Christianity is different from
other religions because the
Holy Bible teaches us that
man cannot save himself by
anything that he does. Why?
We'll get to that further down
in this post.
Titus
3:5 Not by works of
righteousness which we
have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us,
by the washing of
regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy
Ghost;
3:6 Which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour;
3:7 That being justified
by his grace [God's
unmerited favor towards
us], we should be made
heirs according to the
hope of eternal life.
Other world religions
believe that you have to
go to church every week
or every time the church
opens, or pray in a certain
way, or in a certain place,
or a certain number of
times a day, or wear
certain religious clothing,
or do righteous deeds
(good works), or attend
religious ceremonies, or
pay a certain amount of
money to be saved to get
into heaven, etc. All of
these ways are just man's
way of working their way
to heaven to earn their
salvation.
The big question for all of
these other religions is
how many prayers,
how many good works,
how much money, or
how many religious rites
or practices must you
do before you KNOW
that you will get to
heaven? No one can
answer that, so the
people in those religions
have no hope that they
will get to heaven until
after they die; and
then God says it is
too late to be saved!
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed
unto men once to die,
but after this the
judgment:
Proverbs 11:7
When a wicked [God
says we are all sinners]
man dieth, his expectation
shall perish: and the hope
of unjust men perisheth.
Some religious leaders
believe in physically
forcing people to take
their religion. Other
religious leaders give
advice, or say "wise"
things. But none of
these religious men
could offer atonement
(payment) for your sins
and mine.
All of the religious
leaders of these other
religions are dead and
in their graves!
Only Jesus Christ, the
Sinless Son of God,
could be the substitute
to pay our sin debt. And
the awesome part is
that Jesus Christ rose
from the dead and is
alive today, sitting at the
right hand of God Almighty
in heaven! Jesus is alive
and was witnessed by
over 500 people at one
time after His
resurrection from the
dead!
1 Corinthians 15:6
After that, he was seen of
above five hundred
brethren [believers] at
once; of whom the
greater part remain
[are alive] unto this
present, but some
are fallen asleep [died].
Now to that question I asked
in the beginning of this post.
Why can't we be saved by
our good deeds or religious
ceremonies or whatever?
The answer is because our
relationship with God the
Father in heaven is broken
because we are sinners.
God is a holy God and
cannot be in the presence
of sin.
Habakkuk 1:13(a)
Thou [God] art of purer eyes
than to behold evil, and
canst not look on iniquity:
So that means that no one
could ever get to heaven
because God says we
have all sinned! Yikes!
But please keep reading
because there is good
news coming!
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one
man [Adam] sin entered
into the world, and death
by sin; and so death
passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned:
But, God loved us so much
that he made THE ONLY
way for us to be saved from
our sins so we could spend
eternity with Him in his holy
heaven! So God the
Father in heaven sacrificed
his only begotten Sinless
Son, Jesus Christ, to die
on the cross in our place
to pay for our sins.
And when God resurrected
Jesus from the dead, God
showed us that he had
accepted Christ's blood
sacrifice on the cross as
full payment for the sins
of everyone in the whole
world!
1 John 4:10
Herein is love, not that we
loved God, but that he
loved us, and sent his
Son [Jesus Christ] to be
the propitiation* for our
sins.
*propitiation = payment
in full.
John 3:16 Jesus Christ said
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only
begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in
him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
God says that "all our
righteousnesses" (good
deeds, prayers, tithes or
donations, religious
ceremonies, religious
activities, etc.) are as
filthy rags to Him;
reminding us that those
activities cannot save us
from our sins and get us
into heaven.
Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as
filthy rags; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities [sins], like the wind,
have taken us away.
Salvation is a free gift from
God. A gift is not something
you pay for, or that you have
to work for. A gift is free.
But a gift is not ours unless
we accept it. This is what
makes Christianity different
from every other religion
in the world! We cannot
do anything to save ourselves!
God said so! Think about it!
If we could earn our way to
heaven, then God the
Father in heaven sacrificed
his only begotten Sinless
Son, Jesus Christ, to die
for no reason! That would
be a cruel heavenly
Father and God!
Now the very good news
of how to get saved from
your sins God's Way and
go to heaven when you die...
God's Holy-Spirit-inspired,
Preserved Word, the King
James Bible, tells us that
God says there is only
one way into His Holy
heaven.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.
First some important facts
we must all understand!
Heaven is where God's
throne is; and in order for
us to go to heaven when
we die, we must get there
God's way, not our way!
Isaiah 66:1(a)
Thus saith the LORD, The
heaven is my throne, and
the earth is my footstool:
God is holy and cannot be
around sin or sinners. Yikes.
That includes me.
Please keep reading
because the good news
is coming.
Habbakuk 1:13(a)
Thou [God] art of purer
eyes than to behold evil,
and canst not look on
iniquity [sin]:
God says we are all sinners
because we inherited a sin
nature from Adam, the
first man. Sin is
disobedience to God's
laws (His Holy Word
Preserved in the King
James Bible).
Keep reading because
there is good news coming.
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man
[Adam] sin entered into
the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all
have sinned:
So, if God cannot be around
sin and He says we are all
sinners, how do we get to
heaven when we die? The
Bible tells us how.
First we must understand that
we cannot work our way in to
heaven!
Titus 3:5
Not by works of
righteousness which we
have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us,
by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing
of the Holy Ghost;
Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as
filthy rags; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities [sins], like the
wind, have taken us away.
So here is how to get to
saved from your sins and
go to heaven when you die:
Romans 10:13
For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
Paul and Silas' jailer was
influenced by the testimony
of their actions, and asked
them how to be saved.
Look at their answer to him.
Acts
16:30 And brought them out,
and said, Sirs, what must I
do to be saved?
16:31 And they said, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house.
But it's more than just
believing about Jesus with
our minds. Satan and his
devils (fallen angels)
believe the facts about
Jesus Christ's life, death,
and resurrection; but they
are not willing to trust in Him
ALONE for the salvation
from their sins. In order to
be saved you need to be
willing to trust in only Jesus
Christ alone (without your
good works or religious
ceremonies or church
traditions) for your
salvation.
Jesus said we need to be
willing to repent of our sins.
There are 22 verses about
the need to repent before
being saved in the New
Testament. To repent
means that you have had
a change of heart and
are now willing to turn
away from your sins (stop
doing them), and that
now you want to live in
obedience to God's
commands in His holy
Word.
Luke 13:3 Jesus said:
I tell you, Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise
perish.
We need to tell God
in heaven that we
believe that Jesus
Christ, His Sinless Son,
died for our sins, was
buried, and three days
later He rose from the
dead.
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt
confess [to God in
heaven] with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath
raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be
saved.
And then tell Jesus you
trust that he died for you
and paid for all of your
sins once and for all of
them, and that now you
want to commit your life
to him as your personal
Saviour and the Lord
of your life.
Acts 2:21
And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall
call on the name of
the Lord shall be
saved.
Romans 10:10
For with the heart man
believeth unto
righteousness; and
with the mouth
confession [to God in
heaven] is made
unto salvation.
Be aware that it is not
our prayer (something
we do) that saves us!
It is God's grace (His
unearned favor
towards us) that saves
us and salvation is a
gift from God. You do not
work to earn a gift. It is
free.
We must choose to
accept God's gracious
gift and not insult Him
by trying to earn (by
good works or
religious ceremonies
or church traditions)
what God has freely
given.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye
saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
And if you have accepted
Jesus Christ as your
Saviour and Lord of
your life, now it is
important that you, as a
new Christian, get to
know how to live your
life to please God in
heaven and to help
spread the gospel of
salvation through
Jesus Christ alone.
Here is a link to my
post 'What Do I Do
Now That I Am Saved?'
that will give you
encouragement and
guidelines for how to
become a mature
Christian. Link here.