Hello everyone. I want to talk a little bit about some important things that have come up in conversations lately. These are issues that many of us wrestle with. This applies especially to those of us who have come out of high-control religions like Jehovah’s Witnesses. One key issue that comes up repeatedly concerns our salvation.
We all want to live forever. But living forever isn’t all of it, is it? Our environment counts. We want to live forever where life will be interesting and fulfilling. Where we will be surrounded by others who love us and whom we can love. Most of all, we want to have the love of our heavenly Father? We want to be enveloped in the radiance of his love forever. Now that would be what eternal life in paradise really means.
But how do we gain eternal life? Do you remember the account of a rich young man who came up to Jesus and asked:
“Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16 NIV)
Jesus told him:
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." (Matthew 19:21 NIV)
Does that mean we all have to sell our possessions, give to the poor, and follow Jesus?
No. But that was what that particular young man needed to do to follow Jesus. We all must follow Jesus to inherit eternal life, and so, if something is standing in our way—like a love of riches—then that is what we have to do away with.
What stands in your way? Pride? Love of pleasure? A desire for prominence? Self-doubt? Fear of Man? Or something else?
In the previous video, I talked about the importance for Jesus’ followers to partake at the Lord’s Supper. Jesus said that to gain eternal life, we must eat his flesh, which is symbolized by the bread, and drink his blood, which the cup of wine represents. He said,
“Most truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.” (John 6:53)
Notice that last part! “You have no life in yourselves.”
Jesus is talking in the present tense, about something that can occur now. Elsewhere in John, Jesus says:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24 NASB)
Interesting. The one who hears and believes, does not come into judgment, but passes from death to life. That would mean that person would not be part of the second resurrection to judgment that Jesus spoke of at John 5:28, 29. We’ll have to explore that further, won’t we?
John also tells us:
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” (1 John 3:14)
So love is also critical if we are to be saved and escape judgment by passing from death to life, right now, in our present physical existence. We’ll have to explore that as well.
From just those few scriptures, it’s obvious that simply partaking of the emblems is no guarantee of salvation. There are millions who regularly partake of the Lord’s Supper as part of their religious services, but compliance with a religious ritual does not ensure entrance into God’s kingdom.
What then must we do to be saved?
Based on Scripture, we must do the following:
- Exercise faith.
- Repent of our sins.
- Be baptized.
- Be born of holy spirit.
- Confess our faith publicly.
- Obey Jesus.
Practice love.
Let’s look up the Scriptural support for each of these seven points:
1. Exercise faith
"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
But belief (Greek: pisteuō [pee-STEH-oo-oh]) in Jesus means far more than acknowledgment of his existence. Belief in the biblical sense involves trust, faithful allegiance, and action. This is corroborated by Hebrews 11:6:
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (NIV)
Faith in our Father means believing in his character, his integrity. It means believing that what he promises for us, he will surely do. That gives us the strength to carry one through adversity, knowing the prize is there for us and no one can snatch it away.
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2. Repent of our sins
One of Jesus' first commands was: "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." (Matthew 4:17)
Repentance (metanoeō [meh-tah-no-EH-oh]) signifies a recognition of wrongdoing and a willingness to change course.
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3. Be baptized
Peter taught at Pentecost:
"Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
Baptism is done in the name of Jesus Christ as an expression of our repentance and faith.
Baptism is shown scripturally to be about following the pattern laid down by the apostles—those whom Jesus personally taught to carry forward his teachings. Baptism is therefore not a relic of old Hebrew rituals or a badge of belonging to an organized religion.
Being baptized in the name of Jesus is our appeal to God for a clean conscience. We will continue to sin due to inherited imperfection, but now God’s grace comes into play, wiping the slate clean because of our baptismal appeal for a clean conscious. Such is the power of God’s grace.
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4. Be born again
“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”” (John 3:3)
The Greek term literally means being born from above—born of holy spirit.
The idea can feel frightening for many, especially for those who have been taught by religious leaders that they are not worthy to be reborn in a spiritual sense. But Jesus says that we must be born again—renewed with the Spirit of God and freed from the spirit of Adam, the spirit of the world that operates in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1–2).
Jesus gave his body, his flesh, and poured out his blood—his human life—so that we could become adopted children of God. That is what it means to eat his flesh and drink his blood. It means we acknowledge his sacrifice and accept it.
We declare his death publicly by partaking of the emblems, the bread and wine:
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes." (1 Corinthians 11:26 BSB)
If we want to be reconciled to God, it is only by being reborn in his Spirit of love—a Spirit that makes his children spiritually alive. It is simple: either you remain among Adam’s sinful, unrighteous children, or you accept the offer of adoption as a child of God.
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5. Confess our faith publicly.
Jesus said: “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32–33)
Does fear stand in your way of following Jesus wherever he goes? That rich young ruler we read about earlier couldn’t follow Jesus because it meant giving up all his wealth. Yet, before he could have died of old age, he would have lost it all anyway, because within that generation, the nation of Israel was destroyed. He could have had it all, but instead, he lost everything. He was afraid to depend on God for sustenance. Fear exercises a restraint. But love for God throws fear outside.
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6. Obey Jesus
"And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." (Hebrews 5:9 BSB)
Eternal life is tied to obedience. It’s not merely believing in Jesus intellectually. The original sin was an act of disobedience. Life is so simple if we follow the direction of someone who knows better than we do, and who is motivated by love for us. In fact, disobedience is due to a lack of love, which brings us to the unifying item of this list of seven.
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7. Love.
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." (John 14:23)
"As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love." (John 15:9–10)
"By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. Whoever says, 'I know Him,' but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him…" (1 John 2:3–5)
Love is the soil where everything truly grows. Without it, faith grows cold, obedience becomes hollow, and knowledge turns to pride.
Jesus prayed that we would be one—united in love, just as he and the Father are one (John 17:20–23). To love Jesus is to do what he says. He teaches us how to pray, and he teaches us how to remember him.
When we partake of the bread and wine in remembrance of him, we follow his command—not performing a ritual but accepting his invitation to life. We must ask ourselves: Will we do as he asks, or will we find reasons to disobey him because we are unwilling to be made worthy through faith?
Can we expect to enter the Kingdom of God if we refuse to obey him, when obeying our Father means obeying what Jesus commanded?
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There remain many questions to be explored if we are going to more fully understand our salvation.
For example, there are two resurrections according to Jesus:
“Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28, 29 ESV)
What is that second resurrection all about? What does it mean to “do evil”? Where and when will they be resurrected? What does that judgment entrail?
Then there’s the question about the salvation hope of the faithful women and men of pre-Christian times? Do they get into the kingdom of God, like we can?
What is Armageddon and when will it be?
Who or what is Babylon the Great?
What did Jesus really mean when he spoke of coming as a thief in the night?
What kind of body are the children of God given when they are resurrected?
These are important questions, and they need to be given careful consideration. We must take a fresh look at everything. It won’t be easy, because we’ve had years of religious indoctrination to overcome. I speak from experience. But the journey will be worthwhile.
Thank you for your attention and your support.