Let's look at what do we have to do to be accepted by God, and to be forgiven from our sins, and therefore be entitled to receive the ultimate gift which is the eternal life, as promised in 1 John, chapter 5, verses 11-13:

"and this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

You might ask "how do I know that I am a sinner ? I never hurt people, I believe in God etc". Well, before we go any further we have to acknowledge that we are all sinners, no exceptions, rich or poor, educated or not, church leaders, apostles , no exceptions. This is made clear in Romans, chapter 3 verse 23:

"For all have sinned and fall short of glory of God."

So, now that I acknowledge that I am a sinner, what is next? Do I have to go through a lot of reading? How can I prepare myself to receive salvation? The answer is : all you have to do is to ask for it. It is free, requires no work and expects nothing in return. Christ already paid for it two thousands years ago. He took our past, current, and future sins and nailed them on the cross, so we can be free. In Romans 10:9 tells us what to do to be saved:

"that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Believe it or not, this is all what is needed. The Word of God makes it clear. If you really sit before God and admit you are a sinner, believe and say that Jesus is the Lord and Son of God, and believe that he was nailed on the cross to wash our sins away, and that He was raised from the dead claiming victory over death, then you are saved, and have earned eternal life.

You might wander about all the fasting that you have been doing, all the Wednesdays and Fridays, all the candles that you're lit in the Church, were you wasting your time ? No you were not. All these things are good for your spirit, but will not earn you extra points when you face the Lord.

There are a lot of things we do to help us strengthen our souls, like fasting, meditating and talking to God (praying). There are also things like helping a poor person, or maybe donating money or material to others. All these are good things, but non of them will earn us eternal life. Because The Bible makes it clear that It's not because of our good works that we are saved, it is only because of His mercy, and it's only by the grace of God that we are being forgiven. The following verses helps us understand this point:

Titus 3 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. John 1 17 For the law was given through Moses; but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Romans 11 6 and if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. Colossians 2 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Now, what about doing good, it sounds like it's not important anymore !! Well, there are really two issues here; one, to be saved from sins and the other is to let the Holy Spirit guide you in your life. When you let the Holy Spirit guide you, then automatically good things will come out of you. So, doing good by itself does not earn us eternal life. There is only one way to earn enternal life, and that is through Jesus Christ. In John, chapter 3, verses 5 to 7, Jesus says those words:

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'you must be born again' "

These words spoken by the Lord Jesus himself, tell us that we have to be born of water (baptism), and by Spirit (Holy Spirit). This is not an act we go through, and then go on with our lives as usual. Most of us have been baptized as infants, but later in our lives we have to get baptized with the Holy spirit (meaning to let the Holy Spirit ascent on us). We have to renew ourselves. We have to forget out past life and old habits, and start with a new life that is pleasing to God. This is what Jesus means by being born again. He did not say it to the Prisbetarians, or to the baptists, or the catholics only, He said that for all of us. Being born again simply means start our lives over, but this time we let Jesus be the captain.