The ABCs of Salvation

Will you go to heaven or hell at the end of this life?

From the beginning of the world, the punishment for sin (wrongdoing) has been death.  Since everyone has sinned, everyone has been condemned to death.  But, it doesn’t have to be that way: Jesus loved us enough to take the punishment for us and clear the debt that we owed, so thanks to His sacrifice, people can have eternal life with God when they die from this earth.  This is what Jesus asks us to do in order to receive this great gift:

A: ADMIT

Admit that you’re a sinner

You must realize that you are not perfect and that you have committed wrongdoing.  God’s will is for there to be no wrongdoing (sin) whatsoever, but we have all committed sin.  So, the first step is to admit that we have, in fact, committed sin, and that we are not perfect.

See Rom 3:23, Rom 6:23, Is 53:6, James 2:10, Rom 3:10, John 16:8, 2 Cor 7:10

B: BELIEVE

Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Him from the dead

Believing has an obedience component.  If we believe that Jesus took on our punishment that we deserved, and we know that we deserved to die, (see step A above,) then we will be extremely grateful knowing what he has done.  If someone saved your kid from being hit by a car, wouldn’t you be eternally grateful?  How much more grateful should we be that Jesus saved us from eternal death?  So, if a person truly believes in what Jesus did, he will be thankful, and as a thankful person, he will turn from his current ideas that sin is ok and turn his loyalties toward God’s goal (God’s will) for each of us, a sinless life.

See 1 Cor 15:3-4, Rom 5:8, John 3:16, Eph 2:8-9

C: CALL

Call upon the name of the Lord

Remember how we said that believing means taking action?  You must ask Jesus to save you and come into your life.  Someone who doesn’t believe wouldn’t call on the name of the Lord, so calling on His name is evidence that we believe.

See Rom 10:13, Acts 3:19, Rom 10:9, 1 John 1:9