Resources/Articles
Create Your Own Salvation
Most people want everything done their way. Sadly enough, when it comes to spiritual things there is no difference. Jesus asked a question a long time ago I believe deserves some serious consideration today. He asked, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Simply saying you are His does not make you His! He said unless you do the “things” He said to do - not just one, but all of them - it does not good to claim to be one of His disciples. Consider some examples…
Some have no scriptural pattern to be saved! The “sinner’s prayer” is a popular means of attaining salvation. This idea has no biblical precedence. There is no record of anyone in scripture attaining salvation through prayer, neither was it ever established as a command. Cornelius prayed before he became a Christian and God heard his prayers. They went up as a memorial unto God, not a means of his salvation (Acts 10:4; 11:11-16). Peter spoke words of salvation to Cornelius and his house. Those words contained the power to save (Romans 1:16), not prayer.
Some like to pick and choose their way to heaven. Many would tell you the Bible teaches we are saved by grace through faith alone according to Ephesians 2:8,9. That is simply not what Paul taught! In Acts 19, Paul taught some people in Ephesus that they needed to be baptized into Christ. Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians after their conversions proclaiming ‘by grace are ye saved through faith.” Who then is saved by grace through faith? “YE” who have already heard, believed, repented, confessed, and been baptized (Acts 19:1-5; Ephesians 1:13). They demonstrated their faith by doing what the Lord had told them to do.
Some have chosen to follow God’s plan of salvation. Our lives should be about doing things God’s way. God has laid out a simple plan to get to heaven. A person must hear His Word because “faith comes by hearing” and “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:6). Jesus told us to repent of our sins and confess our faith in Him “before men” (Luke 13:3; Matthew 10:32). After the eunuch stated his belief in Jesus as the Christ, they went “down into the water” and Philip baptized him (Acts 8:38-39). There are more like examples recorded in the book of Acts. No one could mis how one is saved. However, do not forget we must live faithful to the “things” He has said until death and then, and only then, will we receive the “crown of life” (Luke 6:46; Revelation 2:10).
