When I was in the seventh grade, I heard a sermon about Mary and Martha. Before I heard this sermon I never really cared about God, or desired to get to know Him. But after this sermon, I decided I wanted to live for Christ. I didn’t understand that I was a sinner or that I needed a Savior, but after deciding that I wanted to follow Christ, my whole perspective changed. I wanted to get to know Christ and read the Bible and share about God’s love. But I realize that I had absolutely no understanding of a need for a savior or that Christ had died so that I could be reconciled to God. My life definitely changed in a radical way after deciding to follow Jesus, but was I saved somehow by this decision even though I had no understanding of the Gospel?
John 1:12-13 says,
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Born of God is the same as being born again.
In John 3:3 Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
And in John 14:6 He said, “No one comes to the Father but through me.”
Paul said we are saved if we believe that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
And in Acts 4:12 Peter summed it all up for us. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
These verses and others tell us that we can only be saved by believing that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Therefore no matter what external changes have taken place in our lives, we are not saved until we meet the above requirements. Remember, we’re saved because of what we believe, not because of how we behave.