How Can I Have A Genuine Relationship With My Creator?
There is no magic prayer, list of incantations, or set of rites and rituals that one needs to use in order to enter into fellowship with their creator and the God of the universe. It's really a matter of believing, turning to Him, and surrendering to His leadership as your heavenly Father. Though we can't provide a neat & easy set of steps that zap you into salvation, we can tell you what needs to happen, and point you in the right direction.
"“38 Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
Acts 2:38-39
How Can I Be Saved?
You may have heard of or witnessed someone being "lead to Jesus Christ" by repeating a prayer like a bride and groom are directed to repeat vows to each other as lead by the officiant of the wedding. This has been a common practice for many years; however, not only is this practice not mentioned or demonstrated in the Bible, but it doesn't always lead to salvation. It's too easy to repeat some words that someone else says, without really meaning any of it. Although prayer will likely be a part of the process, it will not be a prayer lead by someone else, but honest communication between you and God. It's not so important what is said and how you say it, it's a matter of honesty, genuineness, and sincere willingness to surrender to the leadership (lordship) of Jesus (and thus, His Father).
What Must I Do To Be Saved?
I Must Repent
If you are not yet saved and are not in fellowship with God, then you have been, whether you realized it or not, living outside of God's direction, you've been calling your own shots, and you have been doing things the Bible calls sin. The first thing that you must do to enter into a relationship with the father and be reconciled to Him, is to repent. Repentance is about seeking forgiveness for past mistakes and about turning your life around. This means turning away from a self-guided life and turning to a God-guided life. This means, letting go of your own desires, and choosing to live to please God. It's a 180 degree "about-faced", where you turn from living for self, and seek to live for God. When the apostle Peter was asked what one must do to be saved, he said, "38 ... “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” (Acts 2:38-39)
Repentance is a way of saying, "God, I've been living for myself, I've been making my own choices based on what was important to me, I've been doing things that are displeasing to You (things called sin), and I want to not only ask You for forgiveness, but I want to turn from the world and myself, and I want to let You lead me. It's saying, I've been living in sin, and now, I want to live according to Your guidelines, because I know You love me and want what's best for me.
I Must Believe
The next thing you must do to be saved (though these are not necessarily in any order), is to believe. One has to believe in God, believe that He sent His son to pay for our sins, and believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead on the third day (Mattew 27-28). Jesus, when he was here with His disciples said this, "6 ... 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.'” (John 14:6). That means He is the only way to the Father, and the only one who brings salvation. We cannot receive salvation outside of Jesus. Romans 10 says, “9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” What this means is that we must believe in the saving power of Jesus. Again, we're told we must believe not only that Jesus died for our sins, but that He did rise up from the tomb, and is now with the Father in heaven.
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Though belief is a necessary component of salvation, it's not the only thing we need to do. Our belief should lead to actions and changes in the way we live. In James 2 we read, "18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?" We must believe, but if that belief doesn't result in a life change, then it's useless.
I Must Give Up My Own Way
The next thing you must do to be saved is to give up your own way of living. The flesh (the needs, wants, and desires of the human body) and our selfishness and self-centeredness, leads us to want things that are not healthy, and to plan out lives and futures that are less than pleasing to God. In Mark, chapter 8, we read, “34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he (Jesus) said, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.'" What is Jesus saying here? He's saying, if one wishes to follow Him (into salvation), one has to "give up his one way", "pick up his own cross", and follow Him. So, what exactly is He asking here?
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Well first, He's asking us (if we wish to follow Him into salvation) to give up our own way. This means, we must give up our plans, our hopes, our dreams, our typical ways of living, and our overall direction, and surrender to His leadership (more about this in a moment). Next, He is asking us to "pick up our cross". This basically means, we are to die to ourselves. In Biblical times, when a criminal was crucified, he was required to pick up the cross he was going to be crucified on, and carry it to the outskirts of the city, to the location of the crucifixion. When that criminal "picked up his cross, he was acknowledging that he no longer had any rights, he was no longer in command of his life, and he was basically a dead man walking (walking to his death and nowhere else). Jesus is not asking us to physically die, but rather to die to our own leadership, desires, and direction. Finally, He's asking us to "follow Him". That means, we are surrendering to His leadership. When you follow someone in conga line, you go wherever they go (and you're doing what they do... dancing). When you follow Jesus, you're doing what He did, living as He did, and following His lead. This is why the apostle Paul said, "as I follow Christ, so follow me!" (1 Corinthians 11:1)
I Must Surrender To The Leadership (Lordship) Of Jesus Christ
As we read early in Romans 10, “9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Now, as we don't have "Lords" in our modern culture, let's take a look at another scripture that might bring things to into better focus. In Romans 12, the apostle Paul says, "1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” In this verse, Paul is "pleading" with the people in Rome to "give their bodies to God" as "living sacrifices". What this is referring to is making ourselves completely available to God, for His purposes (day, night, morning, noon, & night). This is an act of surrendering to God's will for your life. It let's God be in charge of how you spend your time and energy. It's letting Him lead you. That's basically what Lordship is... it's leadership! When we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus, we're surrendering to His leadership.
I Must Allow God To Change The Way I Think
Some may argue that this component is not so much a part of the salvation process, but rather the part of the growth (maturation) process, however, at the very beginning, there must be a willingness to allow God to change the way you think. Our thinking guides our actions and is typically pretty set in place by our own personal desires and the input we have learned from the world. If we are going to enter into a relationship with a Holy God, and we are going to let Him lead our lives, we're going to have to let Him alter our thinking so that we won't be resisting Him, arguing with Him, and gravitating back to our old ways. Romans 12:2 says this, "2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” It does take a little faith, but if you will let God change the way you think, you will eventually learn just how good and pleasing and perfect His will for you really is. And why wouldn't it be? After all, He created you and knows you better than you know yourself!