How can I be saved?
By grace through faith, not by works, but by trusting in Christ alone, confessing Him as Lord, and receiving His righteousness. Salvation is a gift; faith is the open hand that receives it.
This question arose from studying Why did Jesus have to die? and Did Jesus really rise from the dead?.
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Go into the Word
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
1Ephesians 2:8-9 · WEB Romans 6:23 · WEB
It is a gift, not wages
By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. Eternal life is 'the free gift of God… eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' If it could be earned, it would be a wage; the gospel says it is a gift.
for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2John 14:6 · WEB Acts 4:12 · WEB 1 Timothy 2:5 · WEB
It is through faith in Christ alone
Salvation is not found in a system or a church or a set of works; it is a Person. 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' 'Neither is there any other name under heaven… by which we must be saved.'
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
3John 3:16 · WEB Acts 16:31 · WEB
Faith is trust, not mere agreement
Even demons believe God exists; they shudder. Saving faith is not intellectual assent; it is the trust of the whole heart. 'Whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.' Believe, and the life is already yours.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
4Acts 3:19 · WEB Mark 1:15 · WEB Acts 20:21 · WEB
It begins with repentance: turning to God
The gospel call is to repent and believe. 'Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.' Repentance is not earning forgiveness; it is turning from sin to the Savior who forgives. Jesus began His preaching the same way: 'Repent, and believe in the Good News.'
“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”
testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus.
5Ephesians 1:13-14 · WEB Romans 8:38-39 · WEB 1 John 5:11-13 · WEB John 10:27-28 · WEB
It is sealed, secure, and knowable
When you believe, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit, God's guarantee. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And John writes that these things were written 'that you may know that you have eternal life.' Assurance is not arrogance; it is faith in a promise.
in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?→“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God?→“For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”Why did Jesus call himself the Son of Man?→“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”Where is Jesus now?→“When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.””Does Jesus sharing God's nature mean there are two Gods?→“I and the Father are one.””What happened between the cross and the resurrection?→“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.”Why is Jesus called both the Son of God and the Son of Man?→“But he stayed quiet, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.””Is the Son of Man title about judgment or mercy?→“For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,”What does it mean that the world hates Jesus?→“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”Why did God become a man?→“The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”Why did the disciples not recognize Him after He rose?→“But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of David?→“When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”Why did Jesus often tell people not to reveal who He was?→“The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!” He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.”How can one Person be fully God and fully man at once?→“The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”What does the creed mean by 'he descended into hell'?→“because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.”What is the final judgment, and who will be there?→“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”What did Jesus teach about the kingdom of God?→“From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.””How is the new covenant different from the old one?→“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”What was it like to see the risen Jesus?→“See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.””Why did Jesus appear only to certain people after His resurrection?→“God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”Who were 'the spirits in prison', and what did Christ preach to them?→“in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”What does it mean that God is one?→“Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.”What will believers be rewarded for, if salvation is by grace alone?→“each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.”What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?→“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”For whom did Christ die?→“I am the good shepherd.The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”What does the title 'Christ' mean?→“The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,”Does the Bible teach there are other gods?→“It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him.”Who are the 'gods' (elohim) of Psalm 82?→“God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.”If Jesus is the 'firstborn of all creation,' was He created?→“who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.”Do I need a priest to reach God?→“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”What does Scripture show us about Mary?→“Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,”Does it matter which Jesus I believe in?→“But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.”Which modern portraits of Jesus preach another Jesus?→“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?””How does Jesus becoming man show us the Father's love?→“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Lion of Judah?→“One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.” I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.”Explore further
What does it mean to be born again?→Our Walk with Him trail“Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see the Kingdom of God.””Can I lose my salvation?→Our Walk with Him trail“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”What happens when I sin after I've come to Christ?→Our Walk with Him trail“My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.”What should I do now that I'm saved?→Our Walk with Him trail“Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”Does James contradict Paul? Is it faith or works?→Our Walk with Him trail“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”What is the new heart that God promised?→Our Walk with Him trail“I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.
that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
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