One of the core beliefs of Christianity may be stated as:

 

Each person who responds to God’s grace and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ by confession of sin, remorse, repentance, faith and obedience receives the great gift of salvation.  Each person who resists God’s grace is condemned to everlasting punishment. (U)

  • Each person who responds to God’s grace and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ by
  • confession of sin (Ps 32:3-5; 1 John 1:8-10),
  • remorse (Ps 66:18; Luke 18:13),
  • repentance (Mat 3:8; Rom 12:2, 13:14; Eph 4:23-24; Rev 2:5, 16, 3:3, 19),
  • faith (John 6:29, 3:16-17; Acts 16:31; Eph 2:8-10) and
  • obedience (Mat 28:20; Luke 11:28; John 14:15; Rom 1:5, 6:16; Heb 5:9)
  • receives the great gift of salvation (Acts 4:12; Rom 1:16; 2 Cor 7:10; 1 Thes 5:9; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 1:9, 18-19). 
  • Each person who resists God’s grace is condemned to everlasting punishment (Mat 25:46; 2 Thes 1:8-9).

Christian belief must be preceded by repentance and followed by obedience to qualify as faith.  Faith is not just an intellectual exercise (Jam 2:19) or an emotional experience (Jer 17:9).

 

To be saved, most people respond to God’s grace and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ by praying some form of the ‘sinner’s prayer.’

 

Almighty God, I come into your presence

Confessing my sin nature and behavior,

Having remorse in my heart,

Wanting to repent,

Asking Your forgiveness,

Forgiving those who have sinned against me

And believing I am saved from eternal damnation

By faith, the grace of God and the Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ

 

I pray that the Holy Spirit will

Occupy and purify my heart,

Make known to me the will of God,

Help me discern the truth,

Be Lord of my life

And keep me on the path of repentance, faith and obedience,

Continually reaffirmed and renewed.

Amen

 

When God answers that prayer, and He always will, does He force you to be obedient?  Does He coerce you; does he control your will?  Oswald Chambers wrote:

 

“Our Lord never insists on having authority; He never says – Thou shalt.  He leaves us perfectly free – so free that we can spit in His face, as men did; so free that we can put Him to death, as men did; and He will never say a word.  But when His life has been created in me by His Redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me…If our Lord insisted upon obedience He would become a taskmaster, and He would cease to have any authority.  He never insists on obedience, but when we do see Him we obey Him instantly, He is easily Lord, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night.”  (Chambers, July 19th)

 

(See also Sections 11.1, 11.4, 11.5, 11.8, 11.10 and 11.12 of Theology Corner)