Goal Page

ACCOUNTABLE FOR SIN. To Be Saved From Sin One Must Be Accountable
For Sin. A soul becomes accountable for sin before needing to be saved from it.
Holy Scripture shows babies as heaven bound, and shows little children without
sin-guilt in God's sight. Deuteronomy 1:39; 2 Samuel 12:23; Matthew 18:3-5; Luke
18:16-17. Those too young may be called safe. This may apply also to those never
of able mind (Philippians 2:1-12). In Acts 2, 8, 9, 10, and 16, the examples of
conversion to Christ are all people mature enough to know right and wrong, believe
and repent and live the Christian life "steadfastly", Acts 2:42.

"UNDERSTANDEST THOU WHAT THOU READEST?" ACTS 8:30. To Be
Saved One Must Understand The Purpose As It Is Written (Acts 8:26-39). Acts
18:24 - 19:5 gives us an example that in order for baptism to be scriptural, it must be
understood. Heresy is all over the world against the doctrine of the "one baptism,"
EPHESIANS 4:5. However, concerning His plan of salvation, "God is not mocked"
by any man, GALATIANS 6:7. Baptism is to be submitted to when one is
permanently willing to change ("repent"), and in order to obtain God's forgiveness of
one's sins, ACTS 2:38. Baptism is commanded by God in order to put one "into
Christ" GALATIANS 3:27, that is, into His "one body" EPHESIANS 4:4-6, which is
the church of Christ, EPHESIANS 1:22-23. Baptism as given in Acts 2:36-42,46-47
shows that the saved baptized disciples were "added to the church" by the Lord.
They were never added by the Lord to a denomination. No denominational
departures existed. Gospel is the same today, and the Lord adds only to His church.

If the way of God needs to be studied to first understand the above matters, you can
click to go to the following:

HEAR. HEAR GOD'S PLAN
One must hear or understand (Ephesians 5:17) the word of God, because that
is how faith comes to the individual (Romans 10:17). God's plan of salvation
found in the new testament must be received (Acts 2:41).

BELIEVE. BELIEVE THE GOSPEL
One must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God [He is the only begotten
of God, John 3:16; virgin born, Isaiah 7:14; God incarnate, 1 Timothy 3:16;
miracle-working, John 20:30-31; pure eternal truth teaching, John 6:63; 14:6;
17:17]. One must believe that [as a once-for-all sacrifice] He died for one's
sins, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews10:4-14; Romans 10:7-10; Hebrews 11:6;
Mark 16:15-16.

REPENT. REPENT OF SINS
(See Problem & Answer page for a definition of what sin is, and answer to
it.) One must repent of one's sins. Acts 2:38. It is not enough to only be sorry,
but one must stop the sinning, and start obeying God's word. From many
years ago, I heard this good definition of "repent":

"Return to Me," God said, "that I may return to you" (Zechariah 1:3,
NASB).Repentance is now a new testament worldwide command from God
(Acts 2:38;17:30). One cannot be saved without repenting (Luke 13:3-5),
because one will never be able to "run the race" (Heb. 12:1) until God puts
the penitent soul in the right track. Thus, repentance is the key command in
the Bible; To change self. "And the times of this ignorance God winked
at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).

CONFESS. CONFESS JESUS CHRIST
One must confess with the mouth the name of Jesus before men, that He is the
Son of God, Matthew 10:32-33. The connection between faith and confession
is in Romans 10:9-10. You can read an example in Acts 8:37: "I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God," the confession which can mean eternal life
to the believer, that truth having brought death to the Savior (1 Timothy 6:13;
John 19:19). It is a pledge to live consecrated to Christ above all else.

BAPTISM. BE BAPTIZED
One must be baptized by immersion in water for (in order to obtain) the
remission of sins (forgiveness and removal of sins). In Acts 2:36-38,47, this
is what they did before "the Lord added to the church." The church of Christ
is the one body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23 & 4:4-6; Colossians 1:24).
Obedient faith as shown through baptism puts one "into Christ." Galatians
3:27; Romans 6:1-6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13.

FAITHFUL. BE FAITHFUL "IN CHRIST JESUS"
Revelation 2:10, "be thou faithful unto death..." Being faithful includes
learning and doing all that is commanded by Christ, Matthew 28:18-20;
Philippians 4:9. After the "seed" (Luke 8:11) of the word is planted in the
mind, and faith is "rooted" (Colossians 2:7), the bearing of "fruit" (Luke
8:14-15; Colossians 1:10) obviously requires a process of obedience and
growth (1 Peter 2:1-3). This requires true worship as a member in a local
church (John 4:24; Hebrews10:24-25). One must remain faithful to the
teachings of Christ to enter heaven, Revelation 2:10; 2 Peter 1:5-11. To be
lost in sin ends with hell (Matthew 23:33). To be safe / saved and remain
saved leads to heaven, Matthew 25:41; 1 Peter 1:3-5. To not fall from grace
one must live faithfully "in Christ." "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit" Romans 8:1.

"OVERCOMETH" The Lord says in Revelation 3:21, "To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with my Father in His throne." According to Strong's Concordance & Dictionary,
that word "overcometh" (Greek nikao) means: "to subdue, to conquer, prevail, get
the victory." Nikao comes from the root word nike, meaning conquer, as in "the
means of success." The goal or hope that lifts www.overcomingself.net from the
dust, is salvation. Overcoming Self is dedicated to helping souls overcome inner
barriers against that goal. These barriers can be religious, personal, cultural or
political. But they can be overcome and conquered because "God is not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" 2 Peter 3:9. cp.
Philippians 3:14. Hebrews 10:39. Hebrews 9:28.