Why I am a Bible Believing Christian

We are saved by acknowledging our sinful condition (Romans 3:19) and believing the Gospel (Mark 1:15). We are saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31; Galatians 3:26), believing that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and that He raised up bodily from the dead three days later according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. No human effort is required nor allowed in salvation. Either God does all of the saving or else you are not saved.

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 Are You Really A Christian?
By David J. Stewart | May 2003 | Updated July 2015
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/salvation_webpages/28-are_you_really_a_christian.htm

I also used to tell people to invite Jesus into their heart, but then I realized that you can invite Jesus into your heart all you want and never be saved at all. In fact, you can make a full surrender to Christ, forsake the world, give your life to Christ, join a church, tithe, pray, tell others about Christ, live an upright life, and yet never be saved at all. We see this evidenced in Acts 10:1-2 in the story of Cornelius, who was a devout religious man without Christ. Thankfully, Cornelius was saved later in the chapter, after hearing the apostle Peter preach the gospel. We are saved by acknowledging our sinful condition in the eyes of a holy God and receiving the gospel as payment for our sins.

Dr. M.R. DeHaan gives the following excellent explanation between salvation verses discipleship . . .

    “There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can’t be lost because it depends upon God’s faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness.” DeHaan, M. R. Hebrews. Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117).

Pastor Hal Lindsey provides the following helpful and doctrinally correct words . . .

    “There are those who, in their zeal to get people to turn from their sinful ways and receive the Lord, almost put repentance on a par with believing… Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He’s done to provide forgiveness and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we’re automatically repenting, because we couldn’t accept Him in this way without having had to change our minds in some way concerning Him.” Lindsey, Hal. The Liberation of Planet Earth. Zondervan Publishing House, 1974 (p. 136, 137).

Here are two more excellent quotes by Charles Ryrie and Zane Hodges, correctly differentiating between salvation verses discipleship . . .

    “It is an inexcusable error to confront sinners with problems that concern the Christian life and call upon them to make promises regarding them. An unsaved person is never called upon to surrender himself to God. The saving act is in no instance represented as our ‘giving ourselves to God’; it is, on the contrary, taking His Son as our Savior.” Ryrie, Charles. Balancing the Christian Life. Moody Press, Inc., 1969 (p. 170).

    “Eternal life is free. Discipleship is immeasurably hard. The former is attained by faith alone, the latter by a faith that works… the former brings with it the righteousness of God so that a man is ‘justified freely by his grace’ (Romans 3:24). The latter develops a personal righteousness, based on good deeds, so that a man was also ‘justified by works’ (James 2:24). The former constituted the believer God’s workmanship, the latter fulfilled the wonderful purpose for which he had been created. The former cost man nothing, the latter could cost him everything, including life itself.” Hodges, Zane C. The Hungry Inherit. Moody Press, Inc., 1972 (p. 114, 115).

Further Info on Salvation at this Link: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/how_to_be_saved.html