Despite the fact that eternal life is God’s gift, we have to be obedient to God in order to be saved. As Jesus tells us: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
(Matthew 7:24)
But it’s not enough to just listen to His words, we must also believe in them: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
(Mark 16:16)
However, before we are baptized, we must confess our sins and repent. The Bible says: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”
(Acts 17:30)
Right before our baptism takes place, Jesus Christ wants us to profess to people that he is the Son of God: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 10:32-33)
Then comes baptism that is performed by immersing the whole body in water, the same way Christ was baptized. As the Apostle Paul stated: “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
(Acts 22:16)
After baptism we become Christians, but our obligations don’t stop there. In order to complete the expectations of God’s will, we must stay faithful to death: “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
(Revelations 2:10)