at risk of oversimplifying it, this is the brief version: 1. believe in the divinity, death and bodily resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, one with God the Father and the Holy Spirit and believe that His death paid for your sins. 2. truly and sincerely confess your sins to God and live differently, according to God's guidance in the Holy Bible, even if this is difficult or painful to you. 3. accept that God has forgiven you and be always humble, realising that none of your good works can save you. the coptic orthodox church, like many other churches, expains to us more clearly what is meant in number 2, about living differently. we need to benefit from the sacraments, like baptism and priestly confession. some Christians maintain that baptism is not completely necessary, depsite the fact that acts 2:38 clearly says so (and matthew 28:19), and despite the fact that immediately after the jailer (in the passage above) believed the message about Jesus, he and his family were baptised. ok, if someone repents and then dies immediately, i think God has mercy on them and saves them. He is not trying to catch people out, by giving guidance which is impossible to keep. confession is necessary because in james 5:16, we are told to do it. people who don't confess hide their sins and can easily become proud. pride leads us to think we can be independant of God and is very bad as this leads us further from God. holy communion is vital, because this is another thing commanded by Jesus, in memory of His great sacrifice. we take His body and blood and this way focus on Him and this way make our lives obedient to His will. in the parable of the sower (matthew 13) there are those who are delighted with the word of God and believe it, but quickly fall away because they don't continue to live as God intended. these people are no longer saved. again God doesn't watch for every tiny slip and then go far from us; we are not trying to keep the law as in the time of moses, but instead He watches over us and sends His Holy Spirit to us to guide us into all truth (john 16:13) and turns us from our sin to repentance. but the one who persistently remains in a life of sin has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and is not 'saved'
please feel free to ask more questions, you are very welcome on this site! i am sure lots of other people will have answers to this too, so watch this space :)
Comments
1. believe in the divinity, death and bodily resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, one with God the Father and the Holy Spirit and believe that His death paid for your sins.
2. truly and sincerely confess your sins to God and live differently, according to God's guidance in the Holy Bible, even if this is difficult or painful to you.
3. accept that God has forgiven you and be always humble, realising that none of your good works can save you.
the coptic orthodox church, like many other churches, expains to us more clearly what is meant in number 2, about living differently. we need to benefit from the sacraments, like baptism and priestly confession. some Christians maintain that baptism is not completely necessary, depsite the fact that acts 2:38 clearly says so (and matthew 28:19), and despite the fact that immediately after the jailer (in the passage above) believed the message about Jesus, he and his family were baptised. ok, if someone repents and then dies immediately, i think God has mercy on them and saves them. He is not trying to catch people out, by giving guidance which is impossible to keep.
confession is necessary because in james 5:16, we are told to do it. people who don't confess hide their sins and can easily become proud. pride leads us to think we can be independant of God and is very bad as this leads us further from God.
holy communion is vital, because this is another thing commanded by Jesus, in memory of His great sacrifice. we take His body and blood and this way focus on Him and this way make our lives obedient to His will.
in the parable of the sower (matthew 13) there are those who are delighted with the word of God and believe it, but quickly fall away because they don't continue to live as God intended. these people are no longer saved. again God doesn't watch for every tiny slip and then go far from us; we are not trying to keep the law as in the time of moses, but instead He watches over us and sends His Holy Spirit to us to guide us into all truth (john 16:13) and turns us from our sin to repentance. but the one who persistently remains in a life of sin has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and is not 'saved'
please feel free to ask more questions, you are very welcome on this site! i am sure lots of other people will have answers to this too, so watch this space :)