How You Can Have Eternal Life in God’s Family
1) Believe—have faith—that God the Father sent His Son—the Word and Creator who was also God and was with the Father in Heaven—to the earth to be born in the flesh of a woman and conceived/begotten by God’s Spirit and that the Son Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while in a body of flesh and died as a perfect sacrifice to cover all the sins of every person whom has ever lived (John 3:16; John 1:1-3; I John 4:2; Rom 5:8; 3:25; I John 2:2: Heb 9:28) .
2) Understand that all have sinned (Rom 3:23), except Christ, and that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Therefore, we are saved by grace (Eph 2:8). No amount of works can save us, because one sin is all it takes to reap death, and sin must have an atoning sacrifice (James 2:10; Heb 10:10-12) .
3) Repent of all sin (Matt 4:17; Mark 1:15; Acts 2:38; 5:32). Sin is defined as breaking God’s law, commandments, and statutes (I John 3:4). Being saved by grace does not mean a person can continue to break God’s law and expect to receive salvation. Only those who repent and live out a life of obedience to God’s law receive His grace. This is made clear in the bible. For example, a whole land of people were wiped out by God in a flood, but Noah "found grace in the eyes of YHWH" (Gen. 1:8), b/c he walked in God's way (vs. 9). The people who were killed obviously did NOT find grace. And so it always has been and always will be. Grace does not nullify the law (Rom 6:15, Jude 4, Gen 6:8,9). A person must repent and be baptized and have hands laid on them in order to receive God’s Spirit, which is required for eternal life (Acts 2:38; 5:32; Rom 8:9; Acts 8:16-17; 9:17-18; Heb 6:2). The Spirit helps a person keep God's law.
4)
Once a person has repented, been baptized, and has hands laid
on him/her to receive a begettal of God’s Spirit, the person becomes a begotten
child of God. The person must continue
to keep God’s commandments and endure to the very end (Matthew 24:12; Mark
13:13; 2 Timothy 2:12; Rev. 2:10).
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