The most important question a person can ask is this: "What must I do to be saved?"  Let us look at this question - It is very important that we know WHERE to look!! Where should man look to know how to please God? Should he look within himself? Look what Jeremiah said about this - "O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps (Jer 10:23)." Should man trust his feelings? God says no! - There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; But the end thereof are the ways of death (Prov 14:12).  To please God, we must look to God's revelation to man - His word (Jude 3), His scriptures can make us complete (2 Tim 3:16-17).  Just as the earth was waste and void (Gen 1:2) before light was, man is lost and hopeless without God - The entire theme of the Bible is Gods mercy and grace offered to man thru Christ - The "Son" of Righteousness (Mal 4:2) came to earth from heaven to offer Himself for us!! What mercy He shows us! The very thought of the Holy God going thru such pain, suffering and humiliation for wretched, sinful humanity is so very humbling, and shows the high price at which His church was purchased, a price that we could NEVER in a billion years repay!! You see, sin seperates man from God (Is.59:2 ) - God is Holy and merciful, so Holy that He cannot look upon sin - sin cannot stand in the Holy presence of God!! God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to bear our sins and reconcile us to Him (Heb 9:28,2 Cor 5:18). But we surely cannot be reconciled to Him without the first step- Belief--

*BELIEVE: The book of John was written that we may believe (Jn 20:31) - Jesus did many signs and wonders so that people would believe (Jn 4:48, 14:11 )- As God is the only God, He is the only source of power in existence -- thus He confirmed the word being taught with power (Mk 16:20,Lk 4:36, 1 Cor 2:4) - proving that the doctrine was from God!! Without belief, certainly a person would not obey (Mk 16:16) -- thus without belief, a person is lost (Jn 8:24). Belief is the very first step and it is absolutely vital!! It is very important at this point to make something very clear-- Almost every "denomination" teaches "some truth"- But we know that "some" isnt enough!! Just ask Saul about obeying "some" of God's commands instead of All (1 Sam 15)! It is vital to teach the WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD(Acts 20:27)-- Remember, The sum of thy word is truth (Ps 119:160)

*REPENT:  Every once in a while, most folks stop to "smell the roses" - that is, they stop to think and enjoy things. If a person really thinks about it, every blessing in his/her life is from God...after all, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1) and all that is in them - this includes the air that we breath, the land upon which we live, the people that we care about and interact with -- The goodness of God should lead us to repentance (Rom 2:4)- This means that we certainly could NOT be here if not for God, everything that we enjoy is from Him- shouldnt this make us want to be grateful to Him? To realize that OUR sins have seperated us from our God? Our sins!! Not His!! Shouldnt His mercy and grace make us regret the wicked things that we have done? Shouldnt we want to turn away from them and turn to Him? That is repentance!! It is more than being sorry - It is a change -- A change in heart that leads to a change in actions -- John told the Sadducees and Pharisees to bring "fruit worthy of repentance" (Mt 3:8)- This means that they needed to show their feelings and change, rather than just say it -- Those who are criminals, must stop their activities, give restitution where possible and turn to God-- To give restitution if possible is a fruit worthy of repentance -- it shows your change in action -- Repenting means that we give 100% to never do the thing repented of again - to stop doing wrong and start doing right!!

*CONFESSION: In the 1st century, confessing Christ had serious consequences - many times it would cost you your life!! Today, the consequences are not as severe(yet). Yet the principle remains - To confess Christ before men is vital to our salvation - Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven (Mt 10:32-33).  From this passage we see that only those that confess Christ before men will be confessed before His Father in heaven -- If a person does not confess Christ, he will not be confessed before God in heaven - simple as that!! The Eunech confessed Christ BEFORE he was saved in Acts 8:37.

*At this point, a person has belief, their belief has made them realize that they are sinners, thus they have turned away from sin, in penitence - they have confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, yet they are still in sin. We know this from Paul's conversion in Acts 22 - when Paul realized his error, he was very sorry -- He prayed and fasted for 3 days (Acts 9:9,11)! Surely he was very sorry and this showed it -- He surely believed because he witnessed the power of God (Acts 22:8), he surely repented because he fasted and prayed for 3 days -- yet, Paul was still in his sins!! What could he possibly do to be free from them? And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name (Acts 22:16)

*BAPTISM:  Baptism is the culmination of obedience to the gospe l- It mirrors Christ's death, burial and resurrection by the sinner dying to sin, being buried with Christ(contacting His blood) in baptism and rising to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4) - The very first gospel sermon was preached by the Inspired Peter - He and the other apostles had just received the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4), 10 days after Jesus ascended into heaven- They began to fulfill the Great Commission by preaching repentance and baptism for the remission of sins (Lk 24:47)- The jews on the day asked what they must do - the same question asked at the beginning of this article-- Peter said - Repent and be baptized unto the remission of sins --

Let me ask a serious question -- DOES THE TRUTH EVER CHANGE? If folks were saved this way then, then folks are saved this way now!! We are still under the Great Commission!! Baptism is the act that most folks have a problem with -- If you know your Bible this should sound familiar -- Didn't Naaman have the same problem with God's will in 2 Kings 5? Didn't Naaman get very angry because HE THOUGHT " He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper." (v11) Did dipping in the Jordan river 7 times make sense to Naaman? No! For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Is 55:8-9) This act of obedience may not have made sense to Naaman, but it was absolutely ESSENTIAL to his cleansing!!! Thus it is today with baptism -- Paul told the church in Colossae that baptism was a working of God (2:12) not man!!  It is an act of obedience, an act of faith (Gal 3:26-27) -- Regardless of what man says, God says that baptism unto the remission of sins is absolutely NECESSARY for our salvation -- Without it, we are still in our sins!!

* At this point a person has heard the word of God (Rom 10:17) and they believe - they have repented of their sins and confessed Christ among men - They have been baptized unto the remission of sins in water (Acts 10:47) - At this point they have been added by the Lord to His church (Acts 2:47) -- Now this person is a christian, he/she must remain faithful unto death (Rev 2:10) To be faithful means that we "walk in the light" (1 Jn 1:7) - To assemble together with other christians as commanded to worship God in spirit and truth (Jn 4:23-24) To proclaim the gospel and thus do all they can to help fulfill the duty given by Christ in the Great Commission. A faithful Christian will abstain from all forms of evil (1 Thes 5:22) and put God first in their lives!! What a blessing it is to be in Christ!!