Page 78 - Bible Doctrine Survey I- Student Textbook

Study Section 10: Doctrine of Salvation - continued

10.1 Connect.

In presenting the Gospel of how to be saved to others, there are a variety of presentations.
Some tell you that you must ask Jesus in your heart. Others tell you that you must first
repent of all your sins. Some say to “give your life to Christ.” Others say, “commit your life
to Christ.” Others tell you to say this particular prayer or go foreward. And the list goes on.
Rather confusing? Do we need to pray a certain prayer? As the Philippian jailer asked,
“What must we do to be saved?” We need to get back to what the Bible says brings salvation
to a sinner. Today, we are going to clarify this.

10.2 Objectives:

1. The student should be able to recite key words from Scripture that will guide us to better
understanding what is involved in the act of belief.

2. The student should be able to tell you what the Gospel is NOT.

3. The student should be able to explain the doctrine of eternal security to find out if it is possible to
lose your salvation once you are given it by God.

10.3 What must a person do to be saved?

So what must a person put his faith in? To understand this, we must first understand the
answers to three very important questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. What must a person do to be saved?
3. What is the gospel NOT?

What is the Gospel?
The word gospel means “good news.” It is best described in:

I Corinthians 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

The gospel message is that Christ died and arose to take our punishment for sin and give us eternal life.

The key word in the New Testament describing what one must do to have eternal life is “believe (to
exercise faith).” The term “believe” means more than believing a fact. It means “trusting in” or
“depending on” a fact. You can say a chair will hold you up if you sit in it, but true faith is demonstrated
by sitting down in the chair. That’s what “believing in Christ for eternal life” means. In the Bible, “faith”

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