How do we reach eternal life?

Question

That is, how do we get to Heaven or what must we do to be saved? Jesus tells us we have to "do the will of his father in Heaven" without telling us what God's will is in the first place and he also said we must be born of water and spirit all while keeping the commandments, while Paul and Silas tell us "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."

Do we just believe in Jesus and are saved without doing all the different things Jesus told us to do or do we have to do the will of God first which I assume includes all the things Jesus told us we need to do in order to be saved?

Matthew 19:16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 18 "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" 20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" 26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27 Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" 28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Answer 1

The man in Matthew 19 asked the question, "What good thing must I DO to inherit eternal life?" He did NOT ask, "How can I have eternal life?" And so Jesus answered the specific question that he asked in order to show him that he was not able to DO what was required to enter into heaven by his own merits.



Jesus listed many of the 10 commandments, plus the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. When the man affirmed that he had kept all of these commandments up to this point, Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give it to the poor. When the man went away sad, it revealed that he did not truly love his neighbor as himself, for if he had, he would have gladly obeyed.



Of course this played out exactly as Jesus had intended. It revealed the true spiritual condition of this man's heart - an inclination toward selfishness, which is true of all of us. All of us are born with the spiritual condition described in Ephesians 2:1-3, which describes our spiritual orientation as being "according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), of the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience." And the outcome of this spiritual condition is that we live to, "indulge the desires of the flesh and of the mind". In other words, we have a natural inclination toward self-centered living. And the law of God was designed to diagnose this condition in us.



Romans 3:20 tells us, "For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin." And so when we discover that we are incapable of keeping the law of God as required, we are left with no quarter except the grace of God. And that is why Jesus said in John 3, "Except a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." This new birth gives us the ability to live unto God because it changes the spiritual inclination of our heart and sets us on a course of growth and change where we are able to become the kind of people who are pleasing to God from the heart. And this new birth is a gift from God that is freely received, as John 3:16 says, "that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."



And this is the will of God that Jesus specifically said that we should do in John 6:40, "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

Answer 2

Your question(s) imply a conflict, when in fact there is no conflict.



You state Jesus said we have to do the will of the Father, but then He doesn't tell us what God's will is. Not so. Read through John chapter 6. Jesus does state what the will of the Father is, and it is in line with the gospel as preached by the apostles, notably Paul.





Do we just believe in Jesus and are saved without doing all the different things Jesus told us to do or do we have to do the will of God first which I assume includes all the things Jesus told us we need to do in order to be saved?



Mt. 19:6 onward. Context. The man asked what he, personally, could do to achieve eternal life. Jesus answers and tells him what he would have to do in order to save himself, and in the context, it comes out that he could not, and indeed no one can. So that path of where a man could save himself through his own efforts is effectively nullified, for you would have to be like God to begin with, and God did not make man to be like God is God. The conclusion there is that only through God and what He does can we be saved.



Mt. 7:21. No conflict. God's will, as found in John 6, is that we believe on the Son. These evildoers are those who did not believe solely on the Son. Most churches today that claim to be Christian have added much to the gospel, thereby negating faith in Christ.



John 3:5. You were born of water in regards to your human birth. Being born of the Spirit is about receiving the Holy Spirit, thereby being born again.



Rom. 10:9 is in line with what Jesus actually taught.



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Answer 3

(I encourage you to look up these verses)

We must hear (Ro. 10:17)

Believe (Mark 16:16, Jno 3:16, Ac. 8:36-37)

Confess (Ac. 8:37, Ro. 10:9-10, Mt. 10:32-33)

Repent (Ac. 2:38; 17:30, Mt. 4:17, Lk. 13:3)

Be Baptized (Ac. 2:38, 1 Pet 3:21, Gal 3:26-29, Ac. 8:36-38, Ac. 22:16, Rom 6:3-4, Mk. 16:16)

Live Faithfully ("Once Saved Always Saved" is not a Biblical belief)  (Ro. 6:4, Matt 7:21, Matt 28:20, Rev. 2:10, Jn. 14:15)

 

Galatians 3:26-27 "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

Answer 4

These verses may be meant to be applied at the time of Judgment, so anyone who currently denies Jesus, will still have a chance to accept Jesus, come Judgment Day....There is NO time listed as to when this applies. So if someone who denies Jesus today, on Earth, is given a chance to confess before Jesus, and with total honesty, then accepts Jesus, Jesus will then confess him, before his Father which is in Heaven. The way I see it, this is a personal choice everyone must make, and if they choose to deny Jesus, then they also choose to be left out of Heaven, They do so by THEIR own choice, not by that of Jesus. God and Jesus, will only oblige their will.

Answer 5

Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, but don't only say it, believe it! Jesus wants us to have an eternal life with him but to get there we need to be and act like Christians should. We need to read the Bible and follow it :)

Answer 6

Snamor 9:10 You don't.

Answer 7

obey Messiah and follow the example set by His apostles and disciples but beware of modern day churches.

read the bible for yourself and compare what it says to what the thousands of different churches teach.

Answer 8

To prepare for heaven, we should live our daily lives with sacrifice and service. -> U C



John

Answer 9

i just skipped all of that...

um. yeah. you don't ^. either that or you get reincarnated as a flower! yay!