Salvation According to the Bible

Book of John

Start reading the words of God in the book of John, to understand what Jesus really said to you and what He did for you, so that you could have eternal life with Him.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.“ John 1: 1-3

Accepting Jesus & Confession

Secure your salvation by a direct relationship with Christ Jesus, instead of through men.

Salvation is a gift from YHVH (God’s real name Yahovua) He freely gives it to you, but accepting it comes with a cost. You MUST count the cost FIRST.

Luk 9:23  Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
Luk 14:27  And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28  “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?

Those words are in red because in the King James Bible all words spoken by Jesus Himself are printed in red.

Salvation means to be redeemed or delivered from sin and its punishment of death and set free to know, love and serve God our heavenly Father. The Bible states, “Therefore whoever confesses Me (Jesus Christ) before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32 NKJV).

• “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; …” (Romans 3:23 KJV).

• “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 KJV).
• “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NKJV).
• “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Romans 10:13 NKJV).
• “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NKJV).
• “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV).
• “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags…” (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV).
• “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth–those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29 NKJV).
• “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10 NKJV).
• “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12 NKJV).
• “Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” (Matthew 10:26 NKJV).
• “Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:5, 8, 9 NKJV).
• “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NKJV).
• “Now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV).

Salvation is a free gift from God our heavenly Father. God gives us salvation based on what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. We accept and receive it by believing. Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, bearing in His own body the punishment of God for our sin. God’s justice was paid in full with the Lord’s sacrifice. Those who accept, receive and believe are saved from the wrath of God our heavenly Father.

• “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7 NKJV).
• “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels … And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:41, 46 NKJV).

What, then, is the connection between repentance and salvation? The book of Acts especially focuses on repentance in regard to salvation:

• • Peter replied, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent (change your mind), and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. “. (Acts 2:38)
  • So, “Repent (Change your mind [thinking]) ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” (Acts 3:19)
  • “When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting (ability to change our minds) of their sins and receiving eternal life.” (Acts 11:18)
  • “Act 17:30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him”. (Acts 17:30)
  •  “I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus”.  (Acts 20:21
  • “I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do”.  (Acts 26:20)

To repent, in relation to salvation, is to change your mind regarding sin and Jesus Christ. In Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, he concludes with a call for the people to repent (Acts 2:38). Repent from what? Peter is calling the people who rejected Jesus (Acts 2:36) to change their minds about that sin and to change their minds about Christ Himself, recognizing that He is indeed “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Peter is calling the people to change their minds, to abhor their past rejection of Christ, and to embrace faith in Him as both Messiah and Savior.

Repentance involves recognizing that you have thought wrongly in the past and determining to think rightly in the future. The repentant person has “second thoughts” about the mindset he formerly embraced. There is a change of disposition and a new way of thinking about God, about sin, about holiness, and about doing God’s will. True repentance is prompted by “godly sorrow,” and it “leads to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Repentance and faith can be understood as two sides of the same coin. It is impossible to place your faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior without first changing your mind about your sin and about who Jesus is and what He has done. Whether it is repentance from willful rejection or repentance from ignorance or disinterest, it is a change of mind. Biblical repentance, in relation to salvation, is changing your mind from rejection of Christ to faith in Christ.

Repentance is not a work we do to earn salvation. No one can repent and come to God unless God pulls that person to Himself (John 6:44). Repentance is something God gives—it is only possible because of His grace (Acts 5:31; 11:18). No one can repent unless God grants repentance. All of salvation, including repentance and faith, is a result of God drawing us, opening our eyes, and changing our hearts. God’s longsuffering leads us to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), as does His kindness (Romans 2:4). While repentance is not a work that earns salvation, repentance unto salvation does result in works. It is impossible to truly change your mind without that causing a change in action. In the Bible, repentance results in a change in behavior. That is why John the Baptist called people to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

A person who has truly repented of his sin and exercised faith in Christ will give evidence of a changed life:

• • “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun”!  (1Corinthians 5:17)
  • “19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:19-23)
  • “14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?  17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? 21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. (James 2: 14-26)

To see what repentance looks like in real life, all we need to do is turn to the story of Zacchaeus. Here was a man who cheated and stole and lived lavishly on his ill-gotten gains—until he met Jesus. At that point he had a radical change of mind: “Look, Lord!” said Zacchaeus. “Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:8). Jesus happily proclaimed that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’s house, and that even the tax collector was now “a son of Abraham” (verse 9)—a reference to Zacchaeus’s faith. The cheat became a philanthropist; the thief made restitution. That’s repentance, coupled with faith in Christ.

Repentance, properly defined, is necessary for salvation. Biblical repentance is changing your mind about your sin—no longer is sin something to toy with; it is something to be forsaken as we “flee from the coming wrath” (Matthew 3:7). It is also changing your mind about Jesus Christ—no longer is He to be mocked, discounted, or ignored; He is the Savior to be clung to; He is the Lord to be worshiped and adored.

Acts 2:38 – King James Version (KJV)

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Matthew 28: 19-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Many times, I hear people say, “how do I know I am saved”? First scripture tells us we will know. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life”.  (1 John 5:13)

The proof of your salvation is your obedience to the commands of Yeshua (Jesus). 

1John 2: 3-5 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1Jn 2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

Or you will be like three out of four Christians and claim to be a Christian while attending church services on Sunday, maybe read your Bible daily  and maybe pray at least daily, maybe. Most likely you will sporadically perform some of those and when you die, you will hear Jesus say, “²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven (preach the Kingdom of God and make disciples). ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’  Mat 7:21-23

If you want to spend eternity in Heaven, you must endure and persevere thru tribulation maybe even death, you must live as if your in a race constantly looking toward the finish line until you enter into those pearly gates  and you must work out your salvation thru preaching the Kingdom of God, baptizing those who respond to your message and train them to be disciples and repeat the process over and over year after year until you meet Jesus face to face. That process is called, “The Great Commission” which you are instructed to do by Jesus Himself. ¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mat 28: 16-20

YOU MUST OBEY nothing less will do!

Once Saved Always Saved