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What Must I Do To
Be Saved?

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

What must I do to be saved? The million dollar question, right? Well, it's really not so difficult to understand nor to
do!

I can best explain it with a simple story from my own childhood:   My sister and I were younger, pre-teen to teenage
years, and on this particular summer day we were at home enjoying our summer vacation. We were told NOT to drink
all the Coca-Cola. One simple instruction. Well, we drank ALL the Coca-Cola! More accurately, I drank all the
Coca-Cola! When my parents arrived home we were, of course, questioned about this. My parents were not
opposed to using the belt on us, so how we answered this question was very important to the both of us! Long
story short, before I could answer and confess that I had done it, that I was the guilty one, that I had drank all the
Coke, my sister steps in and says, "I did it. I drank all the Coke". Needless to say, with that confession, she took the
subsequent punishment (I wasn't brave enough or fool enough to confess!).

In this little story from my history, we find the gospel message! A God who loved us too much to leave us without a
way of escape, even when we were the framers and forgers of our own hellish destinies!   You see, God laid out
some commands to humanity, a list of do's and don'ts if you will. This list of commands can be found in a book called
the Holy Bible. If you take a little bit of time to open up the Book, you will, no doubt, see some of these commands
and will soon begin to recognize as I did and still do, that I have not kept all of these commands. Whenever we
break a command of God as found in the Bible it is what the Bible calls "sin". Well, the Bible says that ALL have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (ROMANS 3:23). That means me and that means you. That means the
pimp right up to the preacher...ALL have sinned!

Having established that you and I have sinned, the Bible says that because we have broken the clear commands of
God, now appropriate justice must be dispensed and God's definition of appropriate punishment is...DEATH! The Bible
says the wages of sin is death (ROMANS 6:23)! The Bible says that the soul that sins shall DIE (EZEKIEL 18:4)!   So,
basically, apart from Jesus Christ, we ALL are awaiting execution on death row! The Bible says that it has been
appointed unto men once to die and then the judgement (HEBREWS 9:27). The Bible says that whosoever was not
written in the Book of Life (the Book of Life contains the names of those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior and
Lord) was cast into the Lake of Fire (REVELATION 20:15)!

Now, if this were the end of the story and that was all there was to it we would be a most miserable bunch indeed!
But in steps my sister...I mean my Savior...and your Savior if you will allow Him to be! You see, Jesus did for you and I
on a much larger scale than what my sisiter did for me when we were kids and I broke the clear command of my
parents and was facing judement. Jesus stepped in and took the blame for something He didn't do knowing full well
what the punishment was! The punishment wasn't three swats with the belt. The punishment wasn't being
grounded for a week. The punishment was DEATH! That's what Jesus did for us on a Roman cross two thousand
years ago! He stepped in and took the penalty of death for us so that we wouldn't have to experience it (death
being far more than a physical, natural death but a seperation from God for an eternity in a place the Bible calls Hell)!

Not only did Christ take our punishment for us, placating the wrath of God toward sinful humanity once and for all, but
He also gave to us His righteous standing before God! The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in all points like we are
yet without sin (HEBREWS 4:15)! So on the cross, Jesus not only took all of our sin upon Himself and thus incurred
the wrath of God for us, but He also gave us His righteous standing before God so that when God looks at us now, if
we have believed that Jesus is the Son of God and did this for us, He does not see a sin-soaked person against
whom His anger rages and He must dispense appropriate justice, but He sees His sinless Son, in whom He is well
pleased! This idea is called "justification" in the Bible, that we have been declared just by God not because of the
righteous things we do nor because of the unrighteous things we avoid doing but because now, being in Christ, God
chooses to see not us, but Christ's righteousness! As a matter of fact, if you are in Christ, the Bible says that we are
now the righteousness of God IN Christ (2 CORINTHIANS 5:21)! Wow!

So, my question to you is, "Are you still on death row waiting execution?". Or have you taken advantage of the fact
that the Governor of governors has extended a pardon to you and stayed permanently your execution? You don't
have to accept His offer of pardon that He extends to you through Jesus Christ, but it would be a foolish thing not to.
As a matter of fact, the Bible says that those who have chosen not to believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, that
the wrath of God STILL ABIDES on them (JOHN 3:36)! Oh, what a scary thing! It will be a fearful thing to leave this
life and step into eternity without Jesus and fall into the hands of the living God (HEBREWS 10:31)! This is something
you don't want to play around with! The Bible says that there is only one name under heaven, given among men
whereby we must be saved (ACTS 4:12)! Salvation, my friend, is only found in Jesus Christ. Won't you receive God's
offer of pardon today?

If you're ready, let's pray:   God in Heaven, I come before You now recognizing that I have broken Your righteous
commands as found in Your Word, the Holy Bible, and admit that I have sinned. I realize that my punishment for
sinning against You is death, eternal separation from You in a place the Bible calls Hell. I realize that my only hope of
pardon and my only escape from the iminent judgement that has been pronounced against me is found in Jesus
Christ. So right now I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is Your Son and that He died and rose again from the
dead. I confess with my mouth right now that Jesus is Lord and I receive Your free gift of salvation , for the Bible says
that if I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead that I shall
be saved! Thank you, Savior, for saving my soul! Thank you, Jesus, for Your provision of pardon! Show me how to
walk with you, oh God! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!

If you prayed that prayer, I want to congratulate you and welcome you into the family of God! I encourage you to
find a local church that preaches and teaches the Word of God and begin to faithfully attend. Begin reading the Word
of God, the Holy Bible, on a regular basis. This is food for your soul and a must if you want to know God and grow in
God! Take whatever steps you need to take to begin to develop a dialogue with God. This is what we call prayer!
Finally, know that Jesus has promised to never leave you nor forsake you...never, ever, ever...so never fear to call
upon Him! He loves you and we do to! God bless you as you begin and remain in a life-long journey with Him!

Jeff Saenz

SLAVES WAGE