One Year Bible Reading Program

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Romans 10:9-10

but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God want us to repent so we can be saved. He is patiently waiting on us. But eventually our time will run out. The longer we put off repentance, the harder our heart gets.

Repentance is not just being sorry. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “For Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” If one is only sorry he got caught, then this will not lead to repentance. Godly sorrow helps bring on repentance. Repentance is not sorrow for sin, but one cannot repent without being sorry he has sinned. “Let the wicked forsake his way… let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him… for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). In repentance, one must first understand that he has sinned, feel sorrow for the sin, and then stop and turn away from that sin. Repentance is a change of heart and a change of mind. We must make up our mind to stop living life our way and start living it God’s way. It is making up our mind that henceforth we are going to serve God with all our might and do everything He says. Matthew 22:37, “Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” In other words, we must do it with all of our being.

Confessing Christ

Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Jesus wants us to confess Him before men. In Matthew 10:32-33 He says, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in Heaven.” If we deny Christ we are going to be lost. We must not be ashamed to confess to other people that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus says in Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” If He is ashamed of us, this means we are going to be lost.

There are several examples of people confessing their faith in Christ in the Bible. One is found in Matthew 16:16-17, “Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven.” Christ was well pleased with Peter’s confession and He will be with your also.

As you can see, the first step in salvation is accepting the fact that you are a sinner in need of salvation and a willingness to repent of your sin. Step two is to believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins. Step three is to confess to others that you believe in Jesus Christ. Congratulations! If you have followed these steps with all your heart, you are now a Child of God!

Baptism

In Acts 8:36-37 a man asked the question, “’See here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’” Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” Here we see we must believe with all our heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and not be ashamed to make that confession to others before we are baptized. If you would like to make a confession of faith to someone at Bethel or make arrangements to be baptized, please feel free to contact us.

Repentance

Jesus says in Luke 13:3, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” It is either repent or perish; the choice is ours. But Satan does not want us to repent. Acts 1:30, “Truly these times of ignorance God over looked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” All people everywhere, and that includes you and me, are commanded of God to repent. Repent of what? Repent of our sins. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves; and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Repent of not fully serving and following all that God says.

God is pleading with us to repent. He greatly desires that we turn to Him. He tells us in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness;