WHAT IS THE MINIMUM WE HAVE TO DO TO BE SAVED?

Someone asked this question on another blog, what is the minimum I can do to be saved? The answer is simple as it is dramatic,  even shocking, you have to die!  The debt of our sin must be paid. But Jesus says he lays down his life for us (John 10:14-15).  And the great mystery of salvation is that when Jesus died, we died with him.  When he was buried, we were buried with him.  And when he rose from the grave, we rose with him to a new life (Romans 6:8-11).  The debt has been paid.  To have to pay it again now is double jeopardy. Having died spiritually with Christ, we can no longer be held accountable to the penalty of death. 

 This is why salvation is by faith.  To place our faith in Christ means that we trust him for our salvation.  And it means that we turn over our lives so that he may rules us, he becomes our Boss.  God now establishes our ethics, our behavior, our morals and ethics.  And our lives are lived at his direction. 

The Bible describes those who are saved as new creatures in Christ.  I suspect that the reason so many reject Christianity is because they want to retain their rights over their own lives.  But the difference between Christianity and all other religions is that you do not join Christianity, you join Jesus and you die with him so that you may live with him.  As new creatures in Christ, you belong to him and he rules your life. 

For this reason, many will reject Christ, will reject salvation because they think it is better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven. But there is no ruling in hell, there is only misery.  They think they would rather live in misery and lostness than to belong to God. They do not have a very high view of their own life.

What is your life worth?  God thought it was worth leaving his heaven and becoming a poor man and dying as our substitute so that we might have new life.  How does that compare to the darkness, the addictions, the lack of morals and the emptiness of your condemned life?