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The War Cry | AUGUST 2014
For centuries following that inci-
dent, millions of souls have asked
the same question: What must I do
to be saved? And the answer has
remained constant: "Believe in the
Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."
In the 21st century, however, it
seems the question is being asked
less than ever for two reasons.
First, there is a lack of con-
viction on the part of most
people that they are sinners.
Second, there is an assumption
that a loving God would not eternally
punish those who deny or neglect Him.
The lack of conviction of sin has
many causes.
Even people who are less than
thirty years�old remember when
the norm in our society was that
couples married -- and then had sex.
Today just the opposite is true for
most of our society. Casual sex
by unmarried couples is common.
For a man and woman to live
together without the benefit of
marriage is "normal." There is
no sense of shame in having a
baby out of wedlock.
Concurrently, there is a lack of
discipline on television and in the
press in language and in subject
matter. Ads which were unthink-
able a quarter century ago are
played every day. Language banned
by common consent a few years ago
is now used prolifically.
The use of mind-
altering drugs has
increased astronomi-
cally, so that now
even grade school and
middle school children
are addicted. Along with
the drug trade, the num-
ber of murders -- including
mass shootings -- has skyrocketed.
All too often, we hear of such things
and are unmoved. They've become
commonplace. They're expected.
Lacking a sense of sin, few
people are inclined to ask, "What
must I do to be saved?"
Even among those who do ask
and are given the proper response,
there is grave danger that "Believe
in the Lord Jesus" may be misun-
derstood. Saving faith involves much
more than intellectual acknowledge-
ment. "Even the demons believe" in
God (James 2:19).
True belief includes not only
intellect but also action. A believ-
ing person becomes a new creature
in Christ Jesus. "Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; the old
has gone, the new has
come!" (2 Corinthians
5:17). The ninth of
The Salvation Army's
eleven doctrines
makes this clear.
"We believe that
continuance in a
state of salvation
depends upon continued obedient
faith in Christ" (emphasis added).
Most people in America believe
that when they die, they will
automatically go to Heaven. They
may believe that the Hitlers and
the Idi Amins and even the John
Dillingers of the world could not
make it to Heaven; but to ordinary
citizens like themselves, Heaven
could not be denied.
Perhaps, then, the question to be
asked is, "What must I do to be lost?"
If the evil I do outweighs the
good, will I be eternally lost?
If I commit the most horrible
sins, like murder or adultery, will
those exclude me from Heaven?
If I'm meaner or less loving
than my neighbors, will that bar
me from eternal bliss?
If I drink too much or use illicit
drugs, will that send me to Hell?
If I'm mean to children and/or
kill pet animals, will that make
me fit for torment?
There's a really simple and
uncomplicated answer.
What must I do to be lost? The
answer is absolutely nothing.
You don't have to be a
serial killer or the
world's most prolific liar
or a drug addict or a
prostitute or a curser
of God in order to be
eternally lost.
You don't have to
do anything except
fail to accept Jesus Christ as Savior
and Lord.
Romans 3:23 says "all have
sinned." And since there is no sin in
Heaven (Revelation 1:27), only those
who are redeemed will enter.
The wise thing, then, is to ask,
"What must I do to be saved?" and to
follow through by accepting Jesus
Christ as your Savior and Lord."
Commissioner Robert E. Thomson
lives
in retirement in Clearwater, Florida.
nothing.
...the
answer is
absolutely
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