re: http://www.rapturealert.com/salvationfordummies.html

Stephen,

Good synopsis of the gospel of the grace of God: 100% free for the asking by knowing Jesus Christ as saviour.

Of course, with all the Devil's tricks, including false religions, false "Christian" teachings, the simplicity of the gospel is often obscured, or oversimplified, with devastating eternal results. As they say, a "miss is as good as a mile." How sad to miss eternal life when it is that easy?

Here is the KEY QUESTION to determining whether somebody is saved or not:

"Was there ever a time in your life that you called upon God AS an ADMITTED SINNER and asked him to SAVE YOU from the eternal judgment of HELL that you JUSTLY deserve, AND to FORGIVE YOU based ONLY upon the shed blood of your personal SAVIOUR Jesus Christ who died upon Calvary's cross for you??"

If somebody cannot answer "Yes" to that question, then he cannot say that Jesus Christ is his personal saviour, and he is lost and headed for hell.

Here is and example of somebody confusing the matter: she sent me an email that said the true gospel was Acts 2:38. That is wrong. You can REPENT, BELIEVE, AND BE BAPTISED - AND STILL GO STRAIGHT TO HELL.

• Repenting is good, but Pharo repented (Exodus 12:32), Judas Iscariot repented (Matthew 27:4), Simon the sorcerer repented (Act 8:24 ), etc. Saying sorry is just not enough.
• Believing is good, but the devils also believe! (James 2:19 ) Knowledge of the truth doesn't save (Hebrews 10:26) - vainly reciting creedal statements won't save anybody - think about the demon possessed man who called Jesus the "holy one" and worshipped him - and was lost. Mar 1:24 , Luk 4:34
• Baptisim is good - if you are baptised spiritually! (Jhn 3:6 , Gal 4:29 ) Water baptism doesn't do anything except get a person wet - it is merely a "figure" of salvation (1Pe 3:21, a "figure" is nothing in itself, it is just an external sign). You must be baptised "into Christ," not into water, in order to be saved. The Holy Spirit puts you into Jesus Christ when you trust him as your saviour, not when you get wet. The "remission" of sins mentioned in that verse is akin to the baptism of John in Mark 1:4 - and this is not the gospel of the grace of God that gives "forgiveness" of sins (see, Apollos of Alexandria who even as late as Acts chapter 18 was still preaching the repentance of John (i.e., water baptism of Act 2:38) and needed to be taught the way of God "more perfectly" by Aquila and Priscilla; Paul also made this distinction in Act 19:4).

A friend of mine was on a dead end road - because he thought he was "a good person" and believed in Jesus as an "example" to follow to be an even better person. He thought he was a Christian. Wrong! Jesus did not come to save "good" people, he came to save the lost (Mat 18:11, Luk 19:10 ). If you think you are a "good person" or a "godly person" then you are not a candidate for salvation "for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" Mat 9:13, Luk 5:32 . It was while we were "enemies" of God that he died for us (Col 1:21) "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:8. Once my friend admitted that he was a sinful, ungodly, wicked person and unable to save himself, then he knew he was hopelessly lost and headed straight for hell. That is when he got serious about his situation, and was ready to trust Jesus Christ alone to save him.

Another person I know just "always loved Jesus" as long as they can remember. Ask the question, "Was there ever a time..." Everyone needs to have a time in their life when the call upon the Lord and get saved - just doing nothing (as Stephen points out) will keep you lost. See John 16:9.  (Just because you always "loved Jesus" is not enough, see also, John 14:15, 1Jo 3:23).

Another way to look at it is to ask, "Who is Jesus Christ to you, personally?"

Someone says, "he was a good person" or "a good teacher" "he taught me the truth" "he showed me the way", etc., is missing the point. If they say, "He is the saviour" - then ask "Who did he save" - if they say "Sinners" - then ask "Can you think of any particular sinner that he died to save??"

I must be that he did it personally for you. You must be able to say "he died to save me, he ever lives to save me, he is my personal saviour." If you say, "he is the saviour" then you haven't made it personal - IS HE YOUR SAVIOUR?  That is what it means when we say salvation is a relationship, and not a religion. John 14:7