Salvation by Grace
Saving faith consists of much more than believing that "Christ died for me," it involves the complete surrender of your heart and life. Christ came here to save His people from hell and from sin.
To stand before a holy and just God, that person must be righteous. It is the sovereignty of God whereby He declares us righteous when as a sinner we repent and believe or trust in Jesus Christ. Upon Salvation, the believer does not stop sinning or become perfect ceasing from sin; but will desire to sin less. God gives by grace the gift of eternal life on the sinner at the moment he believes or trusts and declares him righteous. Works or good deeds such as paying tithes, joining a church, baptism, godly and sacrificial living are things that a believer comes to do as they grow in the grace of the Lord.
It is by grace and grace alone, God declares the sinner righteous and from that moment on the sinner justified by grace begins a process of growth toward maturity. Even though one will still sin periodically, God still declares you righteous when you have believed.
Mercy is the forgiveness Jesus gives us even though we are worthy of judgement. This is because of Adam and Eve who sinned in the garden; sin has been passed down to everyone through all generations. We are all sinners even though we don't want to admit it. We have all something wrong, said bad words, stole something, lied, had bad attitudes or behaviours. We all have sinned and therefore have turned our back on God.
The Bible says in John 3:3 "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
What must ,I do to be saved? Acknowledge you're a sinner. Accept the sacrifice of Christ alone. Ask Christ into your life, ask for His forgiveness.
What does it mean to be a Christian?
To some, it means you were born in a Christian family, for others, it means you believe in Jesus or the religion that is based on Jesus teachings.
The word Christian is only used 3 times in the Bible and each time referring to the first Christians of the early church; such as in Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28; and 1 Peter 4:16.
The Bible says we are not saved by good works; in other words, a person can live to a high moral standard, give money to feed the poor, go to church, and serve their neighbors, and yet not be a Christ follower; example Ephesians 2:8-9 explains further, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.
To trust Jesus and become a Christian, you need to believe in Christ and commit the rest of your life to Him. Sin separates you from God (Romans 6:23) and Jesus died as your substitute (Romans 5:8).
Talk to God and tell Him that you want Him in your life; but saying a prayer alone will not save you; unless you truly mean what you are saying; this is expressing your faith to God through prayer. If you decided to receive Jesus today, welcome to God's family.
No matter who you are, relationships are critical to your existence as human beings. God created you to have relationships with others, and him. He wants to be connected to you through his Son Jesus. A relationship with your Creator is to be known by God himself.
Is there a cost?
In Luke 14: 28 ~31 we read of those that considered first and counted the cost. To come to Christ involves the turning our backs upon the world and identifying ourselves with the despised and rejected One.
Millions are being deluded into thinking that they have "accepted Christ as their Saviour," but whose lives show plainly that they reject Him as their Lord. The Devil or Satan is drawing multitudes into Hell by this very delusion. Many would profess to believe in the virgin birth and death of Christ and may pass for a real Christian almost anywhere today; but their life may be no different from those who make no profession at all.