Anyone who has ever wondered who God is, or what God wants from us, has eventually come to the question "How can I be right in the sight of God"?
If there is a God, and if some day you will stand before Him and give an account of what you've done in this life, then you should find out what He requires before facing Him.
The first place to look for what God requires is in the Bible.
Proverbs 30:5- Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Matthew 4:4- But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
To find out what God expects from you, you must search the Scriptures. And, if you search the Scriptures, you will find that believing His Word is the first thing that He asks from us. And, that Word is also a person.
John 1:1-5- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
The next thing is that God requires us to believe on Jesus Christ and His work at Calvary.
Romans 10:9-12- That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
So, the issue is who is Jesus and why do I need His righteousness.
Salvation is conditional, you have to believe first before you can be saved. You have to accept the fact that Jesus is the Son of God manifest in the flesh. That He was perfect (He kept the entire law of Moses that was required by God in the Old Testament) and that He became sin for us (He took Sin in His sinless body on the cross and paid the price tag associated with it).
Salvation is personal. No one else can believe for you. No one else can step into your place before God and give an account for your decisions. You must make those choices.
Salvation requires a confession. The condition has nothing to do with the confession of sin, it has to do with agreeing with God about who He says Jesus is. You have to believe that Jesus is God's Son, and that He is the only way for you to acquire forgiveness of your sins by God.
John 12:42- Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
Did these men ever get saved? Were they ever forgiven? I don't know. It depends on whether they were willing to take a stand against what they knew was wrong.
Salvation must have belief from the heart. It's not enough to say that you believe. It's not just a head knowledge that is needed. It's a true belief, from the heart, that stands in spite of circumstances or feelings. It's the faith of a child when you tell them something- they believe! They will argue that belief!
Right now, you have the opportunity to believe that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. He was fully God and fully man. He is the Son of God and the son of man. He knows what God requires and He understands what man endures.
You have the ability to submit your sinful heart to His will and gain total forgiveness for every sin that you have done. It's not the fact that you've committed sins that sends you to hell. It's the fact that those sins have been paid for and you haven't accepted that payment on your behalf.
Leviticus 17:11- For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Hebrews 7:27- Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Hebrews 9:28- So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
It's just one thing that you have to believe with the core of who you are. You believe you are a sinner and that God requires a payment made in blood for those sins. You believe that Jesus Christ paid that payment on the cross of Calvary. And, you confess that Jesus Christ is the son of God come in the flesh and that you are accepting Him as the Lord and Savior of your soul.
Salvation is a guarantee. Thou shalt be saved! There is no maybe. There is no probably. There is no perhaps. If you believe, and you confess aloud to the spirit world, then you will be forgiven of your sin. The righteousness and the salvation are synonymous as the result or end accomplished by Christ upon the yielding of the individual to Him.
2 Peter 3:9- The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
You have His word, His promise, His guarantee that you won't perish in hell. He wants all, that means everybody, to repent and accept His salvation.
There is boldness in a relationship. When you are with someone you let others know. It's the same with a relationship with Christ. You must confess Him to God the Father.
There is equality in a relationship. Anyone can be saved regardless of lineage, status, or even the depth of sin that they've been involved in.
John 3:16- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Whosoever means anyone.
Jehovah God of the Old Testament has been revealed as Jesus Christ in flesh in the New Testament. That is who Jesus is. And, eventually everyone will confess that.
Philippians 2:10-11- That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Right now you can submit of your own free will. But, one day, you will confess out of surrender and then it will be too late!
Revelation 20:11-13, 15- And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
IF you are content to pay for your own sins, then this is the required payment that you must make. And, the price tag takes an eternity to pay off.
Revelation 21:1, 27- And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
If you can see your need, and you can express a sincere belief in what God has said in His Word. Then you can gain the riches of an eternity in Heaven through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Believe with all your heart. Confess with your mouth. And have your name written in the eternal book of life that cannot be erased or changed.
