How can I be saved? The Romans Road

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I heard a radio host one time challenge Christians with this question: “Could you quote 10 Bible verses from memory to lead someone to the Lord?” It's a provocative question, one which might embarrass many Christians. Yet it's entirely likely that a Christian might find himself in a circumstance where some curious seeker might ask, “What must I do to be saved?” Perhaps even now, this post is being read by someone looking for an answer to that question. If you're not sure how to answer, I will lay out a plan for you. It's not a new plan but it's very effective and has been used for decades. You may have heard it called, The Romans Road.

The Romans Road consists of five verses taken from the Book of Romans. They are presented in a way that unfolds the plan of salvation in logical, easy to understand progression. If you want to know how to be saved, study these five verses! If you ever want to lead someone to the Lord, start with these five verses! If you want to start memorizing verses from the Bible, start with these five verses!

Are you ready? Let's get started:

• Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

The Bible is very clear that we are all sinners. That includes me; it also includes you. Think of the 10 Commandments for a moment: the Law says it's wrong to lie. Do you agree that's wrong? Now be honest with yourself for a moment. Have you ever told a lie? You know that you have. We all have because we're all sinners. Have you ever stolen anything – no matter how small? That breaks God's Law too. Have you always put God first? Have you always kept the Sabbath? Have you always honored your mother and father? If you think about it, it's not like you've broken a few of the Commandments, all of us have broken every one of them – over and over and over. Another verse, Romans 3:10, says, “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.” No one is innocent. We are all guilty of breaking God's Law.

• Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Some people might say, “OK, I'll admit I'm a sinner... but what's the big deal?” Well, it's a very big deal because the Bible is clear that sin brings death! Think about that verse for a moment. It says the wages of sin is death. Wages are the recompense for work that you did. What you “earn” from your sin is death! And just as all have sinned, all men are going to die. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefor, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

Death doesn't just mean our physical death. There is also an eternal punishment called, the second death. Read this chilling account from Revelation where the dead are judged by their works:

Revelation 20:12-15, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

So, you see, your sin is a very big deal!

• Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Even while we were disobedient to God, He still loved us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” When we were guilty of sin and worthy of death, Jesus came and gave His life to pay for our sins. Because He died, we can live!

Do you remember the second part of Romans 6:23? It says, “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So what we deserve for our sin is death, but eternal life is a gift from God. We can't do anything to earn it – it's free!

• Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

So how do we receive the free gift of God? If you believe that Jesus died and rose again, if you confess you're a sinner and accept Jesus as your Lord, then you're saved! It's really that easy. If you're worried that you're not good enough, stop worrying. No one is good enough. It doesn't matter how good we are or even how bad we are – Christ still can save you. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Just like all have sinned, all can be saved if they have faith in Jesus Christ!

• Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

This verse says we are justified by our faith. By believing that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, we can stand before the Father without guilt. His righteousness has become our righteousness. It's as though we had never sinned. Imagine the peace you could have, living a life free of guilt or fear or regret! This is why the gospel is literally called, The Good News!

The Sinner's Prayer

If you want to be saved right now, you can. You don't have to wait until you can find a church or talk to a preacher; you can call on the Lord where you're sitting. There are no magic words to say but you can pray something like this:

“God, I know I'm a sinner but I believe that Jesus died for me. I want to turn away from my sins and make Jesus my Lord. I want to live my life for Him. Please forgive my sins and save me. Thank you for your grace. Amen!”

If you sincerely prayed a prayer like this, congratulations, you are now my brother or sister in Christ! Welcome to the family!

The next step now is to immediately find a Bible believing church. But how do you know if a church is Bible believing? I'm glad you asked. I would recommend talking to the pastor there and maybe even showing him this post. Ask him if this is how a person becomes saved. If he says, yes, then it's probably a doctrinally sound church. The next thing the preacher should ask you to do is be baptized.

I know you won't understand everything at first. That's OK. In Luke 18:17 Jesus talks about receiving the kingdom of God like a little child. Just get into church and study, study, study the Word.

Praise God! Amen!