Genuine Saving Faith

D. James Kennedy clearly summarizes the gospel. I suggest reading this and taking it to heart.

A Clear Presentation of the Gospel by D. James Kennedy

God is holy1 and we are sinful2. That's the problem3. And if that were all there were to the problem, God would solve it very simply. He would send us all to hell4. But God is also loving, infinitely so5. And because He loved us He sent His own Son into the world and He imputed, or laid upon Jesus Christ all of our guilt and sin6. And then...God poured out all of His wrath for sin upon His own Son and Jesus Christ in body and soul suffered infinitely in our behalf7 and paid for the penalty of our sins8 .
...the problem for you is simple, your sins are going to be punished by God. The question is, are they going to be punished on you in hell forever?9 Or on Jesus Christ on the cross? If you would prefer the latter, you need to abandon all trust in yourself, repent of your sins10 and receive Him into your heart as Savior and Lord11, trusting in His atoning death and perfect life as your only hope of salvation12. And His promise is, "He that trusts in Me already has everlasting life13."
Essentially there are only two religions in the whole world. One of them is "I"...I live a good life, I keep the commandments, I pray, I go to church, I follow the Golden Rule, I love my neighbor, I do the best I can, I don't do this bad thing, I don't do the other14. That's called autosoterism, or self-salvation where I become my own savior, glory be to me15. I'm in competition with Jesus Christ who claims to be the Savior of the world16.
The only other religion is the cross17. There are over 30,000 religions in the world. But when you take off the ribbon and the wrapping and open the box, you'll either find the "I" or the cross essentially18. And everyone is going to either be saving himself and be his own savior, or he's going to trust in Christ and in Christ alone19.
And I would say to anyone that wants to know the free salvation of God to get out of the savior business20, declare spiritual bankruptcy21, turn to Christ and trust in Him alone for your salvation and He will freely give you the gift of everlasting life22. He will come into your heart and enable you to trust Him and to repent of your sins23 and change your life and give you new meaning and new direction and new power to live a godly life24. And He will take you to be with Him in paradise forever and ever25.
  1. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." - Isaiah 6:3
  2. as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for god; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one." - Romans 3:10-12
  3. Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil. - Jeremiah 13:23
  4. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die. - Ezekiel 18:4
  5. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. - 1 John 4:8
  6. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:9
  7. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
  8. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"-- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Gal 3:13-14
  9. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. - Revelation 21:8
  10. and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24
    "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." - Acts 17:30-31
  11. that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. - Romans 10:9-10
  12. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. - John 3:36
  13. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. - John 5:24
  14. nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. Galatians 2:16
  15. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. - Luke 16:15
  16. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? - John 5:44
  17. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. - Mat 16:24-25
  18. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8
  19. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:6
    And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. Act 4:12
  20. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11
  21. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Mat 5:2-3
  22. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:20-23
  23. Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. - Act 14:15
  24. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. - 1 John 3:9
  25. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. - John 17:24
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The following are useful Scriptures and principles useful for confirming or rejecting the validity of one's faith

The Character Of Genuine Saving Faith

2 Corinthians 13:5
EVIDENCES THAT NEITHER PROVE NOR DISPROVE ONE'S FAITH
  1. Visible Morality: Matthew 19:16-21; Matthew 23:27.
  2. Intellectual Knowledge: Romans 1:21; 2:17ff.
  3. Religious Involvement: Matthew 25:1-10
  4. Active Ministry: Matthew 7:21-24
  5. Conviction of Sin: Acts 24:25
  6. Assurance: Matthew 23:1-39
  7. Time of Decision: Luke 8:13-14
THE FRUIT/ PROOFS OF AUTHENTIC/TRUE CHRISTIANITY:
  1. Love for God: Psalm 42:1ff; Psalm 73:25; Luke 10:27; Romans 8:7
  2. Repentance from Sin: Psalms 32:5; Proverbs 28:13; Romans 7:14ff; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 1:8-10
  3. Genuine Humility: Psalms 51:17; Matthew 5:1-12; James 4:6,9ff
  4. Devotion to God's Glory: Psalms 105:3; Psalm 115:1; Isaiah 43:7, Isaiah 48:10ff.; Jeremiah 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 10:31
  5. Continual Prayer: Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18ff.; Phil. 4:6ff.; 1 Timothy 2:1-4;James 5:16-18
  6. Selfless Love: 1 John 2:9ff, John 3:14; John 4:7ff.
  7. Separation from the World: 1 Corinthians 2:12; James 4:4ff.; 1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 5:5
  8. Spiritual Growth: Luke 8:15; John 15:1-6; Ephesians 4:12-16
  9. Obedient Living: Matthew 7:21; John 15:14ff.; Romans 16:26; 1 Peter 1:2,22; 1 John 2:3-5
If List I is true of a person and List II is false, there is cause to question the validity of one's profession of faith. Yet if List II is true, then the top list will be also.
THE CONDUCT OF THE GOSPEL:
  1. Proclaim it: Matthew 4:23
  2. Defend it: Jude 3
  3. Demonstrate it: Philippians 1:27
  4. Share it: Philippians 1:5
  5. Suffer for it: 2 Timothy 1:8
  6. Don't hinder it: 1 Corinthians 9:16
  7. Be not ashamed: Romans 1:16
  8. Preach it: 1 Corinthians 9:16
  9. Be empowered: 1 Thessalonians 1:5
  10. Guard it: Galatians 1:6-8
MacArthur, J. J. 1997, c1997. The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) . Word Pub.: Nashville
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