What Must I Do to Be Saved?

“What must I DO to be saved?” That is the most common question asked by the awakened soul who is seeking the Lord. It is also the biggest cause of stumbling when it comes to finding true salvation. It is the main reason that most people who seek to enter in will miss God and end up in hell. It reveals the blindness of the heart toward what salvation is all about. It shows the lack of understanding about what God is like, about what is wrong between the lost soul and God, and about what God desires, and what He requires of us. More people attach themselves to a false hope by DOING some religious exercise than anything else.

Being reconciled to God is to be made a new creature. Therefore, it is about what you ARE – not what you DO. To DO is far easier than to BE. It is the BEING that the soul estranged from God resists so strongly. If I can DO something that will assure me that I am OK, then that is what I want to do. Many are willing to DO anything just to know that they won’t go to hell when they die, but few are willing to BE what they must be.

These continual attempts at DOING are the surest way to end up in hell. Many people have said about the state of their soul, “I’ve done all I know to do! What else can I do?” They are still lost and know it in their heart, but they are still looking for something else to DO! You MUST stop thinking that way before you have any hope of entering the kingdom of God! The hopelessness of folks like this is a great grief of soul because they seemed trapped in this futile way of thinking. They go to church seeking the peace of God in their soul and they are told to pray the sinner’s prayer, be baptized, and become faithful to the church activities. If you DO all those things then you will have assurance of salvation – supposedly. But EVERYONE finds out that those things do not give you assurance in your heart. Sadly, most people stop there and do not enter in, just as Jesus warned would happen in Luke 13:24:

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

In order to be saved you must COME to God and BE his. You must BE-COME his!

(Gen 2:7) And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

God gave us physical life and it is God alone who can give us eternal life – there is nothing we can do of ourselves that can bring forth life of any kind. So what is the key? How does it happen? How do we get this life from God? First of all, you must understand that God wants you and you must say “yes” to him. You must give up your rights to yourself and give God the reins of your life. You must give up your identity and BE the bride of Christ. Your life must cease being about you and start being about Him. You must BE his! So the question is: WILL you BE his? Will you allow God to own your life, your will, and everything else about you? This is not works, it is a matter of giving your heart to another – to God.

It is a wondrous thing that the King of the Universe would even want such poor wretches as we, who have defiled our souls and wrecked our lives with sin! Yet He offers to pardon our sins, wash our minds, purge our defiled consciences, give us new life here, and eternal life with Him in Heaven if we will simply stop maintaining our independence and give ourselves to him. He will save us if we will simply STOP trying to DO something to buy a ticket to heaven and TRUST HIM and what He has done to redeem us.

The issue between God and every person is sin. It is our sin that has separated us from God. Therefore, the sin must be dealt with before there can be reconciliation. You can never deal with sin by hiding it. God demands that you confess your sin. Your sin has not been just against God, so simply confessing secretly to God will not do. Most people have sinned against someone else, too. You cannot receive forgiveness from God without attempting to get forgiveness from those you have wronged – a husband, a wife, a father or mother, for example. The Prodigal Son came home to his father – he didn’t stay in the pigpen and tell God he was sorry and ask for forgiveness there. THIS is dealing with sin in your life. Anything less than this will NOT WORK! If you are not willing to confess your sin to God AND to those you have offended it is guaranteed that you will not find peace with God. Many people miss God and heaven right here because they are not willing, or someone tells them that all they have to do is confess to God in private and He will forgive them. All who try it this way never find true peace in their souls.

Sin includes more than what you have done to others and to God. It includes your demand to maintain your independence and your right to your life. You must be willing to give that up to God. You must realize that YOUR sin nailed the Savior to the Cross and that He gave himself to make atonement for your sin because He loves you and does not want you to perish. You are “bought with a price and ye are not your own,” and it was a very high price He paid for your soul! The old man must die before there can be a burial and a resurrection in your life. It seems that most people seek a resurrected life without a death and a burial. That is not the gospel.

When sin has been dealt with you will find there is nothing else to DO except fall into the arms of a loving God, trusting the keeping of your soul to him as unto a faithful creator. If you will confess and forsake your sin He has promised that you will find mercy. If you haven’t found mercy it is because you have not dealt thoroughly and honestly with your sin.

You must realize that becoming his gives Him the right to do with you as He pleases. It gives Him the right to make you into what He wants you to be. He is a holy God and He will certainly make you holy, also. Are you willing to allow Him free reign in your life to do that in ALL areas of your life?

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. – 1 Pet 1:15-16

So what must I do to be saved? Very simple – BE his. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” That is not just acceptance of some facts of knowledge, but it means to become the bride of Christ. It means you will CONTINUE to believe on Him and what he says in his Word. You will be a follower of Christ and not of other men. You are not just identifying with some religious order or denomination, but with Christ himself. Have you dealt with your sin honestly and thoroughly? Are you his? Does He own your life? Jesus said in Luke 14:33:

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Mat 10:39)

When you are his and He owns you completely, that is when you will truly find life. You will find the chains of sin are broken and your heart filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory, and in your soul you will have the peace of God that passeth all understanding. Let God set up his kingdom in your heart today!

Mike Miller
Saturday, February 21, 2009