How Can We Receive Salvation

Salvation means being saved from the power of sin and from hell, the eternal penalty of that sin. Through the process of salvation, we are freed from all the things that could prevent us from being part of the kingdom of God and enjoying eternal life with God. Other common terms for salvation are being saved, going to heaven, eternal life, everlasting life, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven.

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

All people who have ever lived, Christian and non-Christian, will face a final judgment to determine their eternal fate (Matthew 5:29-30, 25:31-46; Romans 14:10-12). The Bible sometimes says a person is "saved" when he or she becomes a Christian (Acts 2:46-47, 16:31-34), but more often "saved" refers to being granted eternal life at the final judgment (Mark 13:13, Luke 13:23-24, 18:26-27, James 2:14 ).

How Can We Receive Salvation?
All Christians agree that we can be saved only by the grace of God; we cannot save ourselves or determine our own fate after death. The Pharisees, religious leaders of Jesus' time, believed that salvation could be earned by strict observance of the Law (the Ten Commandments plus the other laws of Moses). Jesus rejected that belief and stressed that we will be judged on the purity of our motives, not just on the outward observance of rules.

1. Obedience To God
Obedience to God's will is required for salvation. Mere intellectual Christianity, or acknowledgment of Christ as Savior, is not sufficient. Jesus asks for total commitment (Luke 11:23) and warns that the road to salvation will not always be easy (Matthew 10:22, Mark 8:34-38).

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Matthew 7:21-23 NIV

2. Faith In God
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Romans 10:9-10 NIV