What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Introduction

This passage of scripture answers the question, “What must I do to be saved?” Everyone wants to know the answer to this question, “How can I be saved from my sins and go to heaven when I die?” Unfortunately, we the modern church in America, have not always given a clear, genuine or complete answer to the question.

There is a tremendous fallacy in the way much of the American church has done evangelism in the last 100 years or so.

Fallacy — a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument.

The mistaken belief is this, “Becoming a Christian is easy.” “Becoming a Christian means saying a prayer, getting baptized, going to church and living a morally better life than those who don’t.”

Another way the “what must I do to be saved” question is often answered is, “Come receive Jesus and have love, joy and peace you have never known…have hope of eternal life.”

Another fallacy concerns the emotionalism often found among those making a decision to follow Christ.

A group of motion-picture engineers classified the following as the ten most dramatic sounds in the movies: a baby's first cry; the blast of a siren; the thunder of breakers on rocks; the roar of a forest fire; a foghorn; the slow drip of water; the galloping of horses; the sound of a distant train whistle; the howl of a dog; the wedding march. And one of these sounds causes more emotional response and upheaval than any other, has the power to bring forth almost every human emotion: sadness, envy, regret, sorrow, tears, as well as supreme joy. It is the wedding march.  

People attend a church service or revival…are convicted of their sin, moved emotionally and walk the aisle to declare their intention to follow Jesus. But it isn’t real…it is just a heartfelt moment.

Often we are quick to take folks in such a state and walk them through a prayer

But this is not how Jesus answered the question of “what must I do to be saved.”

In our passage today we see that Jesus gives three conditions for salvation and tells his listeners to think long and hard before making a decision to follow Him.

The truth is — There is a cost in following Jesus. Being saved isn’t easy and one should really consider whether they want to be or not. This is not a question of whether one wants to go to heaven or hell but of whether one wants to repent of his or her sins and have a relationship with Christ.

First Condition: Hate Everything Else

“If you want to be my disciple” — This is not about becoming an apostle, pastor or missionary…if you simply want to be a Christian then these things must be...

“We must hate father, mother, wife and children, brothers, sisters and even our own life.”

Hate — Is a hyperbolic Hebrew idiom which means to “love less.”

If we are going to be a follower of Jesus we must love Jesus the most. We must give Jesus the place of primacy in our life. He MUST have first place. We must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else.

Think about what this means…love is not simply an emotion…it is right attitudes and actions…is He first place in your life? Does God have your heart? Is He really the most important person in your life? Are there people or things you love more than Him?

The real question being asked is, “What are you passionate about?” “Are you zealous for Jesus?” “Are you crazy about Him?” If so, then shouldn’t it be obvious?

Fan — “a person who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular person or thing.”

Some people are just a fan of Jesus but being a fan of Him doesn’t make you a disciple of Him. If you are just a fan of Jesus you haven’t met the criteria for what is necessary to be a Christian.

You must have more than an admiration or strong interest in Jesus…you must love Him and love Him more than anyone or anything…He must have your whole heart.

Second Condition: Carry Your Cross

Carry Your Cross — The cross was not a burden but a death. The one carrying a cross was literally a dead man walking. He was headed for only one thing and it was the end of him.

If we are to be saved we must love Jesus most and give Him our life…This means repentance from sin and our way of doing things so we might turn to Jesus and live for Him.

A clergyman found children reading the New Testament and he asked them if they knew the difference between penance and repentance. A short silence followed, and then a little girl asked, "Is it not this ... : Judas did penance, and went and hanged himself; Peter repented, and wept bitterly?"

Taking up our cross means sorrow for who we have been, death to our old person and resurrection to a new life in Christ.

We must lay our life down completely and no longer claim it as our own. We must die to sin, self, selfish ambitions…we must give ourselves away to Jesus.

Third Condition: Give Up All Your Possessions

“Give Up” is in the present tense so this is a continual renunciation of every thing.

Some might want to sugarcoat this verse and lessen the sting of what it says. But, it says what it says. Jesus meant what He said. We have to live with it.

For the follower of Jesus…nothing they have actually belongs to them. The Jesus follower sees Himself as a manager or steward of stuff God has allowed to fall into his possession during his or her time on earth.

Everything belongs to God and we recognize He has the rights to it…we don’t own it…it isn’t our own…and what He says do with it, we do.

Moment by moment we renounce ownership to our money and stuff…it belongs to Him.

So we shouldn’t pray about how much to give for the benefit of others but how much to keep for our use.

Do Not Make a Hasty Decision

We are often in a hurry to see someone pray and commit their life to Christ but Jesus wasn’t like that at all. Instead, Jesus tells the lost to think about whether or not they really want to follow Jesus and be saved.

This sounds incredible to us! Ask a man to think about whether or not he wants to go to hell? No not at all! Ask a man whether or not He wants to follow Jesus…because being a follower of Jesus is serious business.

Following Jesus means committing yourself to love and follow Him…literally. Where He sends we go, what He says we do. He comes first before anyone or anything else…He is our everything. If you do not want this kind of life then don’t say you do…or your life will be the subject of ridicule.

Tower —A tower was something built on property for protection or to view what was happening on a farm…a person would not begin building unless he knew he had what was necessary to complete the job.

King — A king would never go into battle with fewer men than needed to win the battle.

So consider what it means to follow Jesus and never agree to do so unless you are ready to follow through and actually love Jesus most and give your life to Him. Anything less ends in disaster…anything less simply means you are lost both in this life and the next.

It is interesting to break down and dissect what Jesus means at this point. He basically says, if you enjoy your life, enjoy being separated from God then live wholeheartedly lost…but if you want a relationship with God then wholeheartedly give yourself to Jesus, be saved and follow Him.

Just know…becoming a follower of Jesus means to love Him most and give ourselves completely to Him. Think long and hard…do you really want to do this?

Conclusions

Third Condition:

When we understand salvation and being a Christian in the terms Jesus describes in this passage it casts our faith in a whole new light doesn’t it? We quickly realize there are far fewer genuine Christians in this world than we sometimes believe there to be.

If people or things have you then Christ doesn’t. This doesn’t mean we are always perfect but we are always committed to being perfect. Our heart is committed to Him and we desire Him first…seek death to self and the complete surrender of ourselves to Him.

Moment by moment we are careful that our heart belongs to Christ. Moment by moment we are careful to be renounce ownership of our stuff…moment by moment we are careful to renounce ownership of even our life! We love and belong to Jesus…He is our everything.

Too often we attempt to make everything easy…Just come say a sinner’s prayer and you will become a Christian. We tell people to receive new life in Jesus but never emphasize the necessity of dying to all you are in the process.

But in order to really, genuinely be saved we must admit we are a sinner, believe Jesus dies on the cross for our sins and commit our life to Him. That last phrase is the one Jesus emphasizes in our passage today and it is the condition which keeps more people out of heaven than anything else.

Commit our life to Him — To commit one’s life to Jesus means

To love Him supremely and give Him the place of prominence in our life

Repent from our sin and turn to His way of doing things…give our life to Him

Renounce ownership of anything and genuinely believe everything is His

Have you committed your life to Jesus and literally become a follower of Him? How are you doing if you have done so? Are there areas in which you have failed in your commitment to Jesus? Today is the day to repent, get right with Jesus and follow Him.

Today is the day of salvation for some and rededication for others.