Here is is what God requires form all who want to get reconciled to him and have eternal life:

Let’s see what the Bible has to say.

#1 Just before ascending to heaven forty days after his resurrection, Jesus told his disciples:

[Matthew 28:18-20] All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

We must become disciples, followers of Jesus, and observe all his teachings and commandments. The first thing a follower of Jesus must do is to get baptized.

Have you done that?

#2 Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on a group of believers and they were filled with the power of God. That was an amazing event and attracted a very large crowd. Peter, one of the apostles of Jesus, then lifted up his voice and preached a very powerful and convicting message. Many believed him and were convicted in their hearts. When they anxiously asked Peter what to do, he told them:

[Acts 2:38-40] Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. … Save yourselves from this crooked generation.

The Bible then adds:

[Acts 2:41] Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Later on, Peter urged his listeners:

[Acts 3:19] Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.

Have you repented and turned back to God? Have you been baptized after that? Or are you still looking for excuses?

#3 Several years later, the apostle Paul preached the following words to a crowd in Athens:

[Acts 17:30-31] The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

Have you repented as God commands? When?

The apostle Paul preached both repentance and faith, not only faith as so many do today:

[Acts 20:20-21] I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many years before, when Jesus first appeared to Paul in a powerful vision on his way to Damascus, he told him:

[Acts 26:16-18] I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

Have your eyes been opened? Have you turned from darkness to light? Or are you still living in darkness under the power of Satan?

Speaking of Satan, you need to know that in the spirit world there are powerful forces that are hell-bent on destroying us. Their mission is to keep us in darkness and prevent us from returning to God and doing his will. The leader of these forces of darkness is a powerful spirit being that the Bible calls Satan, which means adversary in Hebrew. Discussing the reality of the spiritual war and explaining why God tolerates Satan and his evil kingdom is outside the scope of this article.

After his encounter with Jesus, Paul’s life changed dramatically. From a persecutor of Christians, he became a dedicated disciple of Jesus. Many years later he recounts:

[Acts 26:19-20] I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Have you repented and turned to God? Can this be seen from your behavior?