Becoming A Christian

The ABC's of Salvation

A. Admit 
Admit that you are a sinner and have done wrong things in God's eyes.
Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Galatians 3:22 "But the Scripture (Bible) has confined us all under sin.

The consequences of sin is eternal separation from God.
Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death..."
Revelation 20:15 "And anyone nor found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

We have to turn from doing things our way and follow Jesus. This is called repentance. Repentance means "a changing of the mind." We now know that our life apart from Jesus is not acceptable. That is why the Bible says in Matthew 3:2-6, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!...And many went out (to John the Baptist) and were baptized by him in the Jordan (river), confessing their sins.

Acts 3:19 says, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...

B. Believe
When we acknowledge to God that we have sinned and want to turn to Him, the Bible says that we must simply believe.

What is it that we must believe?
God loves you so much that God the Father sent Jesus, who willingly came to earth to live a perfect, sinless life. He was the sacrificial Lamb who died in our place on the cross to pay for our sins.

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us...Having now been justified (declared innocent) by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath/judgment through Him."

John 3:16 "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." 

If a person will not turn to Jesus, he will stand condemned.
John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

C. Call
Call out to Jesus to receive this free gift of forgiveness and salvation. The Bible tells us that we cannot simply earn this salvation - it comes as a free gift from God if we simply place our faith in the finished work that Jesus did on the cross. Placing our faith in Jesus is called being saved, converted, regenerated, and born-again. The moment we call out to Jesus and invite Him to be our Savior and Lord, He comes into our life and we are never the same again!

Romans 10:9-10 "...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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by God's grace you have been saved through faith...not of (good) works."

Romans 5:18 "...through one Man's (Jesus) righteous act (dying on the cross) the free gift (salvation and heaven) came to all men. 

The Bible tells us that once we call out to God to save us, and believe that He died and rose again from the grave, we have been saved. Romans 10:13 "For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."