What the man did do was to recognize that he was a sinner and that Jesus was the Savior and by putting his faith in Jesus, he received such mercy.

Time and time again Jesus was confronted with self-righteous men, many of which were religious leaders, who were offended at the idea of needing a savior, even though their entire belief system was supposedly based upon the coming of one. These people trusted in their own works to make them righteous before God. Jesus' answer to this "holier that thou" attitude was: "The crooks and the prostitutes will enter the Kingdom of God before you". (Matthew 21:31) He also told them: "I came not to call the 'righteous' but sinners to repentance."(Luke 5:32)

Yes, we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.(Romans 3:21-24) If a person could make themself righteous before God simply by doing what they think is right, then Christ died in vain. (Galatians 2:21) In Matthew 26:36-44 it says that three times Jesus asked God if there was ANY OTHER WAY that the sins of the people could be atoned for other than Him having to lay down His life for them. If EVER there was a time for it to have been said from Heaven; "Just tell them to do good works and they will be saved" this would have been the time. But, as we know, it wasn't.

Now for those of us who have accepted the fact that we are sinners, this puts us a better position to recognize our need for a savior. JESUS IS THAT SAVIOR!

"I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6

"If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord"( Messiah), and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this, not from yourselves, it is the gift from God, not of works so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8&9

"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God: and everyone who has love for the Father has love for His child." 1 John 5:1