- Nothing
What? That's the list?
Nothing?
Really?
Correct. Nothing.
That's what Paul told the believers in Ephesus when they asked the question.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
There is nothing we can do to be saved. Even our ability to believe is a gift from G-d.
Paul makes his point clear in Romans 9:
For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. (Romans 9:15-24)
These passages provide us with a plain and straightforward understanding that G-d is sovereign in His ability to choose who is saved and who is not. It should be noted, however, that it is entirely our responsibility to walk in the good deeds [mitzvot] which G-d prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). It is by His Spirit that we are even able to do so (Philippians 4:13).
We are saved by grace through faith, and even that faith is not from our actions or decisions. G-d instills that faith in us as a gift for His purposes. (Ephesians 2:8)
As soon as we say that we "have to do" or "can do" anything (be baptized, say a particular name, recite a specific prayer, think a certain way, etc.) to be saved, then we have just subscribed to a "salvation by works" mentality.
Every passage of Scripture that appears to describe something we should do to become saved describes something we should do because we are saved.
You can learn more about this in my What is Salvation article.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)
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