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There are many people in the world that have all kinds of different ideas about what you must do to be saved.

• There are people who believe in their heart that if they follow certain church sacraments then someday they’ll die and go straight to be with Jesus.
• There are others who believe in their heart that if they keep the ten commandments then someday they’ll die and they’ll go on to Heaven and be with Jesus.
• There are some that believe that baptism saves.
• There are some that believe that simply asking Jesus into your heart saves.
• There are some that believe that if you commit yourself to Jesus you can be saved.
• There are some that believe if you join the church you can be saved.
• There are others who believe that if you live a certain lifestyle you can be saved.
• And on and on and on it goes.

But what is our answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" You may like to know the answer to that question. What must you do to be saved? I will lay the answer out as clearly as possible. I will lay it out to you on a shelf where you can reach it. What must you do to be saved?

Salvation: crystal-clear; that’s my heart and that’s my goal. After reading this it in its entirety, and understanding it, there will be no question in your heart about what you must do to be saved. Having done that, I will be able to say that my hands are free from your blood if you resist the convicting work of the Spirit of God.

The first thing that you must realize if you’re going to understand how to be saved crystal-clear is you must realize the sinfulness of mankind. It’s often difficult to convince men and women of their sinfulness but you must understand it in order to be saved crystal-clear.

Turn to Isaiah 53. I’d like to show you that, according to the Bible, we are all sinners in the sight of God:

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6 KJV)

The Bible says all we like sheep have gone astray and I don’t care what sin you want to call out to me: whether it’s murder, whether it’s adultery, whether it’s lust, whether it’s stealing, whether it’s gluttony, whether it’s covetousness, whether it’s envy or jealousy or something else. The root cause to every sin is selfishness.

Jesus never did anything that was selfish. Even in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus said, "Father…not My will, but Thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

Jesus said in the book of John, "I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John 12:49). That’s an amazing thing. Do you realize that Jesus never spoke a single word that wasn’t given to Him of His Father? Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we could speak every word scripted from our Heavenly Father?

I want you to notice something else in Isaiah 53:6. The Bible says there, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." Notice also that this root of selfishness is in every one of us. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to our own way.

You say to me, "Don’t you realize that there are people who have sinned more than I have?" Yes, I agree with you. There are people who have sinned more than you have and yes, you can look around and say, "That guy over there" or "That gal over there…they’ve sinned more than I have." And I would agree with you, and God would too.

I went to public school. When I was in school and we took a test we had to make a 60% on the test to get a passing grade. I recall sitting at my desk when I was a young man. They’d pass back the test after the teacher had graded it. If my friend got a 4% on the test out of 100% and I got a 58%, do you realize that my friend got and F and I got an F too? Do you realize it didn’t matter whether I got a 58% or a 4% on the test? I failed the test!

Can you say that you’re perfect in God’s sight? If you cannot say that then you’ve failed. Can anyone stand up and say, "I am perfect in the sight of God?"

You might be mighty holy in your own sight but you’re short of God’s glory. The Bible says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

If you want to compare yourself with someone, the Bible says there is One Person you can compare yourself to: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). If you’d like to compare yourself with someone, compare yourself with your Heavenly Father and see how you do.

Do you realize that if Jesus walked through the room you’re in that there’s not a single soul that would go up to Jesus and say, "I’m perfectly holy like You"? The attitude God wants from every individual is this: "I am a wretched sinner. I am a wretched sinner."

Look at Luke chapter 18. There Jesus teaches on attitudes toward self:

"And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are…" (Luke 18:9-11 KJV)

Now notice to whom the Pharisee is comparing himself. I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are…comparing himself to men.

"I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.’

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other…"

(Luke 18:12-14 KJV)

There was an evangelist by the name of Eddie Martin in Bloomfield, West Virginia. He preached a sermon one day and after the service an elderly woman came forward to get converted. Eddie met her at the altar and he said to her, "Madam, why have you come forward?" The woman looked up at him and she said, "I’ve come forward to get saved." Eddie said to her, "Madam, do you believe you’re a sinner?" And the woman looked up at Eddie and said, "Sir, I’m not a sinner." And Eddie said to her, "Madam, do you realize that the Bible says if you don’t see yourself as a sinner that you cannot be saved?" And this woman looked up at Eddie and said, "Well, Mr. Martin, I may be a sinner, but I’m a good sinner." And Eddie said to her, "Listen madam, unless you see yourself as a wretched sinner before God, you cannot be saved."

The woman was distraught and she went back to her seat. Eddie Martin stood there and he watched her go back to her pew. The Spirit of God got control of her heart and she turned around and walked back up to Eddie. She looked him in the eyes and she said, "Mr. Martin, I see it now. I am a wretched sinner." And Eddie said, "Then you’re qualified to be saved."

In order to understand salvation crystal-clear you must understand eternal judgement because we are all sinners and an unsaved sinner is on his road to destruction. Today there’s not much preaching on Hell but I would like to share some thoughts with you about the final and eternal resting-place of every unforgiven sinner.

Look at Luke chapter 16. There Jesus graphically portrays what Hell is like. I see in this passage what I call the Seven Agonies of Hell but I’d only like to address five of them right now. I would like to give you an idea of where the unforgiven sinner spends eternity.

Contemplate the agonies of Hell. First of all, I would like to draw your attention to the agony of what I call "exploding fear." The Bible says he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.

Consider dying: Moments after you die you lift up your eyes and you’re in the pit of Hell. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 that "fear hath torment." Can you imagine the torment, the fear that came upon this man as he opened up his eyes in Hell and saw where he was and the fear exploded in his heart? The writer to the Hebrews said, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). Do you believe that? It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Sinners on the verge of death often testify of what is coming for them on the other side. Look at the testimony of men who have had one foot in this life and one foot in eternity:

M. F. Rich, the famous atheist, as he was dying said, "I would rather lay on a stove and broil for a million years than go into eternity with the eternal horrors that hang over my soul. I have given my own immortality for gold and its weight sinks me into an endless hopeless: helpless Hell."

Sir Francis Newport, the head of an English Infidels Club said to those gathered around his deathbed, "You need not tell me there is no God, for I know there is one and that I am in His angry presence. You need not tell me there is no Hell, for I know there is, for I already feel my soul slipping into the fire."

The Bible says he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’

Jesus often spoke of Hell in the Bible. He often spoke of the fire that was in Hell. Twenty-one times in the New Testament Jesus talked about the fires of Hell. In Luke 3 He called it the "unquenchable fire" (Luke 3:17). In Matthew 5 He called it "Hell fire" (Matthew 5:22). In Matthew 18 He called it "everlasting fire" (Matthew 18:8). And in Matthew 13 Jesus described it very graphically as "a furnace of fire" (Matthew 13:42). Consider that Hell is a place of fire.

The teaching of hellfire has faced a lot of opposition in recent years. More and more people that I meet try to convince me that there is no fire in Hell. Some question how a man’s body could remain in Hell and burn forever and ever but let me ask you this: how do you think Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went into the fiery furnace and their flesh was not touched? Don’t you think God has the wisdom to send men to Hell and allow their bodies to be burned and tormented forever and ever without them being burned up?

Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime….’ This verse tells us that when the rich man went to Hell he took something with him: his memory.

That man is still in Hell today and he has his memory. He has a conscience. Perhaps he remembers his mother’s prayers for his salvation. Perhaps he remembers his lost opportunities to be saved. Perhaps he remembers the many times he passed by Lazarus and he looked down on Lazarus with contempt and he didn’t help him. Perhaps he remembers the ingratitude he had towards God even after having been heaped upon with His riches. Perhaps he remembers the adulterous relationship he enjoyed. Or perhaps he remembers his excess of carousing and drinking parties.

Let me ask you: what is in your memory? What is in your memory from all of your life? What is stored in there? Are you willing to take it with you to Hell?

Men sit in jail cells and penitentiaries all across this country. They sit there and they have time to think. Many take sheets and they tear the sheets in strips. They tie those sheets together and they tie one end of the sheet onto something up on the ceiling and they get up on a bed and they put the other end of the sheet around their neck. They jump down and they hang themselves. Many a time a guard comes in the morning and sees a prisoner hanged in his cell.

Do you know why, many times, they do that? It’s because they can’t live with the memory of the sin they committed.

There was a man by the name of Judas Iscariot who one day betrayed the Lord Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Because his conscience was so bothered, he took those thirty pieces of silver and he went back to the chief priests and the elders. He threw those thirty pieces of silver down before their feet. They said, ‘We don’t want this. It’s the price of blood.’ (Matthew 27:6)

Judas Iscariot’s memory and his conscience destroyed him. The Bible says that he left the temple and he went out and he ran and he ran and he ran to try to get rid of his memory, his convicting conscience from betraying the Son of God. We read in the Bible that he found a tree and he took a rope and he tied one end on the tree and he got up in the tree. He put the other end of the rope around his neck and he hanged himself because he couldn’t live with a conscience that was condemning him.

Your conscience and some of your memory might be condemning you. What’s in your memory? Did you defraud your brother? Did you hit your wife? Did you commit incest with your daughters? Did you cheat on your taxes? Are you sleeping with another man’s wife and he doesn’t know it? Is your conscience silent or is it crying out against you?

Turn to Mark 9. There Jesus again speaks of Hell and He says something very interesting that I’d like you to see:

"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into Hell fire:

Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:43-48 KJV)

I would like you to notice something unusual in that verse. The Bible does not say the worm dieth not. It actually tells us their worm dieth not. What is Jesus trying to say? What is this worm of theirs that is in Hell and never dies? If you read this passage in the Greek NT it says, "the worm that is their own never dies." I believe that what Jesus is saying to us is that this worm is our memory and this worm is our conscience.

When a lost man, like this rich man, dies and goes to Hell, he takes his memory and his conscience with him to Hell. Hell is a place where they remember and they remember and they remember and that worm of memory never dies.

In a little town in Georgia a number of years ago there was a man who was driving a bus. He was driving a busload of children home from school. On the way home he came to a railroad track and he looked to his left and there was no one coming. He looked to his right and he noticed there was a train coming down the tracks but he didn’t accurately gauge how quickly it was coming. He misjudged. A little boy on the bus that day would later testify that the bus driver said underneath his breath, "I think I can make it." He went out on the tracks and unfortunately for all that were in the bus, the bus stalled in the middle of the tracks. As this man frantically tried to get the bus started the locomotive came barreling down upon them. The locomotive hit the bus with all the force of its hundreds of tons and the bus was just demolished. Bodies went everywhere. It was one of the worst tragedies the little town ever faced. Many of the children on the bus that day died. Many of them were mangled for life. But one of the other tragedies that happened that day was the fact that the bus driver lived, because he walks the streets of that little city like a zombie. A zombie because he can’t live with the memory of that awful day when he took a busload of children out in the middle of the railroad tracks and sent many of those onboard into eternity. I wonder – can you live with your memory forever and ever and ever?

Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.’

Do you see what Jesus is telling us about Hell? As the rich man opened up his eyes he looked and he saw a huge Heaven. And he saw a huge gulf separating himself from Heaven. He realized in his heart that there was no escaping. Abraham said to him, ‘Son, listen, no one can come from there to us, neither can we send anyone from us to you.’ I see in that verse the agony of no escape.

According to the Scriptures, Hell is a place where every door is locked, every gate is sealed, and every window is shut. There are no exit signs in Hell my friends, there are none. There is no possibility of escape.

About three miles west of San Francisco in the San Francisco Bay there is a rock that comes up out of the water. It’s call Alcatraz. There back in 1931 the United States Government decided to build a Federal Penitentiary. They nicknamed the prison the "inescapable prison."

Alcatraz: the walls were impregnable. Barbed wire 20 or 30 feet up surrounded the prison. There were guards posted everywhere in towers with guns. If you managed to get by all that you had to jump from a cliff into the Pacific Ocean where there were swirling waters all around the island. And if you managed to survive the jump you only had a three-mile trip in 51-degree water to get to San Francisco. There have been tales and legends and movies but as far as true history records, there is no one living who ever escaped and lived to tell about it.

Consider what man can do. Consider a prison that man can make. Then consider the infinite wisdom of God. Consider how God can make a penitentiary for the dead that is inescapable. According to the Bible, here this rich man looked out and there was no possibility of escape.

Jesus spoke often of the eternality of Hell. In Matthew 25:46 Jesus said, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment." In Matthew 18:8 Jesus called it, "everlasting fire." I say this to you: if you believe in an everlasting eternal Heaven, then you must believe in an everlasting eternal Hell.

Consider what it would be like to be hungry for all eternity. Are you prepared for eternity? Our minds don’t often like to think of eternity but you must.

A while back there was a jet that took off from Long Island, New York. It was a TWA jet. It took off and it began to climb to around 12,000 feet. Around 8 or 10 minutes after it took off, all of a sudden, without any warning, the jet exploded in midair and over 200 people died in the explosion. They fell to the ocean.

As I think about that, I consider the reality that on that plane that night there were probably mothers who were changing a diaper on a baby or maybe they were cuddling with their little one. There were fathers who were reading the newspaper, maybe reading about their favorite sports team. There were young men and there were young women on that plane and maybe they were talking to each other about a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Then without any warning at all, in the next two seconds, they were standing in eternity.

Have you ever considered that God’s death arrows fly invisibly and who knows whether or not one may someday just all of a sudden take you? Consider eternity.

The infidel Marabou lay dying on his bed and he said to the doctor, "Doctor, give me more opium that I may not think of eternity."

Ponder eternity: forever and ever and ever. That rich man has been there for over 2,000 years and he hasn’t even begun to suffer in eternity.

Jonathan Edwards described eternity in Hell with these words: "It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of almighty God one moment but you must suffer it for all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward you shall see long forever – a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts and amaze your soul and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages – millions and millions of ages. In wrestling and conflicting with this Almighty merciless vengeance and then when you have so done, when many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains, so that your punishment will indeed be infinite." All that we can possibly say about Hell is but a feeble representation of it. It is inexpressible and inconceivable for "who knoweth the power of [His] anger?" (Psalms 90:11)

Consider eternity. I know we as mortal human beings don’t like to think about it but if you’re lost and you’ve never been born again, consider eternal damnation: forever and ever and ever.

Every one of us is a sinner. We are not perfect. We have gone astray. You and I are on the road to eternal damnation and destruction unless we are forgiven.

In order to understand salvation crystal-clear you must understand the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Look at John 16:4. Jesus speaks there and says these words:

"But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

But now I go My way to Him that sent Me; and none of you asketh Me, "Whither goest thou?"

But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." (John 16:4-7 KJV)

For every one of us who’ve been washed in the blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter. But look at verse 8:

"And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." (John 16:8 KJV)

If a man, woman, or child is not brought to a conviction by the Holy Spirit, that individual is not a candidate at that time for salvation. Here’s why I say that: In the book of John, Jesus said, "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him" (John 6:44). Do you realize that if you’re not saved the only way you can be saved is if the Spirit of the Living God settles upon your heart, bringing conviction of your sin, and drawing you to Jesus Christ? That’s my prayer for you. I pray that the Holy Spirit would draw you to Jesus today.

We are running from God from the womb. In Genesis 3 the Bible says, "Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God" (Genesis 3:8). Do you realize that as sinners we are running from God? It’s the natural reaction of all sinful mankind to run from God. Apart from the convicting work of the Spirit of God we would have no chance of salvation.

Let me also warn you: God’s Spirit will not always seek to drag you to Jesus. The Bible says in Genesis 6, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" (Genesis 6:3). The Spirit of God may be striving upon your heart. I’d like you to know that the Bible says My Spirit shall not always strive with man to try to drag him to Jesus.

Aaron Burr was convicted of treason against the United States. His granddaughter tells an interesting story: One day she was at a meeting. She was converted to Jesus. She came home and she went to talk to her grandfather, Aaron Burr. She said to him, "Grandpa, wouldn’t you like to be saved and become a Christian?" Aaron Burr looked down at her and he said to her, "Sweetheart, many years ago I was sitting in a revival meeting and I felt the Spirit of God striving against my heart. After that meeting I went outside the building and I looked up to Heaven. I said, ‘God,’ and I meant it with all my heart, ‘If you will leave me alone, God, I will leave You alone.’" And Aaron Burr said this to his granddaughter, "Sweetheart, I kept my part of the deal and God has kept His."

Do you ever wonder why the Lord Jesus looked at the Pharisees who had just blasphemed the Spirit of God and said, ‘Men, you don’t know what you’re doing’ because "he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation" (Mark 3:29)? Do you realize what Jesus was saying to them? He was saying to them, ‘You’re only chance of salvation is the Holy Spirit and His conviction and His dragging you to Me. You are cutting off the only lifeline that you have to salvation.’ Oh, we need to be careful with the sweet Spirit of the living God. Likewise, Christians should be careful not to strive against their Maker.

After Stephen preached a sermon in Acts 7 he looked upon those who were striving against God and he said, "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51). I wonder if it could be said that you are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and that you do always resist the Holy Spirit?

In order to understand salvation crystal-clear you must also understand genuine repentance. The first thing I would say to you if you are under conviction is this: the first thing you ought to do is repent. The Spirit of God works repentance. The Bible says, "godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation" (2 Corinthians 7:10). The Spirit of God comes to your heart and begins to weigh down your heart and to tell you that you are a sinner and that you’re on your way to Hell. You begin to have godly sorrow and that godly sorrow turns you to repentance. Then that repentance turns you to salvation. Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation.

Jesus said, "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). Peter in his Second Epistle said, "The Lord…is longsuffering…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). This is a teaching that really needs to be taught. You need to know what true biblical repentance is.

Look at Luke 15. I’d like to share with you what you really need to do to be saved. As you realize that you’re a sinner, you realize that you’re on your way to eternal destruction. You realize that the Spirit of God is speaking to your heart. "How do I repent?" you ask. In Luke 15 the Lord Jesus says this:

"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

And He said, ‘A certain man had two sons:

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.’ And he divided unto them his living.

And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

And he would vain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee,

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants."

(Luke 15:10-19 KJV)

And he would vain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee.’

I want you to notice here first of all that repentance that is true and genuine makes a man willing to forsake his sin. The man that Jesus was talking about in this parable, this prodigal son, was willing to say, ‘I need to get up and get out of this mess I’m in and I need to go to my Heavenly Father.’ He was willing first of all to give up his sin. That is true repentance. Repentance produces a willingness to forsake sin.

John the Baptist came preaching the Gospel of repentance and do you know what he said? He said to the tax collector, ‘You want to repent? Stop taking more from people than that which is right.’ (Luke 3:12-13). ‘Men, if you want to repent,’ he looked at the soldiers and said, ‘stop robbing people by violence and be content with your wages’ (Luke 3:14). He looked at the rich man and said, ‘If you want to repent, go and take those two extra coats that you have and share them with someone who has none’ (Luke 3:11). Could John the Baptist come to your closet and say, ‘If you want to repent, maybe you ought to take one or two of those dresses and sell them and maybe you ought to take those two coats that you have and give one to the poor’?

When Jesus was on the road to Jericho, one day He stopped and there was a man up in a tree. The man’s name was Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus wanted to repent. Do you know what the response was that Zach gave to the Lord Jesus? He said, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" (Luke 19:8). Here was a man whose heart was willing to forsake his sin.

Next I would like you to see in verse 18 the second thing that established true repentance: a willingness to confess your sin. It’s coming and showing your deeds and confessing your sin before God. 1 Timothy 5:24 says, "Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after." You have a choice to make. Your sins have either already gone to Heaven before you or your sins are still with you and they will follow you to judgment. Confess your sins now. Send them on ahead of you lest you die and the weight of your sin sinks you into the sides of Hell. Confess your sins and let them go before you into judgment.

The prodigal son had a willingness to serve. By overlooking that, many people make a mistake. Look at verse 19. There this dear man comes to his father and says these words: I am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

Do you know how I can tell when a man is truly repenting? When a man is truly under the conviction of the Spirit of God, when a man is ready to be born again, the Bible says he will come and confess his sin; he will forsake his sin; and he will come with a heart that says, "Lord Jesus, I want to serve you. I want to serve you and I don’t want my way anymore. Lord Jesus, make me a servant. Make me a servant." True repentance produces a broken heart and a willingness to serve.

Our society and the nominal churches are becoming perverted about this concept of repentance, even going so far as to claim that you can be saved without a willingness to be a servant of Christ. But listen to the words of Malachi: "Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not" (Malachi 3:18).

I would ask you: have you truly repented? Was there a time in your life when you realized you were a sinner, when you realized you were under the judgment of God, on your way to Hell, and you felt the conviction of the Spirit? Did you come to the Lord Jesus and confess your sin? Did you come to the Lord Jesus and forsake your sin? Did you come to the Lord Jesus and say, "Lord, I want to be your servant"? That is true biblical repentance. If you do that you are following the steps in the example that Jesus gave of the Prodigal Son. I wonder: where is your heart on this subject? Have you truly repented?

Jesus said, "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33).

From my background, people are coming by the thousands down aisles to receive Christ. They are kneeling at an altar. They are being told that if they pray and ask Jesus to come into their heart that’s all they need to do. They get up from that altar and they go back to their seat. And they’re just as much lost and now even more lost than when they got up and went to the altar because the Lord Jesus said except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Have you truly repented?

Finally, in order to understand salvation crystal-clear you must understand genuine belief. Jesus came into the land of Judea preaching the Gospel of repentance and belief. "Repent…and believe the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).

If you realize you’re a sinner, and you realize you’re on you’re way to Hell, and the conviction of the Spirit of God is on your heart, and you’re willing to repent, then the Lord Jesus asks you to ‘Believe! I’ve got good news for you: it’s called the Gospel.’ There was a Man by the name of Jesus Christ. He was God in the flesh. He came to the earth. Wicked men put Him up on a cross. You and I were the wicked men whose sin put Him up on that cross. There He bled and died. He suffered. They took Him down from the cross and they buried Him in a grave. Three days and three nights later He arose from the grave. He is sitting on the right hand of God the Father and He is looking at you right now. He is waiting for anyone who is willing to come to Him with a repentant heart to believe Him.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;

And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:" (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV)

These are some of my favorite verses because about 18 years ago I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved. Look at Romans 10: