Salvation Questions
How to Get Saved, Stay Saved, and Live Saved
Getting to heaven and being saved by God are such important issues that you may want to jump right to those pages first. You can of course, but don’t leave out the other pages whatever you do. These questions are placed in this particular order for a reason—it will likely help fill in answers to some questions you may not even know you’ve had and make better sense of the others at the same time. What’s your hurry? You have time enough in the present to get right with God for all eternity. We’ve prayed for Him to be here with you. Give Him some unhurried time to work with.
All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.
First Things First
Are you a seeker? The critical step is the one you have already taken, so relax. You are a seeker, or you wouldn’t be scouring the web looking for an answer. The insurmountable obstacle would be if you had no interest in seeking God or His salvation.
What are the basics? This is a salvation overview that will put everything else in a coherent perspective, like what happens right before your eyes when your airplane takes off: Suddenly the earth begins to look far more orderly than you had ever imagined. Our God of Grace not only has a "formula" that gets us to heaven but brings us into a more heavenly life on earth.
Why do I need to be saved? No doubt you have your own specific reasons for why you need to be saved: things you have messed up or messed up things about yourself that you just can’t fix. Or maybe you’ve seen that the bridge is out a little further down the road. Here are the reasons why everyone needs to be saved.
Who "qualifies" for salvation? There is always a catch, but in this case, what will “hook” you is how entirely pre-qualified you already are. Without a doubt, you are exactly the kind of person our God is looking for! This isn’t flattery or even a wild guess, just playing the odds, as you will soon see…
Heaven, Salvation and New Birth
How can I get to heaven? First, you have to give up the false idea that there is something other than a true heaven out there. Then, you need to realize that you cannot possibly “get” yourself there. Then, the rest is up to Someone else…
How can I get saved? This is the best part! And it is a surprisingly easy step to take—if you are willing to take it. The hard part is all that it took to get you ready and make you willing to be open to a moment like this…
What is the new birth? If you have prayed to be saved, you will definitely want to find out what just happened to you. Maybe you feel like you are floating on air. That’s great, but be sure to come back down to earth eventually and load up on some deeper understandings.
How was I born again? First, there is the question What Just Happened to Me? That's quite a long list! Then, comes trying to figure out how it happened. Here we are poking our heads into a mystery, but at least Jesus gave us some "bread crumbs" to inspire our thinking.
The Way This Works
How did God save me? This is the “million-dollar” question because it is worth its weight in gold. The way that God “saves us” to get us to heaven is exactly the way that this new “heavenly life” is meant to be lived until we get there. Remember the Salvation Basics? Here’s where they really come into play.
What is salvation? Salvation is what we need. Everyone needs to get to heaven for instance. Often that is the first thing on a person’s mind when they go looking for God. But there is so much more to salvation than getting to heaven. In any area of your life where you need help, God wants to come to your rescue. He provides everything necessary for saving you by His grace through your faith.
What is grace? Grace is the part God plays in saving us. It’s definitely the lead role. Without His mercy, His help, His wisdom, His guidance, His comfort, His provision we’d be back right where we started, trying to rescue our life by our own means. Happily, our Father is an outrageous giver. You don’t have to earn or deserve His saving help: You just have to become more adept at receiving it.
What is faith? Our “job” is to get really, really good at believing in the grace that is being offered us by our loving Father. If someone wants to give you a present, you still have to trust enough to receive it. Believing leads to trusting and trusting leads to receiving. That is the way of faith that opens wide the door for the Lord’s salvation to stream into our life.
Growing Your Confidence
How can I be sure I'm saved? It should come as no surprise that doubt and unbelief are enemies of the life of faith. God has overcome your unbelief—now you know who Jesus is—but you will soon have to fight off your doubts in order to keep your confidence in Him flying high. Make sure that you know how to stay sure…
How can I stay saved? Naturally, you won’t want to lose something this good. Happily, staying saved is not any harder than getting saved in the first place. It comes down to a little bit of you (your will) and a whole lot of God (His grace). Here is where the Salvation Basics provide immense and comforting illumination…
Can I lose my salvation? Your enemy is a thief, but even Satan and his kingdom cannot steal salvation from you. That’s the good news. The “bad” news? God is not going to make you His slave—He wants your freedom even more than you do. He will not force you to stay saved. That choice is yours…
How to stay connected? There are five things that every Christian needs to do in order to stay well-connected to our Source. The quality of our new life in Christ depends upon it! We do them because if you keep them in good repair, they will keep you powered up and rescue you when you aren’t.
Preparing for the Road Ahead
How can I stop sinning? Just wanting an answer to this question is a tremendous step in the right direction and it is a clear sign that God is with you. The Holy Spirit in us wants to clean house. Sin, however, wants to flood through us like water through a colander, but we can learn how to close the holes and turn the flow down to a trickle.
How do I live now that I am saved? This is easily the fun part. What’s not fun is having to stop and clear out of the way that things that don’t make for peace-filled and joy-full living (see the previous question). The Salvation Basics give us eyes to see from God’s perspective a tremendous truth about life that we “knew” as little children, but lost along the way.
What are my first steps? As they say, even the longest journey begins at your doorstep. Jesus is the door. Now that He has been opened to you, you will certainly want to learn how to walk with Him all the way home to heaven.