HOW TO BE SAVEDLesson 5

Key Text

“ ‘And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be

lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life’ ”

John 3:14, 15

As the Israelites were being bitten by snakes in the desert, God instructed

Moses to make a bronze one and place it on a pole

so that whoever was bitten could look at it and be

saved. What healing properties can

a bronze snake have? None.

Healing came only from God. By looking at the

bronze statue, however, the Israelites demonstrated

their faith in God as their only hope of life and

salvation.

The Lord wanted to teach them a spiritual lesson. He transformed a symbol of death into a symbol of life. That bronze serpent was a symbol of Christ, who became the Bearer of our sins in order to save us. By faith we can all look to Christ lifted up on the cross and find a cure from the deadly sting of the old serpent, Satan.

Otherwise, we are fated to die in our sins. The Word of

God expresses what should be

painfully obvious: as human beings, we are sinners in

need of grace. That grace has been offered to us in

Christ Jesus. This week we will

look at Jesus’ teachings

regarding the simple practical

steps needed for salvation.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)

The salvation Jesus fulfilled at the cross is available to us under certain condition.Which are the steps to be saved?

1. Recognizing my need.

2. Repenting.

3. Believing in Jesus.

4. Accepting Jesus’ righteousness.

5. Following Jesus.

RECOGNIZING MY NEED“And when He [the Helper] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 16:8)

Jesus was accused of relating to sinners. Jesus replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)We look for a doctor when we are sick. In the same way, we look for salvation only if we feel sinners.

The Holy Spirit works in our conscience to make us aware of our sins. He generates a deep feel of guilt. That guilt makes us long for a Savior.If we don’t obey Him, we harden our heart against the Holy Spirit. We then stop hearing His voice little by little.

Which of all these leaders is perfect and has no need for a Savior?

Which?

Reflection:

Though guilt is often a bad thing, in what ways has the Holy Spirit been able to use guilt to your own spiritual

advantage?

REPENTING“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:38)

True repentance involves three main steps:

1. Recognizing we have sinned.2. Feeling shame of having done so.3. Sincerely wanting to not sin anymore.

“We do not repent in order that God may love us, but He reveals to us His love in order that we may repent.”

We have a natural tendency to try to excuse our sins; not to regret them. Repentance is a gift from God, actually (Romans 2:4).

E.G.W. (Christ’s Object Lessons, pg. 189)

Recognizing our sins is not enough to be saved. Repentance must follow.Jesus said, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3)

We can see the impo-tance of repentance by the fact that John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministry by preaching,“ ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ ” (Matt. 3:2, 4:17, NKJV). Later, when Jesus sent the Twelve on their first missionary trip, they went out, preaching “that people should repent” (Mark 6:12, NKJV). And after Pente-cost, Peter exhorted the crowd to do the same (Acts 2:38, 3:19).

Look at the strong words Jesus used to emphasize the universal need for repentance in order to be saved. What message is He giving us here? See Luke 13:1–5.

Jesus affirmed the sinfulness of all people. Therefore, He urged His hearers: “ ‘Unless you repent you will all like-wise perish’ ” (vs. 5, NKJV). Without repentance, redemp-tion is impossible, because the absence of repentance demonstrates that people refuse to surrender to the Lord.

Now, we have been told “the goodness of God leads you to repentance” Rom. 2:4, What does that mean? A block of ice can be broken into small pieces, but the resulting pieces will still beice. That same block of ice can be placed next to a heater, and it will melt away into water.

The ice of our pride can be thawed only if we are exposed to the warmth of God’s goodness and love. Thus, how crucial for us to dwell, as much as we can, on all the evidences we have been given of God’s love for us. “We do not repent in order that God may love us, but He reveals to us His love in order that we may repent.”—

Reflection:

What are the evidences of God’s love? What have you seen and experienced and learned that gives you powerful reasons to

trust in His goodness? Why is it so important always to dwell on those reasons, especially in bad times?

BELIEVING IN JESUS“So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” (Acts 16:31)

Recognizing the sin and repenting are essential steps, but they can’t save anyone.We must have faith and totally believe in Jesus and His sacrifice for us.The saving power of faith comes from the God we believe, not from the believer.That is also a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8)

According to Jesus, what does it mean “to believe”? It is more than a vague feeling that something will just happen. It is more than a mental exercise. Saving faith is not devoid of content. On the contrary, faith has a definite object: Jesus Christ. Faith is believing not only in some-thing but, especially, in Someone. Faith is trusting in Jesus and His death for us. Believing in Jesus means knowing Him, understanding who He is (John 6:69), and receiving Him personally (John 1:12).

God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus, so that all who truly believe in Him will have eternal life. His death does not mean that everyone will be saved, however. We have to be covered by His righteousness. By believing in Him, we have righteousness, we have assurance, and we have the great promise that He will raise us up at the last day (John 6:40).

To a woman who had lived a sinful life, Jesus assured her: “ ‘Your sins are forgiven. . . . Your faith has saved you’ ” (Luke 7:48, 50, NKJV). What does that mean? Does our faith save us?

According to the Gospels, when Jesus healed some people, He said to them: “ ‘Your faith has made you well’ ” (Matt. 9:22, Mark 10:52, Luke 17:19, NKJV). By saying these words, He was not assigning any healing power to their faith. Their faith was just a complete trust in Jesus’ power to heal them. The power of faith does not come from the person who believes but from the God in whom that person believes.

“A nominal faith in Christ, which accepts Him merely as the Saviour of the world, can never bring healing to the soul. The faith that is unto salvation is not a mere intellectual assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before he will exercise faith, cannot receive blessing from God. It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power.”

E.G.W. (The Desire of Ages, cp. 36, pg. 347)

ACCEPTING JESUS’ RIGHTEOUSNESS“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (Matthew 22:11-13)

We cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven without the right garment. What is that garment?Isaiah said, “He [God] has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (Isaiah 61:10)We are spiritually naked. Putting salvation on means to accept Jesus’ righteousness instead of our own.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

FOLLOWING JESUS“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.’” (John 8:31)

We’ve followed the right steps and now we are saved.Nevertheless, the path does not end here. Jesus asked those who believed in Him two more things:

1. Remaining in His Word. Living according to the “sound

doctrine” that is found in the Bible (Titus 2:1)

2. Being His disciples. Following Jesus’ example,

loving Him above all things and talking about Him to others (1 John 2:6; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 28:19-20)

WHICH ARE THE STEPS TO BE SAVED?

Recognizing my need.• God convicts us of

sin (John 16:8).

Repenting.• God leads us to

repentance (Romans 2:4).

Believing in Jesus.• God gives the

faith to believe (Ephesians 2:8).

Accepting Jesus’ righteousness.• God clothes us

with His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).

Following Jesus.• God prepares the

good works we follow (Ephesians 2:10).

There’s absolutely nothing we can do to gain, pay or deserve salvation. Everything is in God’s hands.

“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good

pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

“The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate

something of the love of God and the cost of

Calvary; and as a son confesses to a loving father,

so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before

God. And it is written, ‘If we confess our sins, He is

faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse

us from all unrighteousness.’

1 John 1:9.”

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