The "A-to-Z" of Acceptance into God's Family

Questions to ask myself: Will God accept me if I ...


  1. go to church?
  2. get baptized?
  3. am helpful to others?
  4. confess my sins to a priest?
  5. am a good person?
  6. don't doing anything really bad (like murder,...)?
  7. simply believe in Him?
  8. turn over a new leaf?
  9. read the Bible?
  10. believe that Jesus died to pay for my sins?
  11. ?
  12. ?
  13. ?
  14. ?

Surely, there's a lot of confusion surrounding the answers to these questions. Ask 20 people, and you'll probably get 20 different opinions! But in reality, the answers are fairly easy to arrive at — we'll answer them simply here and develop that answer more fully below:

  • The answer to questions 1 through 9 is "NO" because acceptance into God's family is not based on anything we "do" or "merit" no matter how much we try (or no matter how much we might want to believe that we can accomplish this through our own merit).
  • The answer to question 10 is "YES" because acceptance into God's family is based solely on one's faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Once we repent and place our faith in Jesus, by God's grace we are then immediately and forever forgiven of all sin (past, present and future) and accepted into His family.
  • The answer to questions 11 through 14 is "NO" because only question 10 gets the "YES" answer — there are no other questions since there is no other way to be accepted into God's family.

We greatly expand on this matter in the article included below because it gives a solid description of Biblical salvation (justification) seeming to cover all the bases.

This article was extracted from a page of non-copyrighted material originally produced by a ministry named "Proclaiming the Gospel" (Plano, TX). We altered it only slightly.

 The Claim

 

 Jesus saves everyone who obeys the first command of His earthly ministry, "Repent and Believe in the Gospel" [a]. He saves them from the penalty and power of sin. Eternal life is given as a gift of God's grace and mercy to sinners who deserve condemnation. Without possession of this wonderful gift, man is eternally separated from God and will suffer everlasting punishment [b]. Our almighty and sovereign God is holy and righteous and must punish sin [c]. Everyone who is born in this world is conceived in sin, and is born a sinner and comes under the judgment of God [d]. The penalty for sin is death [e] and the second death is the eternal lake of fire (i.e., hell) [f]. But God did not leave everyone dead in their sins [g]. He demonstrated His love in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us [h]. Eternal life is free because the Lord Jesus Christ paid the ransom for our redemption (i.e., He bought us back) with His shed blood [i]. Jesus, the sinless Savior, took upon himself the wrath of God, paying the death penalty that God demands of sinners [j]. We can be reconciled to God (brought back into a right relationship with God) only through Jesus Christ, His only Son [k]. Our faith appropriates this work fully accomplished by Jesus.


[a]
[b]
[c] and
[d]
[e]
[f]
[g]
[h]
[i]
[j]
[k]
 Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life by obeying and fulfilling the law of God [l]. Since perfect righteousness is necessary to enter heaven [m], and since it is impossible for sinners to become righteous, God offers us the righteousness of His Son as a gift to those who come to Him with empty hands of faith [n]. God justifies (declares righteous) the wicked when they put their faith in the only righteous one — Jesus Christ [o]. Everyone God justifies, He ultimately glorifies (brings to heaven) [p]. The gift of eternal life can only be received by repentance [q] and faith [r]. This gift is eternally secure because God's gifts are irrevocable [s]. Salvation can only be received by grace, God's unmerited favor [t]. It cannot be merited by righteous deeds because anyone who works to earn acceptance before God nullifies the grace of God [u]. Those who receive Jesus Christ by grace through faith are adopted into God’s eternal family and nothing can ever separate them from God's love [v]. Jesus Christ loses no one that the Father gives Him because they rest securely in the palm of His hands [w].

[l] and [m] [n] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] [t] [u] and [v] and [w] and
 Our Response to the Claim

 

 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." [x]

[x]
 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." [y]

[y]
 ... that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, ... for "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." [z]

[z]