The questions/Trail: Jesus Christ

How can I be saved?

By grace through faith, not by works, but by trusting in Christ alone, confessing Him as Lord, and receiving His righteousness. Salvation is a gift; faith is the open hand that receives it.

This question arose from studying Why did Jesus have to die? and Did Jesus really rise from the dead?.

Begin by reading

Go into the Word

Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.

The study

What the Scripture says

It is a gift, not wages

By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. Eternal life is 'the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' If it could be earned, it would be a wage; the gospel says it is a gift.

for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

Titus 3:5

It is through faith in Christ alone

Salvation is not found in a system or a church or a set of works; it is a Person. 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' 'There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.'

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

John 14:6

There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”

Acts 4:12

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

1 Timothy 2:5

Faith is trust, not mere agreement

Even demons believe God exists; they shudder. Saving faith is not intellectual assent; it is the trust of the whole heart. 'Whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.' Believe, and the life is already yours.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 16:31

Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.

John 6:47

It begins with repentance: turning to God

The gospel call is to repent and believe. 'Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.' Repentance is not earning forgiveness; it is turning from sin to the Savior who forgives. Jesus began His preaching the same way: 'Repent, and believe in the gospel.'

“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 3:19

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”

Mark 1:15

testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus.

Acts 20:21

It is sealed, secure, and knowable

When you believe, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit, God's guarantee. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And John writes that these things were written 'that you may know that you have eternal life.' Assurance is not arrogance; it is faith in a promise.

in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

1 John 5:11-13

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

John 10:27-28

As you read, you may wonder…

Scripture raises the next question

Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.

What does it mean to be born again?→“Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see the Kingdom of God.””Can I lose my salvation?→“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”What happens when I sin after I've come to Christ?→“My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.”What should I do now that I'm saved?→“Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”Does James contradict Paul? Is it faith or works?→“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”What is the new heart that God promised?→“I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.”How is the new covenant different from the old one?→“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”

Hold onto these

Verses to meditate on

for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:9-10