How does a person get saved? With all the religious jargon and Christianese spoken in different churches in different places, the simplicity of the word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ tends to become watered down and burdened with unnecessary things.
In this article, I hope to unload all the trash and go back to the basics, asking this very question:
What are the requirements for salvation?
When humans add to the mix
The Bible is a very simple and straightforward book, offering within its pages a carefully outlined and detailed list of things that God wants all men to know and obey.
When man tries to enter the scene, however, the simplicity of God's commands and the light weight of Christ's burden are converted into an impossible list of to-dos with a heavy yoke on the neck.
Why is this? It's because we add to God's simple commands.
How does a person get saved, really?
Now, let's go over to the main topic here. Salvation is a free gift for us who believe the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a free gift for us now, but in reality someone had to pay the price for us to have the opportunity to be saved:
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6)
From here we can see a few things that were necessary for our salvation.
1) An acknowledgement of sin
In the passage in Isaiah 53:4-6 we see that sin was mentioned several times, in different forms or with reference to it.
All of us, if we want to be saved, we've got to come face-to-face with the truth: we are sinners. We keep looking for some fun and enjoyment, but actually what we are really looking for is God's forgiveness of our sins.
Do we acknowledge our sins before God, and repent of them?
2) A just punishment
God is holy, righteous and just. Because of this, He simply cannot and will not tolerate sin -- He will punish it.
Truth be told, we all deserve to receive a scary punishment for our sins. Christ, however, took our place and received the just punishment for our sins in behalf of us.
Christ received the full wrath of God upon the sin of mankind. It was on our behalf.
3) Faith in the Son of God
Jesus Christ received the just punishment for our sin. His bloodshed allowed God to forgive our sins, and His death and resurrection paved the way for us to be saved and live with God for eternity.
All that is left is for us to put our faith in Him.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)
After putting our faith in Christ, we need to submit to Him and obey Him as our Lord.
