Be Ye Doers Of The Word
JAMES 1
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Salvation is Peace in life.
Romans 5
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Salvation comes from sacrifice.
John 3
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Isaiah 55
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Mark 8
34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
Salvation is given to us by Jesus.
John 10
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Romans 4
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
We are at first dead.
Genesis 2
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
1 Corinthians 15
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
When Adam ate of the tree of knowledge a gap was created between us and God. Were always trying to close that gap. Even people who dont know of Jesus are trying to do something in thier life to fill an emptiness to have ultimate happiness. They notice a link is missing from them but they dont know where to find it to place it into there lives. So everyone is trying all different ways to fill that gap between us and the real answer , God. But there is only one way and so all others are false. Jesus is the only way. He is the way the truth and life. John 14:6
This one and only way is Jesus.
Proverbs 14
12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Salvation is like a trip we take. Its like when your on vacation. Your relaxed and comfortable but you have that small feeling of homesickness, that feeling that you dont belong. And so Salvation is the trip back home to where you do belong. If we follow every word from Jesus (The word of God, The Bible) then we will have our instructions and we will know where to turn. But if we dont follow the word of God or if we follow only some of the word of God then we may go in a general direction but we will end up lost.
So we must follow every word of God to receive Salvation. The words in the bible hold powerfull meanings. It is clearly stated that the written words of the scriptures are pure, true, and powerfull.
Ex: Jesus got baptised. Went into wilderness for 40 days. Was tempted by Devil. Every counter phrase Jesus spoke back against the devil was of his own words but also they where already written. Jesus said in:
Matthew 3
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
And this gave them power and in being written they became powerfull boundries by which the devil couldnt pass.
So lets look on the written and living word of God and see what we have to do to receive salvation from Jesus.
First of all believe...
That Jesus is God in Flesh.
1 Timothy 2
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1 john 2:1
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
That Jesus came to save us from our prison of sins.
1 Peter 3
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
That no matter what we did before, Jesus died to erase that.
Romans 5
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
John 1
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
So by just believing you receive power to become a child of God.
But now as you are a child you should come unto the lord as a child because thats what he asks. So weve established that the written word has power and that by just believe you become a child of God.
Ok now just because your his child doesnt mean your saved. If your the presidents child do you not go to prison for making wrong choices. So just because your Gods child doesnt mean that no matter what, youll make it into heaven. We now need to God back to the word of God.
So after the first process of just believe we find that there is more to being saved. Because the Devil also believes God exists, the Devil knows that Jesus was God, The Devil knows that Jesus died to give us life. And so now as children of God we have to have more than just belief to be saved because I dont know if you noticed but I dont think the Devils making it into heaven. So our next step is to listen:
To become hearers of the word and learn the word. And in turn learn of Jesus.
John 5
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
The scriptures testify of Jesus.
The next step is repenting. Ask God for forgiveness for all that youve done. Turn from your ways and say Jesus youve done all that for me. And look what Ive done against you in return. Forgive me Father. And then realize that God forgave you.
God gave peter the keys to heaven, the keys to salvation. And so peter was given the knowledge of how to get salvation and Jesus told him that whoever peter showed this to and helped save then they will be saved in heaven,
Matthew 16
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
And so what peter says to do is after repentance we need to get baptized in Jesus name.
Jesus says to get baptized in his name:
Matthew 28
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Peter says
Acts 2
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Well whats born again?
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Born of water and spirit in what name?
Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
But first of all Repent . To repent is to feel and know you are guilty
Rom 1:20
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
We are without excuse. Just look at the sky and tell me God didnt make that. This non-intelligent nature just didnt create its self and what a copout it would be to think it was just here forever. And so the only reasonable answer To come up with is that a Divine High Power Created it. God.
This is to whom we repent.
Isaiah 55
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
But then a man must be born of water and of spirit to enter Gods Kingdom.
Baptism of water (Submersion because thats the actual translation of the word baptize.) and the baptism of the Holy spirit which is a promise given to all people.