Steps into Faith
Q: How do I become a Christian?
A: Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth , “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
Admit that you are a sinner to God. (Romans 3:23)
Believe that Jesus died and rose again, that he is the son of God, the Saviour .
(Romans 5:8)
“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
(Luke 13:5)
Q: Do all religions lead to God?
A: No, Jesus is the only way to heaven. (John 14:6)
Earning Salvation/God’s Grace
Q: Do our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds? Why or why not?
A: They do not. Because no matter how little you sin and even if you do so much good, any sin results in death unless that sin has been forgiven.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)
Q: What do you mean, “Saved by grace alone through faith alone?” You don’t think we have to do anything to earn our way to heaven? That’s too easy. Nothing is truly ‘free’.
A: Two main things:
a. Our human minds think in terms of cause-and-effect, or you-owe-me, and we think that we life should be ‘fair’. Often, we expect to be repaid for things we do, and we expect others to ‘earn’ favors from us. But that’s not how God set it up. Salvation is a free gift (Romans 6:23), and there’s nothing we can do to earn it. We must be saved by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9).
b. The standards to enter heaven are quite clear: perfection. But the Bible says that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10). It also says that if someone keeps the whole law, but breaks it at just one point, that person is guilty of breaking every law (James 2:10). If we try to earn our own way to heaven, we are trying to lower God’s standards of perfection, holiness, and righteousness to something humans can accomplish, even though the Bible says we CAN’T accomplish it on our own. Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6), and there’s no way we can live up to the expectation of perfection. That’s why Jesus did it for us.
Q: Have I done too many bad things to be saved?
A: Did you know the man responsible for writing most of the New Testament books also did some really bad things? He persecuted the early church and murdered Christians. (Acts 8-9)
King David who in the Bible is described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) was a murderer, liar and adulterer. ( 2 Samuel 11)
The apostle Peter denied the Lord himself 3 times right before Jesus’ crucifixion
All humans have broken the 10 commandments. All humans have sinned, but can be justified by grace. (Romans 3:23-24)
Q: Are we justified by faith alone or faith plus works?.
A: Of course we are justified by faith alone, all of our righteousness is as filthy rags before God until we are covered by the blood of Christ (Isaiah 64:6). Therefore, our works are of absolutely no value in justification.
Paul explicitly teaches that Abraham was not justified by works but by believing (Romans 4:2-3).
Paul also says that faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:5)
Other verses to cross reference:
Galatians 2:16
Romans 3:28
Philippians 3:9
Ephesians 2:8
James 2:23
Galatians 3:24
Of course true faith produces good works, but those good works are not the basis for our justification. We are justified by faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.