How you respond to the answer to the questions in the title is the most important answer to any question you will ever make. It will literally decide your eternal destiny. There are many ways to answer this question and here are some:
The most simple answer is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
Though this does cut to the heart of salvation, other than a death-bed or battlefield or other traumatic response, it is worthy of such a life-changing question to explore your answer in more detail. Following are some ways to do this–
Consider the instructions on this infographic
One way to do that is through the instructions on this infographic and the text page following it–download and read them.
Listen, watch, or read a longer explanation
If you want to carefully explore the meaning of salvation, I created (click on each link to go to them) a podcast, video, and
book (either free or from amazon.com) entitled, The Good News of Salvation in Jesus, why you need it and how to get it.
Read a short challenge
Or finally, if you’ve heard about Jesus, been around the church, and just never got around to making a decision about it, read and respond to the following piece, Have you closed with Jesus?
One last question—
Have you closed with Jesus?
In reading church history, I came across the question in early Puritan writings, “have you closed with Jesus?”
I think it’s a useful phrase for today because it gives us a practical description of what actually needs to happen for a person to accept the good news of Jesus, to be “saved.”
Think of it in terms of closing on a house.
You can look at a house, admire it, know all about it, walk around it it.
Think that you might like to own it.
Have the ability and resources to do buy it.
You can even make an offer on it.
But until you CLOSE on the house, until you exchange something of value to you, until you sign your name, and take ownership, it isn’t yours.
That’s a great illustration of what it means to accept the gift of salvation in Jesus.
You can look at Him, study all about Him; you can go to church, and spend time there.
You can read a book, look at charts, infographics and verses but until you exchange your life, your will, your all to Him as much as you can, you haven’t closed with Him.
Once you have closed with Him—He is yours, salvation is yours and you have a forever home with Him.
To carry the analogy one step further, to be a responsible homeowner, you are now responsible for the maintenance of your new home.
You want to keep things in good repair, you take on the upkeep duties necessary for comfortable living.
So too, in the Christian life, you take on the duties of discipleship, time in God’s Word, time in prayer, time with other Christians and other spiritual practices to make your home with Jesus all it can be.
The closing question of this book, after you’ve read the explanations, evaluated the responsibilities, considered the cost, is:
Have you closed with Jesus?
Don’t put it off, do it now—make the good news of salvation your eternal possession.