In John 8:31-32, Jesus says:
"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
And in Matthew 7:21, He warns:
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
This means that salvation is not just about professing faith in Christ but also about actively living by His teachings. It's not enough to acknowledge Jesus intellectually—one must follow Him in action. Many churches emphasize faith but sometimes neglect the responsibility of obedience. The main thing for many Christians is to attend church and participate in church life. Actually knowing and bearing in mind the teachings of Jesus given through his apostles is something the majority of Christians see as an afterthought to their Christian life. Yet Jesus taught it as essential to salvation. Only through believing in him but also keeping his sayings as true disciples could truth come to these people to set them free from the hold of sin on their lives and save them. Today even zealous pastors and evangelists and prominent people in churches neglect the importance of each Christian keeping the sayings of Jesus. “Accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour” they tell their hearers, yet rarely do they include in their instruction the essentials of personally keeping the teachings of Jesus and seeking to obey his commands in their lives. Yet, this is the only way to truly follow Jesus and actually be a true Christian. This is what baptism should be. It should be the taking on board of the responsibility to learn from Jesus Christ, taking on our shoulders the yoke of his teachings, being persuaded that doing so is to receive salvation from the light of the world sent by the Father. “Lord and Saviour” is meaningless without this. Our pastors, teachers, leaders need to bring this into their own lives and then into their gospel message. Only then might they truly save their hearers. Those who teach the gospel are accountable to get this right. If not, why listen to them.
