What Must I Do To Be Saved

What must I do to be saved?

Stop sinning? Moralism: Not the gospel
Works of the flesh to remove my sin? Baptism: Not the gospel
Looking to future events? Eschatology: Not the gospel
Works of the flesh to prove myself? Penance: Not the gospel

Gospel, a middle English word derived from the old English godspell; which means good news, translated from Greek euangelion: The gospel is good news concerning an event that has already occurred; it is historical. Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God has risen from the dead!

Why is this good news for us?

Jesus, while He walked amongst us promised to lay His life down for His sheep, and give eternal life to them. His resurrection from the dead is the explanation point on His promise; it demonstrates that He has the power, and the authority to do what He promised.

So then, who are His sheep?

Jesus said: "I am the good Shepard, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.....My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." (John 10:14,15, 27,28 NASB)




A slave of Jesus Christ

Evangelium Sola Scriptura

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written,

“ There is none righteous, not even one;

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

“ Their throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“ The poison of asps is under their lips”;

“ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

“ Their feet are swift to shed blood,

Destruction and misery are in their paths,

And the path of peace they have not known.”

“ There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows:“ DO not say in your heart, ‘ Who will ascend into heaven? ’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘ Who will descend into the abyss? ’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “ The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “ Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “ Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “ How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “ Lord, who has believed our report?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. ’” 

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “ All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And He said to them, “ Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “ Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “ Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

(New American Standard translation unless otherwise stated.)

Rom1:16-17, 1Cor6:9-11, Rom3:9-28, Rom10:4-17, John1:1-18NKJV, Mark 1:14-15, 1 Cor 15:1-5, Matt 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:45-47, Acts 1:3-11, John 20:30-31

By Faith Alone

My dear Catholic friends;


There is an attitude that prevails in our culture today, and that attitude is this; if anyone speaks out against something he is both unloving and intolerant of others. This simply is not true, it is a mindset that has come from our post-modern culture, and it is a lie from the father of lies that devil Satan, who does not want anyone to hear the truth. The truth is if you love someone you must tell them the truth even though it may hurt their feelings and/or risk them not liking you anymore. You do so because of your love for them, and your concern for their well being. This past Ash Wednesday, I saw many people that I dearly love with ashes smeared across their foreheads. Now while there is nothing inherently wrong with the observance of Ash Wednesday; in fact, it can be good, causing one to reflect, and think about Christ Jesus, and what He alone has done. The problem is that it has revealed to me in a very visible way, all those whom I dearly love that are caught up in a religious system based on the traditions of men that preach a different gospel than what Paul preached. “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:8 NASB)


What did Paul preach? You will find it in every epistle that he wrote, and throughout all the record of his travels in Acts. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas had been beaten with rods and imprisoned in Philippi of Macedonia for preaching the gospel of Christ Jesus. While in prison Paul and Silas began praying and singing hymns of praise to God. No doubt upon hearing this, the jailer came under much convection, because when there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken, and the prison doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened; the jailer then drew his sword to kill himself, that’s when Paul and Silas stopped him. Then the jailer under much convection for his sins against God, said to Paul and Silas; “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30) The answer that Paul and Silas gave is the only gospel that Paul preached throughout his entire ministry. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 NASB) The jailer took them to his own home and washed their wounds and immediately he was baptized, he and his entire household. He was not baptized to wash away his sins; he was baptized as an outward expression of his faith in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of his sins. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”


This is not the gospel that the Catholic Church preaches. From the Catechism the Catholic Church preaches two ways of salvation.
1. Infants are baptized to have their original sins from their father Adam washed away.
2. Adults believe, have a repentant heart; then they are baptized to have their original sin and their actual sins absolved.

After these the one baptized as an infant and the one baptized as an adult both have an ongoing process throughout their life, that can only be done through the sacraments of the Catholic Church when actual sins are later committed after baptism. They are to go to a priest with a penitent heart and confess their sins to the priest. The priest then forgives or absolves their sins and gives them penance; usually in the form of certain prayers which the penitent person is to say, or certain actions he is to perform. The absolution restores the penitent person to the state of grace he had at baptism, he is nevertheless under obligation to continue the performance of his penance until it is completed in order to retain this state of grace.


This is not the gospel that Paul preached, it is contrary, and therefore a different gospel all together. It is not found in scripture at all. Scripture is the only true revelation we have from God. The gospel that Paul preached is; “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” The gospel of the Catholic Church does not free a man from the bondage of sin, but what it does is enslave him to both sin, and the Catholic Church. It does not absolve him from his sins, because he is not trusting alone in the only one who can save him; the Lord Jesus Christ, but he is instead trusting in the sacraments of the Catholic Church made up by the traditions of men. Based on the truth of scripture about the nature of man it would be safe to say that one could not even exit from the confessional without committing sin, and were does that leave him?


Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NASB) “I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6 NASB)


What is salvation? Most simply put, salvation is a revelation of what God has done through Christ Jesus alone. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17 NASB) This encompasses all people groups throughout the world, no matter where you are from, or who you were born to; this good news of salvation is available to everyone who believes. The good news is that you can be righteous in the sight of God by faith alone. "Faith has three parts; knowledge, belief, and trust"(C. H. Spurgeon). In order to trust you must first believe, and in order to believe you must first have knowledge. That is what I endeavor to do today, to give you knowledge of the gospel with the hope that you will believe, not only to believe but to trust in Christ Jesus alone. "But the righteous man shall live by faith.”


Nearly 2000 years ago the only righteous Man to ever live walked amongst us; a carpenter named Jesus of Nazareth, a city in the region of Galilee of Judea. He proved to be the Christ the Son of the living God by many mighty works. While He walked amongst us He promised eternal life to His sheep. His sheep are all those who hear His voice and follow Him. He promised that they would never die and that no one would snatch them out of His hand. He laid down His life for His sheep, taking their punishment for their sins against God. He was condemned, mocked, spit on, scourged, and died a gruesome death by hanging on a cross of wood. Some of His followers buried Him; then three days later demonstrating that He had the authority of God to forgive sins, and the power of God over death, He arose from the dead and was seen alive by over 500 of His sheep at one time. His chosen apostles witnessed His ascension into heaven; He sat down at the right hand of God the Father making intercession on behalf of His sheep. He is the mediator between God and man, our High Priest before the Father. He will return at a time of the Fathers choosing to judge the righteous and the unrighteousness, to separate the sheep from the goats; the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the left, His sheep will inherit the kingdom of heaven and the goats will be cast into hell.


The question is are you a sheep or are you a goat, are you righteous in the sight of God or unrighteous? The answer is dependent on where your trust is. Do you trust in Christ Jesus alone; who He is, and His finished work on the cross; or are you trusting in the works of the flesh; baptism & penance? Baptism does not cleanse you of your sins; our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ Jesus through faith in Him alone. (See Romans 3:23-26) Penance cannot do away with your sins; a human being has no authority to forgive sins done against God. God is the One offended, therefore, God is the One to forgive sins against Him; and in His righteousness He has forgiven men by His grace, through faith in Christ Jesus alone. No amount of good deeds adds to or takes away from the cross of Christ Jesus. Jesus said; “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." (John 10:11 NASB) "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." (John 10:27-28 NASB) Are you living by sight or by faith? If you truly believe the words of Jesus, and what He has done through His finished work on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead you will not seek to have your sins forgiven by the works of the flesh. "But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 NASB) “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 NASB)





A slave of Jesus Christ




Suggested reading: The Gospel According to John and the Epistle to the Romans

According to the Flesh

Even as a believer, knowing the grace of God I tend to look at men and in my own mind declare some to be righteous and others unrighteous based on what we see. I like what Paul said in 2.Cor.5.16-17.NASB "Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." In other words; the way we are to judge someone has changed. The truth is before a righteous and holy God there is none good not even one. If salvation even in small part were of some righteous merit of our own none of us would have any hope. Whatever the requirement maybe we would mess it up, and not only would, but have done so already. Salvation is by the grace of God alone, for reasons only known to God He forgave certain wicked and sinful men. If you are saved, it is because God did something that you don’t deserve, He forgave you of your sin. How can a righteous God do that and remain a holy and Just God? The cross of Jesus Christ! “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” ~2Cor.5.21.NASB. Who did Jesus lay His life down for? Jesus said; “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” ~Jn.10.11.NASB……”My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”~Jn.10.27-28.NASB.




A slave of Jesus Christ

The Purpose of Eschatology

What is the purpose of eschatology? To read some of the post and comments on facebook you would think that the purpose of eschatology is to create division within the body of Christ. I have seen some of the most unloving, hurtful things said to brothers and sisters in Christ with regards to their view on eschatology. Eschatology is the part of theology concerned with the end of times. Now while it would appear that eschatology creates division within the body, I believe the opposite of this is true. This veiled thing called eschatology actually reveals who the sheep of Christ actually are. Do I think, by saying this, if you have a certain view you are a Christian, and if you have a differing view you are not? Absolutely not!

Eschatology is veiled, meaning that we do not know exactly what the end times will look like. We know that there will be an end, we know that Jesus will return at a time of the Fathers choosing to judge the living and the dead, but no matter what someone tells you, outside of this we know nothing. In fact Jesus said; “It is not for you to know time or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). Yes there is much in scripture that give us hints, but like I said, it is veiled.

The apostles were told by Jesus, that He would be captured, condemned, mocked, spit on, scourged, and killed. Then three days later He will rise again. The apostles were confused by this, they did not understand what He meant and even speculated, but once He arose from the dead they knew, the veil was gone. Because of the fact that Jesus arose from the dead, when we read this prophecy of Jesus, we are not looking through a veil, it is easy for us to see what He meant, not so for the apostles. Eschatology is the same way, once the end happens it will be easy to look back and say, “Oh yea, that’s what He meant.”

So then what purpose does eschatology serve if all we need to know is that there is an end, that Christ will return at a time of the Father’s choosing to judge the righteous and the unrighteous. The purpose of eschatology is to reveal who the sheep of Christ Jesus really are. What do I mean by that? Jesus said; “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

I’ve noticed that there are some who call themselves Christian and will bite the head off a follower of Jesus Christ because of his view on end times. I have seen some of the most venomous, unloving things said to a follower of Christ because of his views on end times. I see taunts made with regards to eschatology on social media on a regular basis. I’ve seen some of the most prideful, arrogant, post on social media with regards to eschatology. How can you treat a brother in Christ this way, especially when it comes to a subject that is so veiled like eschatology?

Christ Jesus is love! That is why He said; “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one that this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:12-14) Lay down your pride, lay down your arrogance, and love your brothers even as Christ loved you. “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5).


A slave of Jesus Christ