How to be Saved
The Bible teaches that in order to be saved from our sins, you must believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is His death, burial and resurrection. When you hear the gospel you must also respond by repenting from your current lifestyle, the word repent means to change, so change from your current lifestyle and then be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and receive God's Holy Spirit (Mark 16:15-16, Acts 2:38). Both faith and obedience are necessary in order to become what the Bible refers to as a Christian, saint or disciple of Jesus Christ.
The story of Acts 2 describes perfectly the way to be saved from our sins. On the Day of Pentecost when Brother Peter preached the first gospel message of Jesus Christ, ever, to a large crowd of people even some of them that took part in crucifying the Messiah Jesus. In Acts 2:37, the response they gave to the gospel that Peter preached was "what shall we do?" meaning they knew that they had to respond to the gospel message that they just heard and were convicted of.
Peter answered them with Acts 2:38:
Acts 2:38 King James Version 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This is how one becomes a Christian and enters the body of Christ which is the church, by Holy Ghost Baptism (1 Corinthians 12:13).
They are required to repent from their sins, meaning turn away from their sins and their current lifestyle, and turn towards God. This is a sincere want to change that takes place in the heart to obey God through His word.
They are then required to be fully immersed in water, baptized in water in the name of the Lord (Acts 10:48) which is Jesus, or Lord Jesus (Acts 19:5, Acts 8:16) or Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) by a Christian man who has already obeyed the gospel and is filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 9:10-18). The way that your sins are remitted and washed away is by the blood of Jesus and water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16):
Acts 22:16 King James Version 16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Many religious followings and traditions, due to the Roman Catholic Church, have been misled into believing that Matthew 28:19 is meant to be repeated during baptism. However, repeating what Jesus Christ said was not what He commanded His disciples to do. Matthew 28:19 is Jesus giving instructions to His apostles to go and do it and Acts 2:38 is where it was done. Matthew 28:19 states they were to baptize "in the name" of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are titles that belong to God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Son of God. The Son of God and his Father have the same name which is Jesus Christ. The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is Jesus Christ, which is revealed in these scriptures (Hebrews 1:4, John 17:6, John 20:31, Romans 8:9, John 5:43). Using the name of Jesus Christ during baptism is extremely important, because the name of Jesus Christ is where all the power is (Acts 4:10-12). Imagine if someone gave another person a check to be deposited and instead of signing their name on the check, they wrote "Father, Brother, Nephew". Who would deposit that? Father, Brother, and Nephew are not a name, they are titles that would belong to someone who has a name.
Note: If you're reading this and were baptized in the titles "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost", please reach out to us so we can have you correctly baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. In Acts 19:2-7, the disciples of John the Baptist were REBAPTIZED by Paul in the name of the Lord Jesus. It's Biblical!
They must also receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and the evidence of receiving God's Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues, which is prophesying in another language (Acts 2:4, Acts 19:6). The Spirit of God is what causes the tongues to be spoken, it is not of yourself. It is important to know that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost can happen before one has been baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ. This is perfectly Biblical (Acts 10:44-46) but after receiving the Holy Ghost you must also still be baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ afterwards, which is what took place in the scriptures (Acts 10:47-48).
After a person has done this, they have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ and are now considered a Christian.
However, this is the beginning. After this, in order to stay saved to obtain everlasting life, the Christian man or woman must now continue to believe that gospel (1 Corinthians 15:2) and be witnesses of it to others (Acts 1:8, Romans 10:8-10). They must live a life of holiness and follow peace with all men, or they will NOT see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14):
Hebrews 12:14 King James Version 14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
They must also continue in the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) until their life ends (Matthew 24:13):
Matthew 24:13 King James Version 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.