Credit to the late Irvin Baxter, Jr of Endtime ministries

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          How To Be Saved?

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What Do You Mean Born Again?

The term “born again” is one of the most used phrases
among present-day Christians. Yet, if asked what the term
born again means, most church members could not give a
clear explanation. The importance of this subject is shown
in what Yahushua/Jesus said, “Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Yahushua/Jesus is saying that to be born again is to be
saved. Being born again is the plan of salvation that
Yahushua/Jesus authored at Calvary. It is imperative that
we understand what is required for us to be born again!
All agree that when Yahushua/Jesus went to the cross, He
brought in the means of salvation for everyone who will
accept it. But what really happened at Calvary? What can
it do for me? How do I accept what was done there in my
own personal life?
At Calvary, there were three steps to the work of Christ:
death, burial, and resurrection (I Corinthians 15:1-4). It is
very easy to see that these three steps make up the act of
being born again spoken of by Yahushua/Jesus (John 3:1-
5); to die, to be buried, and to rise again—that is to be
born again. So we see that Yahushua/Jesus, through His
death, burial, and resurrection, bought for us the plan of
being born again spoken of in John 3:3, whereby we
receive salvation.
The fact that Yahushua/Jesus purchased a plan of
salvation for us is the greatest news the world has ever
received. The thing we must understand is that not only
was it necessary

for Yahushua/Jesus to do something, but also it is
absolutely essential for us to act upon what He did.
Yahushua/Jesus told Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again”
(John 3:7).
Now the astonishing thing is that Nicodemus was a
religious leader of his day; yet, he had no concept of what
it meant to be born again! We find that the very same
thing is true in the day in which we live. Many men and
women who fill positions of spiritual leadership in our
world have no real understanding of the born again
experience. Nicodemus inquired of Yahushua/Jesus in
John 3:4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can
he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be
born?”
Yahushua/Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God.” You can’t be born again of
a woman. The second birth is a spiritual birth.
Notice that Yahushua/Jesus said without being born again
we cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. In other
words, we cannot be saved. On the day of Pentecost
when Peter preached the first message after Calvary, the
men cried out, “What must we do?”
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Yahushua/Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Peter was giving them the plan of
salvation: repentance, baptism, and the infilling of the Holy
Ghost. If being born again is to be saved, Peter was
evidently

talking to them about being saved.
Remember, there were three steps to Calvary: death,
burial, and resurrection. The way to accept Calvary in our
individual life is to accept the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ. We don’t have to literally die, be
buried, and rise again. Yahushua/Jesus was our substitute
and did this for us. All we must do is accept what He did
by spiritually dying, symbolically being buried, and
spiritually rising again.

Repentance
We take on His death by repentance, which is spiritual
death. When a person truly repents, he dies out to his own
will, renounces it forever, and vows to live from that time
on according to the will of Yahushua/Jesus Christ.

Baptism
We take on His burial by baptism in water, by immersion
into His name. Romans 6:4 says, “Therefore we are
buried with him by baptism”. Baptism must be done by
immersion; for something cannot be buried by sprinkling a
little dirt on top of it. That burial, after a few days, would
certainly prove to be insufficient! Furthermore, every
baptism of which we have biblical record was
administered by immersion. That alone should determine
our course of action on this matter.

Infilling of the Holy Ghost

Finally, we partake of the resurrection of Yahushua/Jesus
Christ by the infilling of the Holy Ghost. This is the new life
that enables us to live as a Christian should.
We see then that being born again means to spiritually
die—repent; symbolically be buried—baptism; and
spiritually rise again—receive the Holy Ghost. Thus, in
plain language an individual must repent of his sins, be
baptized in the name of Yahushua/Jesus Christ by
immersion, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It says
in I John 5:8, “And there are three that bear witness in the
earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these
three agree in one.” What is the one thing in which the
spirit, water, and blood agree? Is it not the new birth?
Blood covers our sins at repentance; the waters of
baptism wash them away, thus making us clean for the
Spirit to come into our lives to dwell. When the Roman
soldiers thrust the spear into Yahushua/Jesus’ side after
He died, the scripture tells us that there came forth blood
and water (John 19:34). This was for cleansing of the
nations. It takes blood and water to eradicate sin. Blood is
the cleansing agent, and water is the flushing agent.
When a jar is washed for canning, soap AND water are
necessary to cleanse that jar so that it might be filled with
good fruit. Likewise, blood and water are necessary to
cleanse the human soul so that it may receive the Spirit of
Christ, which is the Holy Ghost. This teaching was verified
by Peter when he said, “Repent and be baptized for the
remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). Repentance and baptism
are both absolutely essential for the remission of sins!
Paul taught that the three steps of Calvary is the gospel
that

we should preach. In I Corinthians 15:1-4 he tells us,
“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 have 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.” Paul went on to say in II Thessalonians 1:7-8,
“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord
Yahushua/Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his
mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Yahushua/Jesus Christ.” Paul told us that the gospel
is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. How can
we obey the death, burial, and resurrection? We obey by
repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost as we
have previously explained. Notice that the Lord
Yahushua/Jesus is to appear “in flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the gospel.” It is absolutely necessary for every human
being to obey the gospel by being born again.
Yahushua/Jesus told Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”
(John 3:7).

The Old Testament Speaks of the Born Again Plan
Let us consider another biblical lesson given to us
concerning this subject. The Bible teaches us that the
things of the Old Testament were types and shadows of
the things to come. When the priests of the law ministered
by offering sacrifices, there were three major steps to their
duties.

First they slew the animal to be offered on the brazen altar.
The blood here was shed and caught into a container for
use in the Holy Place. The flesh of the animal was to be
consumed by fire. This teaches us the first step of
salvation—repentance. When we repent, we present our
bodies a living sacrifice, and our sins are covered by the
blood of Yahushua/Jesus.
After the shedding of blood, the priests were ordered to
wash at the laver and to cleanse themselves with water in
preparation for entering the Holy Place. The laver, a round
fountain-like structure, was overlaid in the bottom with a
looking glass. When the priest bent over to wash, he was
able to see himself so that he could be sure that he was
clean. When an individual is baptized, he should examine
himself to be sure that he is leaving the world behind once
and for all.
We see then that the second step of the tabernacle
ministry plainly teaches us of water baptism. Blood and
water were used to cleanse and prepare them for entry
into the Holy Place, even as blood and water cleanses us
in preparation of receiving the Holy One into our lives!
After cleansing, the priest would take the fire from the
brazen altar and enter through the veil into the Holy Place.
The Holy Place had no doors or windows through which
light could come. The only light would come from the
golden candlesticks. These candlesticks consisted of
seven wicks fed by oil from seven bowls. The wicks had to
be lit with the fire brought by the priest from the brazen
altar. The uniting of

the oil and fire at the candlesticks to produce light is a
perfect type of the Holy Ghost and fire promised to New
Testament believers (Matthew 3:11). Without the light of
the Holy Ghost we could not see to live in the Holy Place,
which is where every Christian should live.
God spoke of His great plan of redemption in the Old
Testament in types and shadows; and then in the New
Testament He spoke plainly to us so that we would have
no doubt of His will! Once again we recall the words of 1
John 5:8, “There are three that bear witness in the earth,
the spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree
in one.” This Old Testament lesson beautifully reaffirms to
us the absolute necessity of the full born again plan in
each life for salvation!

Common Misconceptions

Believe on the Lord Yahushua/Jesus Christ

Acts 16:30-31 reads this way, “Sirs, what must I do to be
saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord
Yahushua/Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy
house.” Many have taken this scripture to teach that all
that is required for salvation is to believe that
Yahushua/Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world; and
from that point on the individual is saved. It is definitely
true that an individual must believe that Yahushua/Jesus
is the Savior in order to be saved. However, Paul, who
spoke these words in Acts 16, has some further teaching
on the subject in Romans 10:13-15.
Let’s consider the text: “For whosoever shall call upon the

name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach,
except they be sent?” If we wanted to be absurd, we could
take this thirteenth verse to teach that all an individual
must do for salvation is to call out the name of
Yahushua/Jesus one time and he has received salvation.
Paul tells us they can’t call on him in whom they have not
believed. Furthermore, he said that they couldn’t believe in
him of whom they have not heard. We cannot merely
believe. We must believe something about Christ. When
Paul told the jailer in Acts 16 to believe on the Lord
Yahushua/Jesus Christ, he went on to speak unto him the
word of the Lord (verse 32). The word which Paul spoke
was apparently the gospel; for the result in verse 33 was
that the jailer and all his house were baptized at midnight.
That’s how essential baptism is for salvation. Paul took all
these people out at midnight and baptized them!
Some would object here by saying that we are saved by
faith alone. It is true that we are saved by faith, but it is
also true that true faith always produces action on the part
of the believer. Let’s study from James 2:14-22 to verify
this point.
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he
hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a
brother or a sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those
things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Even so faith if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works;

shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee
my faith by my works. Thou

believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils
also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our
father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar? Seest thus how faith wrought with his
works, and by works was faith made perfect?”
When an individual believes on the Lord Yahushua/Jesus
Christ, what do they believe about Him? They believe the
gospel, which is the death, burial, and resurrection (I
Corinthians 15:1-4). James teaches us that faith without
action is dead, or it is not really faith at all. When a sinner
hears the true gospel and truly believes, he will obey the
gospel. An individual obeys the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ by repentance, baptism in
Yahushua/Jesus’ name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost,
evidenced by speaking with other tongues. This is the
salvation of Calvary! “Seest thou how faith wrought with
his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” (made
complete).
If you are still having trouble conceding to this teaching
because of the element of works involved, let’s reason
concerning one more point. Being born again —
repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost is not
considered by God to be a work. In Titus 3:5 we are
taught, “Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost”. This scripture tells us that regeneration, which is
being born again, is not a work of righteousness.

Concluding this matter, we will cite a familiar biblical
example. In the great revival at Samaria in Acts 8:5-23, a
sorcerer named Simon heard the preaching of Philip. He
believed and was baptized and continued with Philip
beholding the signs and miracles that were done. Many
people would say that because Simon believed, he was
saved. Yet the Apostle Peter said of him in Acts 8:23, “For
I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the
bond of iniquity.”
It is impossible for anyone in the bond of iniquity to be
saved; for the scriptures tell us, “If the Son therefore shall
make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Simon believed and was baptized, but he had not received
the Holy Ghost; therefore, he was not born again. We
cannot be half-born and survive. The entire work of
Calvary is necessary for our salvation.

The Thief on the Cross Conclusion
Many have asked, “If an individual must repent, be
baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost for salvation, how
was the thief on the cross with Yahushua/Jesus saved?”
(Luke 23:38-43). First of all, it was impossible for anyone
to be born again at that time, for the born again plan was
not yet complete. Yahushua/Jesus had not died, been
buried, and risen again. God has always had a plan of
salvation for each dispensation of time. In Noah’s day the
only way of salvation was to get into the ark. In Moses’
day the only plan was the law. In the church dispensation,
the only way to be saved is to be born again.
Yahushua/Jesus told Nicodemus, “Ye MUST be born
again.”

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Conclusion
May we point out as we conclude this study that we have
been given the first church and the Apostles after which to
pattern our teaching and practices. In each recorded
account of conversions under the Apostles’ ministries, the
three steps of being born again are evident. In Acts 2:38 it
was repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost. In Acts
8:12, Acts 10:44-48, and Acts 19:1-6, we find the born
again experience taught and received. Why should we
vary from this practice when we are to be built on the
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Yahushua/Jesus
Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone?
Do not allow anything to turn you aside from this truth: you
must be born again. If you haven’t as yet, you should do
so today!