LESSON FOUR - "What Must I Do To Be Saved?"

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

 Salvation is a most desirable thing. To ask the question, "what must I do to be saved?" suggests two things: 1) that we are not capable of devising the means or working out a way to be saved ourselves; and 2) that it is something that we desperately need to prevent us from being lost.

The question is not new by any means. Men of the past have sought diligently for the answer and we find examples of it recorded in the Bible. At the very outset of Christianity, when Peter preached the first sermon that introduced the church to the world, the question was there. When Peter had completed his sermon of declaring the Christ, whom the people present had helped to crucify, the record says 'Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" [Acts 2:37]. Later when Saul of Tarsus (later known as the apostle Paul), encountered the Lord on the road to Damascus, he responded to the Lord by asking "....Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?...." [Acts 9:6]. Later on, when Paul (now preaching the message of the kingdom) and Silas were cast into prison for preaching Jesus and the earthquake set them free and the keeper of the prison came in and saw that they were all there, recognizing that something really special had happened, said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" [Acts 16:30].

Thru the ages men have sought the answer to this question. Sadly also through the ages, men have so corrupted the commands of God and have suggested all sorts of ways that one can come to Christ, that confusion has reigned supreme. The hearts of otherwise honest and sincere people have been deceived into believing that they can find Jesus in all sorts of ways. The need today is even greater to give a very careful and diligent search of the scriptures to determine exactly what God has in mind for man. It will not be sufficient to simply say that it does not matter and that what we do is not nearly as important as the attitude of our heart. No one denies that the proper attitude is essential to obedience and without it we cannot be saved. However, it is also very important to understand that God has determined what He wants and what He expects from man and that nothing, absolutely nothing, can be substituted in its place.

What Must I Do?

 First, it is necessary to understand that God looks upon all people the same. Peter had to learn this lesson when he went down to the house of Cornelius, a gentile. Up to this point in time God had addressed Himself primarily to the people of Israel. But after Peter was shown God's acceptance of all men (including gentiles), he understood and thus remarked; "then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him" [Acts 10:34,35]. So we must understand that all people are on equal standing with God and thus are responsible to the same standard of rules that God gives.

When we give careful study to the book of Acts, we find that the same requirements are made of all. There is a diverse mixture of people identified in Acts that show we are all subject to the same conditions.

When we consider God's requirements, we understand first of all that we are sinners before God. The apostle Paul said, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" [Romans 3:23]. If man could live a perfect and sinless life, he would have no need of salvation through Jesus Christ. However, we have not and cannot live such a life on our own and therefore we become sinners in violation to God's laws of righteousness.

Understanding this, we begin by acknowledging our dependence upon God and expressing our faith in Him and Jesus Christ to deliver us from sin and its power to destroy us.

Faith in Jesus Christ and God the Father is an absolute necessity to begin with. In John 8:24, Jesus said, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins". Later the writer of Hebrews stated in chapter 11, verse 6; "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him". Faith consists of a complete confidence that God exists and that Jesus Christ is His son, and that though we have not seen them with the natural eye, there is sufficient evidence of the existence of God and Christ through the revelation of God's book, the Bible.

Repentance is the act of turning away from sin and all of its corruptness, and setting our course to follow Jesus. Repentance simply means a change of direction. It has been described as a military term which says "about face". That perhaps describes it best. We turn to God and Christ with a determination to live as free from sin as we possibly can; to avoid the very "appearance of evil" and seek to walk closely and in harmony with God's will. Jesus said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" [Luke 13:3]. Repentance is then a change of heart, a change of will and a change of mind that makes man rebellious towards God and all that He is. Repentance will result in freely acknowledging that we are sinners and that we need the help of God to change our course.

Confession is the public acknowledgment of our faith in Christ and our determination to live a godly life to the very best of our ability. When we confess Jesus Christ to be the son of God, we are saying that we cannot effect our own salvation and we need the help of a savior who can free us from sin and deliver us from condemnation. When Philip, the evangelist, came to the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip began to speak to him about Jesus, the eunuch wanted to respond. The eunuch asked the question, "what doth hinder me to be baptized?" Philip's response is recorded in Acts 8:37; "And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God". This simple confession is what God requires of all people. Men have determined down through time that perhaps more is required or something different is expected. Thus men have devised various kinds of statements. The fact is, this is the only statement required for one to be a subject for obedience. Having made this good confession, we find that one is a fit subject for baptism.

Baptism is for the remission of sins and allows one to be added, (by the Lord) to the kingdom and body of Jesus Christ; that is the church. Baptism is by immersion, that is a burial in water as described in Romans 6. Paul says in verses 3,4 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life". Men will speak of the "modes" of baptism; but in reality there is not such thing! Baptism is from a Greek word which means to "bury, plunge beneath, to cover over, to submerge". No other term will fit the definition and the actions of sprinkling or pouring will not and cannot suit the intention of God. Baptism is never to be understood as simply designed for membership into a church or that baptism is administered 'because God for Christ's sake hath already saved you'. Again, baptism is FOR the remission of sins and when we are baptized INTO Christ, we are freed from our past sins and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Please do not be misled into believing anything else. Another great thing about the study of the book of Acts is that every person that was granted remission of sins was baptized! This again shows the impartiality of God.

It is our sincere desire to speak only as the Book speaks and to be guided by what God has revealed in His divine word. There is no room for speculation or "what-ifs" when it comes to determining something as important as the salvation of our souls.

Please take a look at the questions that follow and consider them carefully compare them with what the Bible teaches. If then we can be of any help in any way, please let us know.