This is a post on how you become saved through Jesus Christ. I answered this question to someone over the internet yesterday, and it made me realize that maybe not everyone knows the process. This is definitely the most important decision anyone will make in their life. At the end of me explaining this, and of course backing everything up with scripture, I will give my testimony. My story is pretty eventful, and is being made into a book, but I’ll make my testimony Somewhat brief.
Being “saved” is what happens when you accept Christ as your lord and savior. What is it that we are being saved from? The answer is that we are being saved from our sinful nature, and being forgiven of our sins so that we are not condemned by our sins. Jesus loved each and everyone of us so much that he accepted the cross so that we may be redeemed. God offered his son (Jesus) as an all sufficient sacrifice for our sin. We committed our crimes of sin, and Jesus took our punishment so we wouldn’t have to. I can’t press that point enough, we sinned, and he voluntarily took the punishment so we wouldn’t have to. He was beaten to an inch of his life, then made to carry his cross through the streets, had his hands and feet nailed to that cross. His blood is what washes away our sin.
“Verily, Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me have everlasting life” John 6:47
Jesus is telling us that we have everlasting life by merely believing on him. The everlasting life he is talking about is not a mortal one, but rather spiritual. One day when we die we will stand before God and be judged. Those who didn’t believe in Christ will be condemned to death, while those of us who believed through faith shall reside in the kingdom of heaven.
In the letter to the church of Ephesus, Paul writes: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8
Here we see the same message of how we are saved from the apostle Paul. If you truly have faith, and believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only son of God, that he was sent here to save the world as a sacrifice for the sin of the world, and you ask him to forgive you, you will be saved. We are to surrender our lives to Christ, and accept his gift he is offering us.
In acts we find the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. Phillip comes across this man reading scripture but not understanding it. Phillip teaches him about what he is reading, and the Eunuch asked Phillip how he can become saved.
Only Jesus can save us. It’s amazing grace. If you want to be saved you must surrender your life to Christ, and have faith that he is everything the Bible says he is. Then accept his free gift to you, and repent of your sin.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9
I urge you if you’ve not already done so, cry out to the Lord, accept his sacrifice for your sin, invite him into your heart, and surrender your life to him. I hope this helps answer the question of how we become saved. I would urge you to pass it along so that more may hear this message, and come to know Jesus as their lord and savior.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I will now give a description of my testimony so you may all know the man behind the keyboard a little better. First I would like to start by saying if there was ever a chief sinner, it was me. I do not hide my wrong doings, and the terrible life I lived for years. I enjoy sharing my story, because I hope that my testimony may be able to help lead someone who is like I once was to Christ. I feel I should get the dirty laundry out first. I was once a drunk, drug abuser, blasphemer, liar, thief, abuser, fornicator, I was violent, and I was a adulterer. I’m only 32 years old, and this all started in high school and progressively got worse. I guess you could say I packed in a lot of wrong doing in a short amount of time . My most recent or the last major offense I made was leaving my wife and children to have affairs with other women. I did actually move out of the house a couple of times. There were multiple affairs, not just one. Sexual sin had a huge hold on me. I was one of Satan’s puppets. Yes I believe in angels and demons, because the Bible says they exist. I am not saying I was possessed, but I do believe I had demons around me, and they had me doing their bidding. I will one day post about an experience I had during those times involving demons, that can be verified by eye witnesses. Sexual sin is believed to be the worst temptation for men. I would have to agree because it was for me. Of all my sins and demons, sexual immorality was the strongest. The last affair I had before coming to Christ was the worst. It was a hurricane of trouble and pain for everyone around me. It did get to a point to where I tried to kill myself by overdosing on prescription drugs (Ativan). My wife knew what was going on, and called my dad to tell him he had to get over to that motel or I would die. My wife didn’t know I was overdosing; I don’t think, but she knew what was going on. I still do not recall the event very well. In fact those couple of months of chaos is a blur to me. There are many significant things that happened that I don’t remember. But, back to my committing suicide by pills. My dad did come, and confronted me. He told me to either get in his truck or he would have an ambulance come and take me to have my stomach pumped. He took me to an emergency room in McKinney, Texas. I did my best to lie my way out of there to the social worker. But, dad had my suicide note. I was sent to Wysong, a hospital for those who have mental issues going on. Not a puzzle factory like most people believe. It was a decent place. I was sent there by way of court order, and stayed for a week. During that time I was given medicine for bi polar disorder. Upon my release I didn’t immediately go back to the gym I worked at. In fact I was still in pretty bad shape, and suicidal. I contacted my clients to cancel training sessions, when one of my favorite clients knew something wasn’t right by the way I sounded. Her and her husband had me meet them at a starbucks in McKinney to talk, and see if I was alright. I don’t remember much of that talk either. I guess I didn’t seem ok to them, with blood dripping from my knuckles, and the things I was saying. I knew they were Christians, but not how devoted they were to doing work for Christ. They had me ride to their house with Brittany, and Stan drove my truck since I was in no condition to drive (pills). They gave me the tour and offered their guest room for me to get some sleep, because I hadn’t slept in a couple of days. I, no joke, slept for over 24 hours. They of course checked on me off and on. When I woke up they wanted me to stay with them until I got back on my feet. They tried to counsel me, and always used God’s word in efforts to turn me to him. They didn’t brow beat me, instead they were very friendly and loving about it. Stan even took us three to Mardel to buy me a fifty dollar bible so I could read it if I decided to. Long story short, I did go back home to my wife and kids. Although I still wasn’t a Christian, but my wife, Brittany, and Stan worked on me and prayed for me. The day finally came, after hearing the story of Paul that I opened that Bible to the book of Acts so I could find out more about this Paul. They told me he was a pretty bad dude, but was saved and was used to do the work of Christ like nobody had ever done. That got me thinking that if this man who persecuted the earliest Christians could be saved, and have a brand new life, maybe I could. So I kept reading that bible and I was soon hooked. I had prayed a few times, but not quite accepting my forgiveness. I guess I was still wrestling with God, and myself. Finally the night came when everyone was asleep, I bowed my head, and full of shame from my wicked ways I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior. Tears ran down my face as I pleaded with him to forgive me, and make me a good man. At that very moment a huge roar of thunder shook the house, and rain started to pour. It almost felt like the man upstairs sent me a sign of assurance. Since that day the temptation of my old wicked ways was nearly all gone. I read that bible cover to cover, not getting enough of it. I put my old life to death, and have been a new creation in Christ ever since. Everyone I know has said they see that I’m a completely different man. Of course all temptation doesn’t just disappear, but it’s never more than what I can bare thanks to my lord walking next to me. Today I still feel the same passion for the Lord as I did that night I accepted his forgiveness. I now hope to continue to serve full time in ministry. If I had the financial means to do so, I would go to school to become a pastor. But, for now God has shown me other ways to serve. This blog is the biggest way that I can today, and hope that it can help lead others to the cross.
I thank you all so much for reading this post, and learning some of my story. I hope that sharing it may lead you to the cross or reaffirm you in your faith.
Your Brother in Christ
Michael H.
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