What do I need to do to be saved?

If you ask around, a lot of people will tell you different things. You might expect that from a world that has never been able to come to a universal agreement about anything.

What you might not expect is that if you ask a bunch of Christians what you have to do, you still might not get a clear answer. You might have heard that you need to “turn from your sins and be baptized,” or that you need to “give your heart to Jesus,” or “accept Jesus into your heart,” whatever that means.

But God loves us and knows that something this important can’t be clouded up. That’s one of the reasons He gave us the Bible. The Bible couldn’t be clearer on what it takes to be saved. In the Book of Acts, a man asks Paul “What do I need to do to be saved?” and Paul replied with, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Jesus was just as clear when He said, “Truly, truly I say to you, He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).

You might wonder how it could be that easy. We are all sinners, and our conscience lets us know we can’t get away with it. But what God knows is that we can’t pay what we owe. That’s why He became a man (Jesus) and died on a cross. It was to pay for our sins. Because Jesus lived the perfect life, He had no sins of His own to pay for. He died so that we don’t have to, and rose from the dead to show that He had the power to pay the price.

So, because of God’s love for us, He made it that simple. If you believe in Jesus, you are already saved! You already have a life that will last forever! And that life, because it is eternal, can’t be lost (if it could, it wouldn’t be eternal).

Now is a great time to begin talking to God as His child. Just begin by saying, “thanks” and then tell Him whatever’s on your heart. You can do that now because you’re part of His (and our) family. That’s what prayer is, talking to your Dad.